Nigeria’s Infrastructure Woes and Possible Solution

Poor infrastructure prevents Nigeria from reaching its true potential.

The Sun News titled “The Solution to Nigerian infrastructure” reports that the country’s broken roads, dilapidated schools, and inefficient port systems affect every country’s sector, region, and citizen.

The news article said that closing its infrastructure gap will require spending around US$3 trillion in the next 30 years.

The article “Nigeria’s Infrastructure Gap may Increase with Continued Insecurity, Corruption” mentions that in 2017, 135,000 kilometers of road networks in Nigeria were untarred 2017.

It cites a World Bank report that says of the 160,000 km of state and rural roads, less than 15% of rural roads are in good condition.

The country’s decrepit infrastructure affects them on many levels: it undermines Nigeria’s competitiveness, as reflected in its consistently low rank on the Global Competitiveness Index, withholds its citizens from improving their lives, and costs its economy millions of dollars per day.

Data from the Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN) in 2020 finds that inefficiencies in Nigeria’s Ports cost the country around US$55 million per day.

But beneath the country’s poor state of infrastructure are the two interlinked problems of insecurity and corruption.

Dataphyte reports that banditry and terrorism have destroyed thousands of schools, impacting millions of students, farmers, and even government structures.

Below are some more excerpts from the article, “Nigeria’s Infrastructure Gap may Increase with Continued Insecurity, Corruption“:

• The article says that as of May 2021, not less than 21 police stations, including their equipment, were burned down. Military bases and even hospitals and health care centers have also been targeted and destroyed by the terrorist group Boko Haram.
  
• Corruption is another problem that has impeded its infrastructure development. The article mentions that Transparency International ranks Nigeria 149th out of 180 countries on the corruption perception index for 2020.
  
• Corruption in Nigeria manifests itself through mismanagement of funds amounting to billions of dollars, duplication of projects in the national budgets, and billions worth of unaccounted infrastructure expenditures.

Curbing corruption can help Nigeria build its needed infrastructure

An economic analyst, Samuel Atiku, notes Nigeria’s dire need for infrastructure, and achieving this will entail the following:

• boost investors’ confidence through strong policies because the lack of trust will impede bridging the country’s infrastructure gap,
• strengthen the country’s security systems to prevent infrastructure destruction from terrorist groups, and lastly,
• the country needs an infrastructure development plan or a holistic plan to be put in motion – the last one was more than ten years ago, or a holistic program to help the government mitigate all these identified issues.

Gift Omodedia, a policy analyst, emphasizes that “open contracting” is the way to end the endemic corruption and that contracts should go to the “right person and the right place” to ensure the delivery of adequate services.

She notes that governments need to uphold their “social contract” with the country to deliver the benefits of democracy and encourage Nigerians to vote for the right leaders in the country.

Crime and corruption are common scourges in emerging and developing nations.

The Pew Research Center survey revealed that people living in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America see crime and corruption as the most significant problem in their countries.

Transparency International notes that corruption has a corrosive effect on its economic growth, equality, governance, and institutional environment, undermining its long-term growth.

But corruption in public infrastructure is crippling for developing countries like Nigeria, especially when infrastructure is critical for its progress.

According to the World Bank Blog, “As countries sit on shaky foundations, tackling corruption in infrastructure is key“:

• $3-4 trillion annually will be needed globally through 2030 to meet the infrastructure needs of the 1.2 billion people who lack electricity;
• the 663 million who lack adequate drinking water sources;
• the 1 billion who live more than two kilometers from an all-weather road; and
• The many millions cannot access work and educational opportunities due to the absence of high-cost transportation services.

The World Bank article says that mitigating corruption in developing countries is critical, mainly when high stakes meet their infrastructure needs.

Excellent infrastructure management is essential to assist countries and managing their infrastructure, but underlying social issues such as corruption are often an impediment to good practice.