REVIEW OF LITERATURE

INTRODUCTION

Our focus in this chapter is to critically examine relevant literature that would assist in explaining the research problem and furthermore recognize the efforts of scholars who had previously contributed immensely to similar research. The chapter intends to deepen the understanding of the study and close the perceived gaps.

Precisely, the chapter will be considered in three sub-headings:

Conceptual Framework

Theoretical Framework

Empirical framework

2.1 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Real Estate Agency

Agency is described as a relationship existing between a principal and an agent, where an agent is given rights of authorization from the former to act on his behalf. Such relationship could be established when principals are convinced that the involvement of agents will produce more effective returns usually due to their vantage in training, commitment and conversance in the prescribed endeavour. Agency, which is also described as brokerage service, has been studied in real estate in relation to the impact of broker intermediation on selling price and duration, Jud (1983), Jud and Frew (1986), Jud, Seaks, and Winkler (1996), Zumpano, Elder, and Baryla (1996), Elder, Zumpano, and Baryla (1999, 2000), Rutherford, Springer, and Yavas (2005), Huang and Rutherford (2007), Rutherford, Springer, and Yavas (2007), and Turnbull and Dombrow (2007). Nothwithstanding the relevance of training in agency, which is an aspect of real estate practice, its eminence in academic curriculum is still sparse. Agitations on this backdrop have been on over the years. Rabianski and Black (1999) noted that questions have been raised by professionals on relevance and effectiveness of the current undergraduate curriculum to the practice of Estate management in the United States and reiterated that a lot still needs to be done to further improve the effectiveness of the current curriculum. Perhaps, the glitch facing estate agency curriculum is the dichotomy in schools where the trainng of future real estate professionlas is being housed. Manning and Roulac (2001) pointed out that real estate academic programs in the United States are often domiciled in the business schools and usually focused on finance and investment while real estate programs in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand focused on built environment and are housed outside the business school. Schulte, Schulte-Daxbox, Holzmann and Wiffler (2005) reveal that real estate programs in Europe center on the physical aspect of real estate (construction technology and engineering) while in the United States real estate profession include asset management, investment finance and related issues dealing with the consumption of space over time. In Nigeria where it is being housed in the environmental faculty, its curriculum majorly centres on feasibility and viability appraisal, valuation, property and facility management, development and planning amongst others. Even within regions and countries disparate appraoch of impartation does exist. Weeks and Finch (2003) in related findings of earlier research, Epley (1996), discovered that at the graduate level, the course description, text, course assignments and qualifications of instructors varied widely at the schools offering a terminal degree while the field examination questions revealed a significant difference in emphasis. Even these teachings according to Hakfoort, Berkhout and Manshanden (2003) are usually done with the aid of textbooks with little or no practical participation by students. The need for training of agents was ascertained in the research carried out by (Munneke and Yavas, 2001; Allen, Faircloth, Forgery, and Rutherford, 2003; Johnson, Zumpano, and Anderson, 2008). The researchers discovered that differences among brokerage firms and or their agents suggest the possibility that some homes sell at premium prices and over a shorter time horizon than is the case with other broker-assisted transactions handled by less skilled or motivated agents. Hence, buyers and sellers may not be indifferent with respect to their choice or use of sales people which might prompt them to seek out ways to identify the more skilled and more highly motivated agents. Property developers in Singapore have been found to assess the strengths of marketing agents before appointing them, while the latter also flaunt their strengths in order to secure agency jobs (Pheng and Hoe, 1994). Black and Rabianski (2003) in an attempt at defining a body of knowledge in real estate surveyed 376 individuals around the world with the use of two sets of open ended mailed questionnaire to the international membership section of various associations where respondents were asked to list the twenty-four topics considered germane for the real estate education and professional practice. They realized through the study that there appears to be no clear cut consensus on the boundary lines of the discipline either academic or professional. Hakfoort, Berkhout and Manshanden (2003) chronicled a two-year commitment embarked by the board of directors of the American Real Estate Society (ARES) to study the current state of the body of knowledge for real estate. The study revealed that the majority of academic real estate research is out of touch with the reality of the market place and in most cases in conflict with what those in industries truly find useful. This is not farfetched as in some Nigeria real estate curriculum certain esoteric fields are infused such as magnetism and atomic physics. Black, Carn, Diaz and Rabianski (1996) noted that some basic skills and knowledge such as negotiation skills, information gathering and processing, management of people and processes, communication, problem solving and knowledge about market evaluation and business environment required of an estate surveyor are in most cases not learnt in schools. This imbalance has been reported from the industry base where it was discovered from a survey in the United States that graduates’ knowledge was acceptable but their skills were not (Ghyoot, 2000). The skills exibited will be appreciated when the outcome of their endevour results to efficiency, nothwithstanding the type of agency practice adopted (Ke, Jayne and Isaac, 2009). Researchers have however made recourse to personal development by estate agents via the use of the World Wide Web. Redman (2001) advocated that students tend to enjoy and assimilate information from the internet more easily than from other sources. He went on to affirm that the web gave undergraduates “hands-on” method of learning about the price, mortgage rate, valuation and location related aspects of real estate that were once limited to textbook coverage or actual practical experience.

