Working with youths and focusing on national reorientation
and development, I feel a sense of obligation to help them understand how
society works. In Nigeria, a lot of citizens do not understand a great
percentage of the goings on in government which means a majority of them work
on assumptions. If we can get the youths to understand things like Private
Public Partnerships, it could help to prepare them for future leadership positions
and what they would need to do to get things working better. This could also
help them to communicate more purposefully when they want to express their
concerns to those in authority.
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| Yet to be completed BRT project in Warri, Delta State, Nigeria |
Abandoned projects have become a recurrent decimal in the Nigerian
environment, some are revisited and completed at some point while others are
left to litter the landscape. This is a very sad situation to which successive governments
have failed to find a lasting solutions. These constraints have led to a
huge infrastructural deficit in every sector of society especially noticeable in
the areas of basic needs. One of the very prominent area of abandonment is road
construction.
Roads are left uncompleted and they practically become death
traps as incoming administrations would rather start other road projects in
area of their political interests. Contracts are constantly reviewed due to
ever rising inflation and inability of government at times to meet compensation demands.
Public procurement is allegedly fraught with corruption by
political actors, poor planning and bureaucratic bottle necks. Proper implementation
of Private Public Partnership can act as a bridge to this infrastructural
deficit. This a partnership where the private sector collaborates with the
public sector to achieve a common objective. They come together to join forces;
financial, technical, operational/management etc and also share the risks in
order to carry out infrastructural development.
Good governance can provide a conducive atmosphere for this
partnership which would result in efficient management of resources and remove
undue burdens from future generations. Proper accountability by political
actors aided by clarity, openness in decision making and a strong policy
framework are foundations for the success of the PPP.
With the required structures in place, this is a partnership
that could help government overcome inadequate infrastructure that constrains
economic growth. The private sector brings in different skills and credibility that
will encourage financial investors to bring in funds to help government
overcome poor funding problems, weak analysis and challenges of infrastructural
maintenance and durability.
