A Systematic Review of the Nexus Between Transport and Socio Economic Development in Nigeria

Modern transport infrastructure supports social and economic growth and makes movement, productivity and integration easier. This study seeks to carry out a systematic review on transport and socioeconomic development in Nigeria with a view to highlighting the role that transport infrastructure plays in boosting Nigeria’s socioeconomic advancement. The study followed PRISMA 2020 standards and used a search strategy focusing on extensive exploration of Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar and JSTOR to retrieve papers on transport-socioeconomic development nexus. The proposed Population, Intervention, Outcome (PIO) framework was used to conduct and guide the search. Only articles from 2015 onward that looked at Nigeria alone and studied the relationship between transport infrastructure and socioeconomic factors were included in the review. The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT, Version 2018) was used to assess the quality of each of the included study. Data extraction used a pre-conceived table, and thematic analysis through narrative synthesis provided an account of findings. The PRISMA flow diagram shows that out of a total of 293 papers, 14 met the criteria for inclusion following the exclusion of 87 duplicate papers, 55 not relevant articles, and 79 secondary papers including letter to editors, opinions, reviews and thesis. Findings from the study revealed that improved transport facilities in Nigeria positively impacted education access (χ² = 78.46) and healthcare (r = 0.461, p = 0.034). Market access and trade had positive associations (χ² = 79.903). Transport development also generated employment such as the NDDC feeder road construction project which generated approximately 11,000 jobs. The study found that transport-socioeconomic engenders increased economic activities, economic growth and reduction in travel time. Quality of life and well-being improved (mean score 3.79). Agricultural production exhibited strong correlation (r = 0.615). Identified challenges include policy implementation which include funding and corruption. Negative impacts discovered in the course of the review include small business displacement and road condition (55.7%). The study concluded by recommending improved rural roads, promotion of public-private partnerships, transport Master-plan preparation, impact-tracking implementation, resettlement policy preparation, and overall road maintenance program establishment.