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ABSTRACT
This study have examined the impact of private transportation service in Benin- City from 1978 to 2018. It traced the pre-colonial and colonial transport systems in Benin before the emergence of modern road transportation system. It examined the historical origin of the advent of private bus entrepreneurs in the provision of inter-city road transportation and their challenge. The traditional or pre-colonial means of transportation in Benin-City involved the use of human porterage, water transport before the emergence of modern means of transportation. People transported themselves from their homes to farms, markets and other social economic activities by the use of humane porterage. They also used local canoes to move on rivers and for the conveyance of goods and loads. However, in the colonial period, the British introduced modern means of transportation in Nigeria area including Benin. This study has shown that there emerged a group of transport entrepreneurs who ventured into road transportation services to meet the increasing demands of travellers in Benin-City in 1978. These private road transporters have transformed the road transport sub-sector and played immense role in the development of the economy of Benin-City through the provision of bus transport service. This study has explored a neglected but vital aspect of the transportation in Benin looking at the role of private bus transport entrepreneurs in the transformation of the economic, social and political systems of Benin in the period of our study. The study has examined eight selected profiles of bus transport entrepreneurs in Benin by elaborating on their motivations in venturing into the road transport sub-sector. There is the preponderance of the use of primary sources in which transport owners and their managers were interviewed including some of their passengers. Secondary source material such as books, articles, journals, dissertations and online sources were also consulted. The study has revealed that private bus transport entrepreneurs in Benin –City has played significant roles in transforming the economy and therefore impacted positively in social, economic and political development of Benin- City despite the intractable challenges militating against road transport in Nigeria.
