CHAPTER ONE
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
        The role of transportation and communication cannot be over emphases in the economic development of Nigeria, because the fundamental purpose of transportation and communication and their various needs in the form of material facilities and service. However, transportation and communication facilities are vital infrastructure of a modern economy transportation system comprises of several models including road, rail, water ways etc. and communication system includes post office, courier service wireless, and electronic media. According to a report from environmental news on Nigeria transportation and communication, Nigeria transportation network was one of the best in Africa in 1990, featuring an existence system of paved high way, rail road, airports and ports. During the oil boom of the 1990s, however, most government funds era-marked (assigned) for transportation were applied to the construction of new roads and maintenance of existing facilities was ignored. As a result the transportation system was plague with congestion and a deteriorating infrastructure. Like many economic activities that are intensive in infrastructure, the role of transportation sector is an important component of the economy impacting on development and the welfare of population. When transportation system are efficient, they provide economic and social opportunities and benefits that results  in positive multipliers effects such as better accessibility to market employment and additional investments, when transportation system are  deficient in terms of capacity or reliability, they can have an economic cost such as reduced or missed opportunities. Transportation also carries and important social and environmental load which cannot be neglected thus, form a general stand point, the economic impact of transportation can be direct and indirect. The direct impact is related to accessibility change where transportation enables to save time and costs. Indirect impact is related to the economy multiplier, effect where the price of commodities goods or services drop and /or their variety increases. (News watch Nigeria social infrastructure Edo State.
        On the other hand, according to Wikipedia, transportation links together the factors of production in a complex wed of relationship between producers and consumers, the outcomes is commonly a more efficient division of production by an exploitation of geographical comparative advantages as well as the means to develop economics of scale and scope. The productivity of space, capital and labour is thus enhanced with efficiency of distribution and personal mobility. It is acknowledge that economic growth is increasingly linked with transportation developments, namely infrastructures but also managerial expertise is crucial for logistics.
        Moreover, the article published by environmental news, on Nigeria’s transportation and communication stresses that early modern communication took place in three modes, spoken words manuscripts writing especially letters and prints, oral communication was the oldest of these three and in many orays, early modern society was still primarily on oral society. Although literacy increased enormously during this period, most people, especially among the lower classes, possessed limited reading and speech for preserving and transmitting information. Furthermore, as a result of a major expansion of one of the best domestic Tele communication system in sub-Sahara Africa in 1990, about 11,000 telephones were put in places in Nigeria at the end of the 1980s about one third of the were in the capital. Also a domestics satellite system with nineteen ground stations, along with coaxial cable and a micro wave network linked all major urban areas most localities could received at least one of the society-five amplitude modulation (AM) radio stations, more than a dozen cities had frequency modulation (FM) radio stations short wave broadcasts from six transmitters were directed at remote rural areas, broad cast were in English, Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo and twelve other languages. Most urban areas also had television service.
        In 1990, the country had an estimated ten million radio and ten million televisions. However, international telecommunication were modern and provides the high quality links to the rest of the world, in coordination with international telecommunication Satellite Corporation (intelsat), Atlantic Ocean and India Ocean satellite, three ground stations made live television broadcasting, and direct telephone dialing was possible between Nigeria was the terminus of an undersea coaxial cable linking the West Africa countries with France and capable of carrying nine hundred and sixty simultaneous long distance telephone calls. (Wikipedia: Finnish Transportation Safety Agency).