Corruption in Nigeria has harmed a significant aspect of its infrastructural growth and development. With a score of 25 in the 2023 Transparency Index, Nigeria ranked 145 out of 180. It is easy to trace the infrastructure deficit in the Nigerian system to a long line of corruption. 

In 2012, a former World Bank Vice president for Africa, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, reported that Nigeria had lost up to $400 million of its oil revenue since its independence due to corrupt practices. About 90% of Nigerian export revenue came from oil exports, but 80% of the generated revenue ended up in the hands of 1% of the population.

Political corruption has become a stumbling block for infrastructural development in Nigeria. It is also crucial to highlight the pronounced vulnerability of infrastructural projects to corruption in Nigeria. Leaders are often responsible for initiating ambitious projects that are either of poor quality or do not contribute to progress in any way.

A Timeline of Infrastructural Development in Nigeria

Since 1960, Nigeria’s political environment has experienced various changes, which have impacted the country's economic growth. Over the years, leaders have discussed the country's poor infrastructural state, but little to no action has been taken to strengthen it. 

Road networks, which witnessed modest expansion during the 1960s to facilitate trade and mobility, and railways, which saw limited expansion, were inherited from the colonial era. A significant power project was the commissioning of the Kainji Dam in 1968, which aimed to increase electricity generation. More than fifty years later, many areas within Nigeria cannot access electricity. By 2019,  30 percent of the population in rural communities did not have access to electrical energy, and 90 percent of the urban population had access.

During the oil boom, which was primarily characterised by coups and military regimes, Nigeria experienced significant infrastructural change. Major roads were built, like the Lagos-Ibadan expressway; significant investments were also made in port infrastructure to handle the increase in oil exports and imports, and airports were built to support the growing air traffic.

In the 1980s, Nigeria experienced an economic downturn and decline. Falling oil prices led to difficulties that affected infrastructural development and maintenance of existing infrastructure, as the government experienced decreased revenue. Also, many projects that began within the previous decade suffered due to a lack of maintenance and corruption. As a result of the structural adjustment program, funding was often inadequate for infrastructural projects, but the telecommunications sector started seeing some liberation, although it remained largely underdeveloped.

When Nigeria transitioned into civilian rule, it brought a new focus on infrastructure development. Several initiatives were launched to improve the infrastructure sector, like the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP), the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), and the rehabilitation of major roads and airports, amongst many others. Some improvements were made to the road and rail projects. The Abuja-Kaduna Railway highlights efforts to improve transportation infrastructure and the rehabilitation of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. Despite the reforms, Nigeria still battles with efficient power generation and fixing electricity tariffs.

Recent developments have improved infrastructure. At subnational levels, Lagos state has built blue-line and red-line rails to aid intracity transportation. There have also been cases of public-private partnerships for road energy projects, and there has been a continued expansion of telecommunications in Nigeria.

Corruption’s FootPrint on Infrastructure in Nigeria

Section 15(5) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria calls for the abolition of all corrupt practices by the state. Corruption endangers critical national assets and infrastructure, the security of government institutions, and the protection and efficient operation of such assets and infrastructure. Anti-corruption agencies have been created to mitigate corrupt practices through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC). However, establishing these commissions has not reduced corrupt practices in Nigeria.

An investigation into the Lagos-Ibadan expressway project discovered a case of embezzlement and discriminatory law enforcement in contracts awarded between  1999 and 2009. In 2009, the Federal Government engaged Bi-Courtney Nigeria Limited in a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) agreement using the Design, Build, Operate, and Transfer (DBOT) framework to construct the 105-kilometre-long section connecting the old toll plazas in Ojota, Lagos State, and Ibadan, Oyo State. The project estimated an expenditure of over N160 billion. Note that one kilometre of road rehabilitation costs an average of N700 million. There was no publicity for the collaboration of the competitive bidding. There was also no evidence that the bidding happened. Also, The Federal Ministry of Works misapplied the N50 billion allocated for the 25-year concession agreements.

In September 2012, Bi-Courtney faced a N30 billion fine for abandoning the Lagos-Ibadan highway, but the Federal Government looked away with claims of a contract review. By November 2012, the Federal Government kicked out Bi-Courtney and awarded the contract to Julius Berger and RCC on a phased basis.

Another case is the Niger Delta Development Commission’s (NDDC) mismanagement of 1.53 trillion naira. The commission revealed that it received a sum of 593.96 billion naira from mineral and non-mineral sources between 2007 and 2011. The commission also received a sum of 819.81 billion naira between 2012 and 2016. With this amount received, there have been cases of duplication of projects, incomplete projects and projects that were never implemented. Even the Ayetoro shoreline protection failed nine years after the contractors had been paid 3 billion naira for the mobilisation fees, which have been unaccounted for. 

The power sector has lost 11 trillion naira to corruption since 1999 and 2017. The privatisation of its generation and distribution has yet to be executed significantly. The chronic underperformance in the sector can be attributed to mismanagement. With electricity tariffs increasing for citizens within certain bands, electricity infrastructure has mostly remained unchanged. Nigerians are now relying on generators or solar energy, and an increasing number of high-level citizens are going entirely off the national grid due to the consistent grid collapse.

A major corruption case in the education sector is the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board’s (JAMB) misappropriation of N36 million with claims of snake swallowing the amount. Although very comical, this has proven that corruption is entrenched in several sectors. 

Conclusion

The prevalence of corruption in specific sectors of Nigeria is not a novel phenomenon. Infrastructure has degenerated into a deficit due to various misappropriations, including embezzlement, budget inflation, inadequate project monitoring and evaluation, and ineffective leadership. Much secrecy surrounds corrupt practices, and those who engage in them are frequently spared punishment due to the system's ineffectiveness. These leaders are often not held accountable and do not carry out the tasks to which they have committed. Additionally, ambitious and monumental projects plague the infrastructure sector in Nigeria.

By emphasising e-governance and information accessibility, South Korea resolved to mitigate corruption. A series of new laws, including the Administrative Procedures Act and the Freedom of Information Act, which were adopted in 1996, as well as the introduction of e-government and budget transparency, were designed to increase government transparency and openness.

To improve the infrastructure sector, corruption and corrupt practices must be eradicated. Agencies whose mission is to combat corruption should perform their duties by apprehending all individuals complicit in corrupt activities. Only through these comprehensive measures can the integrity of public administration be ensured and sustainable development achieved.

References

Channels TV. (2012, November 19). Lagos-Ibadan Expressway: FG kicks out Bi-Courtney award contracts to Berge. Retrieved June 4, 2024, from https://www.channelstv.com/2012/11/19/lagos-ibadan-expressway-fg-kicks-out-bi-courtney-award-contracts-to-berger-rcc/

Oluseye, O. (2024). Exploring potential political corruption in large-scale infrastructure projects in Nigeria. Project Leadership and Society, 5, 100108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plas.2023.100108

Page, M. T. (2018). Where It Happens: Corruption by Sector. In A NEW TAXONOMY FOR CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA (pp. 6–17). Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep21006.6

Premium Times. (2015, January 31). INVESTIGATION: Why NDDC’s N3billion Ayetoro Shoreline protection contract failed. Premium Times Nigeria. https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/175841-investigation-nddcs-n3billion-ayetoro-shoreline-protection-contract-failed.html?tztc=1

Transparency International. (2024, February 20). 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index: Explore the results. Transparency.org. https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2023