Road Transportation In Sustainable Rural Development Of Akutupa-Kiri, Kogi State Nigeria

Rural road transportation has being a topical issue in most developing counties of the world. Despite the fact that rural area play a dominant role in the production of food and fiber; its economic activities had been hindered as a result of poor road transportation system. To this end, this paper examines road transportation in sustainable rural development of Akutupa-Kiri, Nigeria. Structured and self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from a total of 188 (one hundred and eighty eight) households head representing 2% of the entire population in the study using systematic sampling technique. The data were presented using descriptive statistics in the form of frequency counts and percentages and Pearson Product Moment Correlation analysis. Findings revealed that Akutupa- Kiri is characterized by inadequate road infrastructure; there is high cost of transport due to the poor condition of road and frequent armed robbery attack on the road.. Results also indicate strong correlation (0.91) between cost and time of movement in the area. Also, the Department of Works in kabba-Bunu Local Government is not effective pertaining to road development matter in the study area. The study recommends provision of road infrastructures, establishment of road maintenance department at the local government level to facilitate rural development and increase agricultural production of the area. In addition, anti- robbery security personnel should be deployed to Akutupa-Kiri road to counter robbery attacks in the area. Key Words: Road transportation, Rural area, Sustainable rural development, Akutupa-Kiri, Nigeri