RAILWAY POLITICS IN NIGERIA; ISSUES AND PROSPECTS
Rail transport in most developing countries like Nigeria is usually the least developed mode. In Nigeria the vibrant fortune of nut transport operations and development has been on decline since mid-1970s. The development of gap in rail transport in Nigeria is responsible for a significant level of access denial to a safer, affordable and environmentally friendly mode of transport. Through critique of past railways development projects and policies, this paper was able to identify the principle factors responsible for its intangible contributions to the socio-economic development of Nigeria, highlight the role(s) politics of inconsistency policies and somersault play, assess the challenges and suggest some prospects. Data were obtained from secondary sources like books, journals, periodicals, magazines, newspapers, internet, etc. In analyzing collected data, content analysis was used while agency theory propounded by Jenson and Meckling (1976) was adopted as the theoretical framework. Findings reveal that discontinuity, incoherence in policy implementation by past governments, policy reversal, uncoordinated national transport policy goals and objectives are some of the factors necessitating negativism in railways development in Nigeria. In all, the paper concludes that world over, rail transport system is considered the best platform for massive haulage of goods and services on land, as a result, suggest that government should address the present predicaments of railways in Nigeria headlong by tackling the above identified principle factors responsible for rail transport woe in Nigeria.
Keywords: Railways, Prospects, Challenges, Haulage, Corporation.