Concept of Infrastructure

Different perspectives exist in the conceptualization of infrastructure. Hence, there is hardly any standard definition across all studies for infrastructure. Economically, as noted by Torrisi (2009), distinction could be made between infrastructure (road, education, health) and superstructure (in terms of manufacturing, and mining activities).According to Fourie (2006), infrastructure could entail all elements which are associated with rendering services to the public such as transport, communications, education, energy, and water supply. Going by this perspective, infrastructure is regarded as capital goods that produce public services to the citizens. infrastructure is distinguished with two main features which include “non-excludability” (which is for all) and “positive externalities” (which tailored towards beneficial effect) (Fedderke & Garlick, 2008). Although, the degree at which infrastructure may reflect these two main features differs, or even in some instances, may not reflect these attributes. There could be public goods that are not essentially physical structure, for example, we have military equipment. There may also be private owned infrastructure which may not necessarily be subjected to such features of infrastructure such as non-excludability (Fourie, 2006).In another instance, infrastructure is viewed as:the sum of material, institutional and personal facilities and data which are available to the economic agents, and which contribute to realizing the equalization of the remuneration of comparable inputs in the case of a suitable allocation of resources, that is complete integration and maximum level of economic activities (Torrisi, 2009, p.100).As argued by Baskakova and Malafeev (2017:3), infrastructure is characterized with three qualities: “technological, economic (source of external economies, public or merit good and source of external effects) and institutional (infrastructure goods and services as an object of state provision control)”. Hence, infrastructure is chiefly viewed based on its capability to enliven and activate the agents’ capabilities. According to IMF (2015), investment in infrastructure is regarded as the overall expenditure on “public gross fixed capital formation” (GFCF) Truger (2015) using the lens of the “golden rule of public investment” referred to infrastructural investment as government expenditures channeled into developing infrastructures that will generate positive impacts on the economy by fostering economic growth.However,VäliläandMehrotra (2005) tries to conceptually distinguish between “infrastructure investments” and “public investment” as these two terms are often quite misunderstood and misplaced. The authors note that though, a large chunk of public investment go for infrastructure investment, however, it may be wrong to say that all infrastructural investments are public investment, and this is logically so since commercial entities have equally been known with the provision of infrastructure in recent time, especially, in lieu of tax liabilities.

Forms Of Development Infrastructure

Extant literature indicates that the concept of infrastructure assumes two major common dimensions - they can be physical as well as social. The extent to which they take this dimension depends on how much relevance they impact on the advancement of the economic growth and development of the State on one side and on human resources and capacity of the individual within the State on the other hand. Hence, the quality of physical infrastructures like roads, pipe-borne water and electricity may help explain the economic progression of the State as much as the capacity of the individuals in a State may be strengthened by their ability to secure worthy basic and tertiary education as well as sustainable and affordable health-care services. Recognizing this, Olaseni and Alade, (2012) submitted that education and health are the two dominant social infrastructures which can have profound effect on economic development of any nation. Resonating with the above, albeit in a complex manner, Kumar (2005) submitted also, that infrastructure can be “Hard and Soft". For him, Hard refers to the large physical networks necessary for the functioning of a modern industrial nation, whereas "soft" infrastructure refers to all the institutions which are required to maintain the economic, health, and cultural and social standards of a country, such as the financial system, the education system, the health system, the governance system, and judiciary system, as well as security (Kumar, 2005). Even though the forms of development infrastructure are not exhaustive, this paper will briefly expatiate some examples of both social and physical infrastructure as follows:

