AN ANALYSIS OF UNDERUTILISATION OF INLAND WATERWAY TRANSPORT IN NIGERIA

This research analyzes the effects of underutilization of inland waterway transport on Nigerian economy. It also scrutinized critically, the challenges negating the utilization of the inland waterway transport and its relative impacts on the Nigerian economy. Primary data were obtained from staff of Nigeria Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) and Nigeria Port Authority (NPA). Data received, from 60 respondents identified constraining variables were subjected to Principal Component Analysis using the Principal component and orthogonal varimax rotation. The student t-test was used to test the statistical significance of the hypotheses, and they were all found to be not statistically significant, thus the null hypothesis were rejected.

From our findings, the 15-item variables optimally weighted and summed based on the Kaiser criterion of eigenvalue cut-off of 1.0, there were 6 components that explained a cumulative variance of 91.917%, leaving 8.083% to other variables not included in the analysis. In conclusion, a well-developed and integrated inland waterway transport is a vital tonic for the economic development of Nigeria. With a better managed inland waterways, Nigeria can develop a regional trade within the West African subregion as the River Niger cut across Nigeria, Benin, Mali, and Guinea and emptied into the Atlantic Ocean. She can also boost her tourism potentials, through waterway recreational activities. This will definitely contribute to the Nigerian GDP and has the capacity to support the economy in the wake of dwindling oil prices.