Nigeria has a long road to travel to get out of her infrastructural rot. At least, the Federal Government, according to the Urban Development Bank of Nigeria, needs to invest a whopping $200bn (N30tn), to raise the infrastructural provisions in the country to acceptable standards.



By the figure, it will take Nigeria about 37 years to address the country’s infrastructural deficit accumulated over 50 years of independence given the average N830bn annually budgeted for capital expenditure by the Federal Government.



The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of UDBN, Mr. Abdulrazaq Oyinloye, who gave the figure on Monday, at a workshop organised by the National Pension Commission, in Abuja, said the level of financing required to bridge the country’s infrastructure deficit surpassed the supply of capital available from the government.



A report by the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission, a copy of which was made available to THE PUNCH in Abuja, says the Federal Government requires to pump N2.25tn ($15bn) annually to improve the state of infrastructure in the country to an acceptable level.



Oyinloye said there was the need for increased public-private sector collaboration to improve the nation’s decaying infrastructure. He also canvassed the need to access the country’s pension fund asset of over N2tn to ease the existing constraints hindering infrastructure financing in the country.



He said, “This training programme couldn’t have come at a better time than now. Nigeria’s current infrastructure deficit is estimated to be well in excess of $200bn.



“The extent of financing required to bridge the country’s infrastructure deficit surpasses the supply of capital available from the government.



“There is thus a need for increased private sector participation alongside the public sector. In particular, accessing the capital of Nigeria’s N2tn pension fund pot is essential, provided it does a win-win solution for both pension fund managers looking for long term steady investment returns and growth potential.”



The Pension Reform Act 2004 established the Contributory Pension Scheme. The scheme is under the supervision of the National Pension Commission which was established to regulate and supervise all pension matters in the country. Workers in both the private and public sectors and their employers are required to contribute a certain percentage of the employees’ monthly wage into the fund.



The Director-General of PENCOM, Mr. Muhammad Ahmad, noted that the country’s infrastructure had remained a major challenge in its march towards joining the league of 20 top economies of the world by 2020.



He said, “The nation’s infrastructure deficit presents enormous opportunities for the private sector, especially since the funding requirements in bridging the infrastructure gap far outweighs the available investment from the government.



“The rationale for encouraging pension fund investment in infrastructure was predicated on further enhancing the safety of pension fund assets through diversification of the pension portfolios and income streams as well as contributing to the provision of critical infrastructure that would enhance economic development and generate employment opportunities.”



Indeed, analysts believe that a curious combination of official corruption and neglect have left the state of infrastructure in the country prostrate. Fifty years after independence, the country’s parlous state of roads, electricity supply, water and housing belies the resources available to it.



The nation’s landscape is littered with abandoned projects initiated by successive governments at all levels. The few completed ones are either badly executed or suffer from poor maintenance culture.



A recent report by the Presidential Projects Assessment Committee on Federal Government projects said 11,886 infrastructural projects embarked upon by the government had yet to be completed due to subversion of due process by ministries, departments and agencies of government, resulting in avoidable loss of billions of naira.



Specifically, the report stated, “There are 11, 886 ongoing capital projects being executed by the Federal Government. The estimated cost of these projects is N7.78tn. Out of this amount, N2.69tn had been paid to contractors. However, there is evidence of large scale and widespread institutional mediocrity, deficiency of vision and lack of direction in the project management. This has resulted in avoidable losses of billions of naira.



“In addition, corruption in the handling of projects by many self-seeking and inept public officers and contractors has led to massive inflation of costs and undermined the legitimacy of their monitoring and supervision responsibilities.”

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