Municipal Road Construction in Kenya and Nigeria: Investigating the Politics of Infrastructure Development

Abstract

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the neglect of municipal roads and the development implications in Africa. In this study, we will address the issue of abandonment of the majority of municipal roads and the construction of a few, and how this affects human lives and socio-economic development in Africa.

Research Objectives

Specific objectives are to:

i. Investigate the socio-political and economic explanations for the neglect of municipal road construction in Nigeria and Kenya; ii.Examine the rationales for the construction of a few municipal roads and the inattention of majority in both countries; iii. Explore the development implications of abandoned municipal roads in study areas; iv.Recommend new strategies for improved and sustained municipal road construction in the study areas. Research Questions i.What are the socio-economic and political reasons for neglecting municipal road construction in Nigeria and Kenya?

ii. What are the justifications for the construction of few municipal roads and the neglect of majority?

iii. How and why do neglected municipal roads affect development?

iv. Why and how should/can the Nigerian and Kenyan governments improve and sustain municipal road construction?

The Basic Needs Theory (BNT) will be adopted in this project. This theory is being used increasingly to address the issue of community development. It comprises not just the needs of a family but also essential services provided by and for the community such as pipe borne water, sanitation, public transport, health, and education. In the 1970s, several events such as The Cocoyoc Declaration (1974), What Now – Another Development? (1975), and Catastrophe or New Society? A Latin American Model (1976), to mention a few, influenced the formulation of the BNT. This approach focuses on the dilemma of the poor and neglected communities, especially at the grassroots level. Its overarching idea is to provide people with basic needs, including income-earning opportunities. This theory is relevant to this present project because it emphasises the provision of commodities and public services to those in need especially at the local government level.

In this subject area, there are relevant literature which provide necessary background knowledge and guide to this present work. Timo Henckel and Warwick McKibbin’s (2010), “The Economics of Infrastructure in a Globalized World: Issues, Lessons and Future Challenges,” Remi Jedwab and Adam Storeygard’s (2017) Economic and Political Factors in Infrastructure Investment: Evidence from Railroads and Roads in Africa, 1960-2015, Joseph Wales and Leni Wild’s (2012), “The Political Economy of Roads: An Overview and Analysis of Existing Literature,” Kenya Gazette Supplement, (2017), and Muhammed Abdullahi and Aliyu Chikaji’s (2017), “Local Government and Development: Challenges and Way Forward.” Henckel et al, examine the nature of infrastructure, how it’s being evaluated and delivered and its impact on the economy. They raised issues such as how should infrastructure be provided? who should provide it? government or private sector? This work did not address the problems associated with municipal road construction. Jedwab et al, focus on railroads and national roads construction in Africa. The authors highlight the determinants and/or drivers of infrastructure investment. Their work provides the history of national road construction in 43 Sub-Saharan African states. They elucidate on the socio-economic and political trajectory of paved national roads and highways. Like Henckel et al, critical examination of issues of neglect of municipal roads, were evidently missing in their discussion. Wales et al, concentrate on the political economy of rural road networks. The study unravels a variety of governance conditions and factors which affect outcomes. Kenya Gazette Supplement, discusses the classification of national trunk and county roads, the establishment of road authorities and public roads standard board and financial provisions for road constructions. In this gazette, municipal roads and their inherent issues were not captured. Abdullahi et al, look at the role of the local government at the grassroots level, factors that impede development and effective administration, their relationship with both the national and state governments and how this influences the operations of the local government. One critical aspect of desertion in the above-reviewed literature and several others is the neglect of municipal/county roads and its impact on mobility of people, goods, services and development.

Research/Data Sites

This study, for relational multiplicity, focuses on Nigeria and Kenya. Both countries were colonized by the British and have a similar history and/or policy of road construction and infrastructure development. Both countries are commanding economics in their regions,and known for poor municipal/county roads. Research assistants will complement the work of the research team.