TODAY’S VIEWPOINT IS ON THE NEED TO TACKLE THE MENACE OF ABANDONED PUBLIC PROJECTS IN NIGERIA. IT IS WRITTEN BY EMMANUEL DADA, A YOUTH CORPS MEMBER IN THE NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT.
Nigeria with her immense potential for socio-economic growth, underpinned by her vast natural resources, however has a reality that does not reflect the potential.
On the path to national economic revival, several measures have been considered.
Some of these include cutting the cost of governance, pruning the number of federal establishments by scrapping or merging some of them.
However, one very critical impediment to this growth of the nation is the persistent menace of abandoned projects.
The issue of abandoned projects in Nigeria is a significant concern that affects the nation’s economic growth and development.
Across the country, half- constructed roads, skeletal hospital structures, idle power plants, and failed industrial developmental projects litter the landscape.
Addressing this issue is not just about infrastructure; it is about unlocking Nigeria’s economic potential and fostering trust in governance.
Recently, the senate set up an ad-hoc committee to investigate the reported case of 11,866 projects abandoned by the federal government since Nigeria’s independence in 1960.
According to reports of the senate, about 63 per cent of the entire projects since independence were abandoned.
Such alarming figure requires answer for why successive governments allow such an enormous waste of public resources to grow to this alarming level.
These abandoned projects span across vital sectors such as health, education, transportation, and energy.
The Ajaokuta steel company, East-west road, Abuja millennium tower are few examples of abandoned public projects.
It is worthy of note that abandoned projects constitute wasted opportunities for national development.
Some of the root causes of the menace is deeply attributed to corruption and systemic failures, such as policy inconsistencies.
Successive governments often bring shifts in priorities, with new administrations abandoning projects initiated by their predecessors.
Many times such shifts are more obvious across political party lines.
The subject of misappropriation and mismanagement of funds, inflated contracts, and diversion of allocated resources are also major contributors to the abandonment of projects which cannot also be overlooked.
And over time, many of these same projects are re-allocated to other contractors at more expensive rates, considering the economic reality and prevailing inflation rates.
The said sum will still be drawn from taxpayers’ money.
This successive practice of waste should not be encouraged.
Every proper forward-thinking government should identify and seek to complete abandoned projects that are of strategic socio-economic importance, notwithstanding which government initiated such projects.
The prevalence of abandoned projects is a glaring contradiction in a country striving for economic revival.
It is not just a matter of lost resources but a failure to meet the aspirations of millions of Nigerians.
Tackling this menace requires political will, strategic planning, and collective action by all stakeholders.
Nigerians should also hold the governments accountable for every project within their constituencies.
Only then can Nigeria unlock its true potential and chart a sustainable path to economic prosperity, bearing in mind that every unfinished project is a dream deferred, and every dream deferred is a nation held back.
