BRAZEN INFRASTRUCTURE ROT

Nigeria remains one of Africa’s promising brides with huge potentials in human capital and mineral resources, but it totters and wobbles with staggering deficits and inimical setbacks; plundered by a corrupt system, legislative imbalances, decaying infrastructure and a harsh economic environment.

According to World Bank statistics, Nigeria has the largest population in Sub-Saharan Africa and accounts for 18% of the continent’s total population. By 2050, Nigeria is projected to be the sixth largest country in the world with an estimated population of 287 million people. The urban population in the country is presently growing at about 5.5% per annum, one of the highest expansion rates in the world yet with abysmally low infrastructure growth rate to measure up to the increasing demand.

The worrisome statistics of the nation’s many plights paints a comatose picture that requires urgent attention; from decades of poor routine maintenance to underinvestment in key sectors of the economy and huge corrupt practices, the country is worse for it. This infrastructural deficit has been put at over $200 Billion and climbing.

This mephitic voyage of a plundered nation clearly affirms its backwater status among nations of the world. According to the Urban Development Bank of Nigeria PLC (now Infrastructure Bank), Nigeria also has a housing deficit of about 16 million housing units and a housing finance gap of over N30 trillion.

With metropolitan authorities being constantly challenged by soaring urban population growth and heightening crime rate the need for rapid physical expansion of towns has become compulsory. Regrettably, this rapid growth is accommodated in the cities without proper planning and provision of essential urban infrastructure and services. These are clear indicators that urgent infrastructure overhaul is required to position the country as the true giant of Africa and an infrastructure hub for the continent and even beyond.

ADDRESSING THE DECAY

It is no news that infrastructure is the keystone to a secured and dynamic society. It presents unique challenges; it also offers opportunities for both the public and private sectors. The need to also enhance the value of existing infrastructure is imperative in order to build a strong and competitive economy. Countries like China, Chile, Japan, USA, and Denmark have a buoyant economy because they embarked on huge infrastructure investment and designed a comprehensive blueprint for the required transformation. According to IHS Global Insight, China is the World’s largest investor in infrastructure and this has positioned it as a global superpower and a highly industrialized nation. It wasn’t so in the beginning, developmental aspirations spurred the nation to economic expansion and urbanization.

THE WAY OUT

The world over, derisory or poorly performing infrastructure presents major economic and social obstacles that governments and businesses need to address. Tackling grey areas like poor transport system to dwindling electricity grids; inadequate housing to poorly maintained water pipelines can cripple an economy.

Developing a comprehensive blueprint to galvanize infrastructure renaissance in the country is needful. With the National Integrated Infrastructure Masterplan (NIIMP), a 30-year plan to accelerate infrastructure development in the country as announced by the Ministry of National Planning Commission, it is hoped that the government will strategically implement the financing plan, sector and regional strategies through its Public-Private Partnerships. Government empowered organs like Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP), Fiscal Responsibility Commission ( FRC) must sit up to their responsibilities in redefining the nation’s infrastructural landscape, engage in rigorous debates on grey areas to be urgently tackled.

The need to create an enabling environment for a harmonious business activity is critical in order to encourage foreign investors and Public-Private Partnerships. Superior operational competence and optimized maintenance of existing infrastructure can help sustain them, upgrading obsolete to modern infrastructure is central to fast-tracking Nigeria’s economic development and constitutes a major advancement to the nation’s transformation agenda.

The need to also address potential gaps, deploy new technologies and adopt green infrastructure policy frameworks are key ways of addressing these challenges.

Crafting a road map for improving infrastructural productivity may be a good start. Enforced public budgets, shortfalls in lending facility, rigid regulation in the banking system are also areas that should be looked into. Local finance markets should also be encouraged to fund infrastructure.

There should be more rigorous research on new ways to tackle this challenge; investment in innovation should be on the front burner to facilitate the required acceleration in the scheme of things. Sustainable infrastructure solution is the panacea to economic redundancy; the need to generate new infrastructural breakthrough options cannot be underestimated.

A good project selection, accurate planning and forecasting will lead to a well structured infrastructural base. Measures to check sharp practices and scaling up best practices in addressing inefficiencies and moribund productivity will also help in facilitating a superior service delivery in the sector. Highly urbanized construction techniques should be deployed and capability gaps addressed. It is equally imperative to develop structures that will promote adequate manpower in order to meet the human capital challenge in the industry.

While there is a general outcry on repositioning the country and the need to address the acute problems, it is hoped that the stakeholders will forge a ground breaking path that will reposition the nation and restore it to its pride of place.

Onuchi Onoruoiza Mark (Corporate Communications Strategist and Innovation Catalyst) twitter:

2014-07-23