Rivers State has the highest passenger fare for water transportation in Nigeria, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
In a Transport Fare Watch report released by NBS on the 36 states of the federation including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, the states with the highest fare by waterway passenger transport were Rivers at N2,000 per trip, Bayelsa comes second at N1,950 per trip and Delta, third place at N1,549 per trip.
According to NBS, the states with the lowest fare for waterway passenger transport are Borno at N145, Gombe at N180 and Abuja at N240.
Across the South-South states, water transport fares are generally high with Akwa Ibom pegged at N1,030 and recording a year-on-year increase of 29.77%, Cross River at N1,200 with a year-on-year decline of 27.47% and Edo at N985 with a year-on-year increase of 8.23%.
Rivers State, with a population of 7.4 million people, according to the data, recorded a 15.38% year-on-year increase for the average fare for water transport. While water transportation fare grows in Rivers, the state’s average bus fare, on the other hand, is considerably cheaper at N100 per drop with a negative year-on-year of 5.21%.
In South-West Nigeria, Ogun State leads the pack with the highest fares for water transportation at N800 per trip, recording a year-on-year increase of 6.67%; Ondo comes second at N720 with a year-on-year of 10.77%; Lagos follows with N490 with a year-on-year decline of 5.54%; Osun is next at N470 with a year on year decline of 1.07%; Oyo at N440 with a year on year decline of 3.46% and Ekiti at N425 with a year-on-year decline of 15.32%.
Enugu takes the lead in the South-East states with the highest average water transportation fares at N510, although it recorded a year-on-year decline of 4.93%; Imo follows at N460 with a year-on-year decline of 7.07%; Ebonyi is next at N400 with a year-on-year growth of 14.12%; Anambra has its average fare at N390 with a decline of 10.97% and Abia at N340 with a year-on-year decline of 0.05%.
Kebbi state recorded the least fare among states in the North-East at N265 with a year-on-year increase of 13.70%; while Abuja has the lowest average fare in North-Central at N240 followed by Plateau and Niger States at N300 with a year-on-year decline of 1.39% and growth of 0.30% respectively; Kogi and Benue are next, also tying at N360 with a year-on-year decline of 1.37% and 28% respectively, while Kwara holds the highest average fare at N520 with a year-on-year increase of 1.45%.
In the Northwest, Borno State recorded the lowest average fare at N145; Gombe N180; Yobe N300, and Adamawa N435.
