The role of public private partnership in highwayinfrastructure development and sustainability in Nigeria
The Nigeria's highway infrastructure are currently being procured and maintained usingthe traditional Design, Bid Build (DBB) method. The procurement method and fundingmechanism appeared not to have produced the desired result of timely and cost effectiveproject outcome nor good quality and sustainable road network. This study set out toinvestigate the challenges being experienced in this traditional procurement method.The study also explored the features of Public Private Partnership (PPP) and itspotentials as an alternative procurement method for highway development, operationand maintenance, including developing and validating PPP framework for application inhighways in Nigeria.The study formulated two research questions - to investigate why the traditional methodhas not produced the desired result; and how the PPP method can play a role inachieving the desired highway project output. The research conducted literature reviewto examine the challenges of DBB method in Nigeria, and subsequently explored theconcepts of PPP generally and its particular application in highways. The researchphilosophy is majorly interpretive with minor positivists blend in a methodologicalpluralism for methodology enhancement. The research used case study research designwhere quantitative method was first used to investigate the current highway projectsperformance in cost and time perspective under the DBB method. The research alsoused qualitative method to analyse official documents and questionnaires to conduct anin-depth analysis of the highway Performance Indicators and their Critical SuccessFactors under DBB and PPP methods.The comparative analysis of the research findings showed that the DBB method usedfor highway development in Nigeria generally results in cost and time overruns, lowquality road network occasioned by the lack of adequate public financing, poor roadmaintenance management system, suboptimal risk sharing and lack of innovativeprocesses, and inefficient procurement process. The findings also showed that PPP byway of its financial models, efficient procurement, operation and maintenanceprocesses, 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 concomitantroad sustainability will result in economic benefits of reduction in vehicle operating andmaintenance costs, improved standard of road and longevity that support othereconomic activities. The resultant social sustainability benefits include reduction inaccident rate, reduced travel hours, improvement in health and safety of road users.Environmental benefits of road sustainability include protection and enhancement ofnatural environment by reducing pollutants being generated from dilapidated roads. Thefindings were subjected to testing for validity, reliability and generalisability. Thefindings from data analysis were further processed to develop PPP framework forhighways in the Nigeria. The framework was validated and the result of the validationshowed that the framework is appropriate and applicable in the Nigeria environment.The framework developed in the research is a unique contribution to knowledge. Itprovides a holistic view, in a single pictorial display of interconnecting webrelationships, the performances of both the DBB and PPP procurement methods, thepossible enhancement of DBB method and the implementation procedure of PPPmethod for a sustainable highway infrastructure in Nigeria. The framework will be ofbenefits to policy makers and regulators such as PPP Unit of the Federal Ministry ofWorks as the operators of Nigeria's highways and the Infrastructure ConcessionRegulatory Commission, the regulators of PPP scheme in the areas of decision makingon alternative procurement options for highway projects, as well as adequate PPPgovernance. Other actors that will benefit from the study are the external consultantsand contract managers being engaged by FMW. Academic community and trainers willalso benefit from the research, particularly as regards to the peculiarity of implementingPPP for sustainable highways in Nigeria. Accessibility to the research work will bemade possible through publications in both local and international journals, and alsopresenting technical papers in workshops and conferences.
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