Project Abandonment and Delay in Niger Delta’s Highway Projects

Abstract

The pervasiveness of project delays and abandonment in the developing world is evident in the literature. The study outlines the prevalence of extreme project delays and abandonment in the Niger Delta region, an archetypical low-lying wetland in Nigeria, given the peculiar wet land geology of the Niger Delta. A survey of the empirical literature evidence suggests more profound technical shortcomings and procurement issues, beyond the generality of factors endemic in Nigeria, further underly the state of highway delivery in the region. To complement survey-based literature assertions, the study investigates the pre/post-contractual geo-risk management practices of the regional highway agency, using a qualitative research methodology. The study outcome provides an insider view, from the perspectives of the client versus contractors, which reveals a range of festering procurement issues within the highway agency. The study posits that the procurement issues uncovered, represent the ‘bowl of contention’ between contractors and clients in highway contracts, which have remained unresolved and contributed to the unusually high spate of project delays and abandonment in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.