The role of public private partnership in highway
infrastructure development and sustainability in Nigeria

Abiodun, I

Abstract

The Nigeria's highway infrastructure are currently being procured and maintained using
the traditional Design, Bid Build (DBB) method. The procurement method and funding
mechanism appeared not to have produced the desired result of timely and cost effective
project outcome nor good quality and sustainable road network. This study set out to
investigate the challenges being experienced in this traditional procurement method.
The study also explored the features of Public Private Partnership (PPP) and its
potentials as an alternative procurement method for highway development, operation
and maintenance, including developing and validating PPP framework for application in
highways in Nigeria.
The study formulated two research questions - to investigate why the traditional method
has not produced the desired result; and how the PPP method can play a role in
achieving the desired highway project output. The research conducted literature review
to examine the challenges of DBB method in Nigeria, and subsequently explored the
concepts of PPP generally and its particular application in highways. The research
philosophy is majorly interpretive with minor positivists blend in a methodological
pluralism for methodology enhancement. The research used case study research design
where quantitative method was first used to investigate the current highway projects
performance in cost and time perspective under the DBB method. The research also
used qualitative method to analyse official documents and questionnaires to conduct an
in-depth analysis of the highway Performance Indicators and their Critical Success
Factors under DBB and PPP methods.
The comparative analysis of the research findings showed that the DBB method used
for highway development in Nigeria generally results in cost and time overruns, low
quality road network occasioned by the lack of adequate public financing, poor road
maintenance management system, suboptimal risk sharing and lack of innovative
processes, and inefficient procurement process. The findings also showed that PPP by
way of its financial models, efficient procurement, operation and maintenance
processes, technical and managerial capacities, as well as the bundling of design,
construction and maintenance in a single contract package may produce timely, cost effective, good quality and sustainable highway network in Nigeria. The concomitant
road sustainability will result in economic benefits of reduction in vehicle operating and
maintenance costs, improved standard of road and longevity that support other
economic activities. The resultant social sustainability benefits include reduction in
accident rate, reduced travel hours, improvement in health and safety of road users.
Environmental benefits of road sustainability include protection and enhancement of
natural environment by reducing pollutants being generated from dilapidated roads. The
findings were subjected to testing for validity, reliability and generalisability. The
findings from data analysis were further processed to develop PPP framework for
highways in the Nigeria. The framework was validated and the result of the validation
showed that the framework is appropriate and applicable in the Nigeria environment.
The framework developed in the research is a unique contribution to knowledge. It
provides a holistic view, in a single pictorial display of interconnecting web
relationships, the performances of both the DBB and PPP procurement methods, the
possible enhancement of DBB method and the implementation procedure of PPP
method for a sustainable highway infrastructure in Nigeria. The framework will be of
benefits to policy makers and regulators such as PPP Unit of the Federal Ministry of
Works as the operators of Nigeria's highways and the Infrastructure Concession
Regulatory Commission, the regulators of PPP scheme in the areas of decision making
on alternative procurement options for highway projects, as well as adequate PPP
governance. Other actors that will benefit from the study are the external consultants
and contract managers being engaged by FMW. Academic community and trainers will
also benefit from the research, particularly as regards to the peculiarity of implementing
PPP for sustainable highways in Nigeria. Accessibility to the research work will be
made possible through publications in both local and international journals, and also
presenting technical papers in workshops and conferences.

Citation

infrastructure development and sustainability in Nigeria. (Thesis). Salford: University of Salford

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Mar 8, 2016