Analysis of vehicle ownership growth in Nigeria: Policy implications

Abstract

Nigeria has witnessed rapid growth in vehicle ownership for the past decades. This posed serious challenges for road infrastructure, fuel demand, environment, traffic control and management, and road safety. This paper examined vehicle ownership growth in Nigeria and provides the contextual base for reforming the nation’s policy on transportation and other sectors of the economy. Analysis of variance technique was used to compare vehicle ownership growth among the four decades of the study period. The results show that there was a significant variation in vehicle ownership growth. The fourth decade (2000 – 2010) had the highest vehicle ownership. It was followed in descending order by the second decade (1980 – 1989), the first decade (1970–1979) and the third decade (1990 – 1999). This indicates a phenomenal growth in vehicle ownership which poses serious policy implications for the environment, energy demand, road infrastructure, road safety, urban parking, traffic management and automobile production. There is, therefore, the need for policymakers to revise the existing policies in the affected sectors in line with the current reality on vehicle ownership growth.