Social Infrastructure

Beginning with the healthcare infrastructure, social infrastructure in Nigeria is bedeviled with a myriad of challenges that results from inadequate capital spending, outdated technologies, poor infrastructure such as laboratory equipment and specialist in medical matters. In spite of media propaganda and the successive health sector reforms by the government, the public health care system in Nigeria is still inefficient in all ramifications (Adeyinka, 2014). In 1979, Nigeria had 562 general hospitals, supplemented by 16 maternity and/or paediatric hospitals, 11 Armed Forces hospitals, six teaching hospitals, and three prison hospitals. Altogether, they accounted for about 44,600 hospital beds. In addition, general healthcare centres were estimated to total slightly less than 600; general clinics 2,740; maternity homes 930; and maternal health centres 1,240. The hospitals were distributed among federal, state, and local governments, while some are privately owned. In 1985, there were 84 federal health establishments accounting for 13 per cent of hospital beds, 3,023 owned by state governments 47 per cent of hospital beds 6,331 owned by local governments 11 per cent of hospital beds, and 1,436 privately owned medical establishments providing 14 per cent of hospital beds. Overall life expectancy at birth is 52 years; infant mortality rate is 86 per 1000 live, while maternal mortality ratio is 840 per 100,000 live births, (WHO, 2011). Bilateral and multilateral assistance, and government spending on health account for about 26.40 billion Naira or 26% of total annual budget for 2011 have not translated into enhanced health status of average Nigerians. A total of N30 billion annually is spent by private individuals, the Federal Government and the 36 states of the federation on foreign medical services. This amount of money if properly utilized at home is enough to fix all the dilapidated infrastructure in all the hospital in Nigeria as well as establishing new ones (Benjamin, 2013). On the other hand, education is highly undeveloped in Nigeria. Accordingly, Nigeria has a total of 87,941 primary schools with a population of 24,422,918 pupils in all the primary schools, and about 7,129 public junior secondary schools respectively. At the primary school level 59,007 (65.04%) schools were constructed in 2010 as against 11,295, and at the junior secondary school, the rate of the construction stand at 36.6%. This implies that there is a short fall of 64% in school construction which means that for the country to move forward additional 64% of schools have to be constructed (EFA,2014). Relatedly, in 2011, the percentage of classrooms constructed at the primary school level stood at 72.25% of the required number, this represented an increase in of 60.35% recorded in 2010 again, this implies a short fall off 28%, while for the junior secondary school, there was an increase of about 10% from 69,610 (67.87%) in 2010 to 77.51% in 2011, this also implies a gab of 23%. According to the EFA Country Report (2012), there was a shortfall of 252,312 classrooms at the JSS level, and 130,755 at the Senior Secondary level, making a total of 383,067 shortfalls of classrooms respectively (NBS, 2016). Another important factor influencing learning is the provision of utilities, particularly water, electricity, both of which make the school environment child-friendly. However, according to SER (2013), provision of water in most schools is not good enough, while only 21 states had more than 60% provision of water supply in schools. There is need, therefore, for improvement in the provision of both electricity and water in public, private and preprimary schools. In terms of teachers, there are 426,132 teachers in both private and public primary representing 45% which implies a short fall of 55% of teachers in Nigeria’ schools. Similarly in JSS there are 170,628 teachers across the nation representing 43% at a ratio of 1:26 students which is grossly inadequate (NBS, 2016). Another challenge facing the educational sector is the provision of utilities, particularly water, and electricity, both of which are grossly inadequate. According to SER (2013), provision of water in most schools is not good enough. While 21 states had more than 60% provision, only 5 States had 60% provision of water supply in schools. The tertiary institutions in Nigeria comprises of 123 universities (36 Federal, 36 State, 51 Private), 71 polytechnics, 47 monotechnics and 79 colleges of education. Despite the tremendous increase in the number of tertiary institutions and particularly universities, their capacity is not enough to accommodate half of the number of qualified candidate seeking admission into higher institution of learning. For instance 1.5 million sat for the JAMB 2016 examination and the available space can only accommodate 400,000 thousand candidate which implies that for the 1.5 to gain entry into these schools an increase of about 492 additional institutions is needed (FME,2016). Deficit in infrastructural facilities is another area where there is challenge, in-adequate infrastructures manifest in obsolete laboratories, and overcrowded class rooms. Many of the laboratories and workshop are obsolete, they suffer from overcrowd, scarcity, and broken furniture. The total available bed space in all the universities was put at 109,509 which only is 10% of what is required. The average ratio of toilet users is 1:20 forcing some students to the bush or surrounding compound of the hostel as open toilets (FME, 2016). Arising from above, the role education and health play in repositioning the individual for societal growth and development cannot be overestimated. Education for one has been considered as a very important source of economic growth. This is the reason Denison (1962) opined that even though education may be a social investment, it is also an economic investment since it enhances the stock of human capital. Again, the role of education as a social infrastructure and as a stimulant of growth and development can be enhanced only if it is qualitatively provided. Qualitative education is a major determinant of the stock of human capital. It has proved to be the vehicle for national transformation in human history and no nation ever rises above her investment in education (Oyedepo, 2011).

Physical Infrastructure

Physical infrastructures are those facilities that have a tangible and material impact on the people and the economy of any nation. Also known as economic infrastructure, it is defined as the infrastructure that promotes economic activity, such as roads, highways, market, airports, sea ports, electricity etc. While emphasizing the depth of the mess in physical infrastructure, Kabiru (2016) argued that the physical condition of most of the existing air, water, rail and road infrastructure in Nigeria is a worrisomely dilapidating and disheartening. For example the rail transport network in the country stands at 3,557 kilometers with 3,505 kilometers still on the narrow gauge. Statistical figures (Figure 2) on the Nigerian corporation passenger and freight traffic showed that while in 1964 the corporation carried an average of 11,288,000 passengers and 2,960,000 tons of freight, by 1974 these figures had dropped to only4, 342,000 passengers and a dismal 1,098,000 tons of freight and the passenger traffic again grew from 7 million in 1978 to 15.5 million in 1984, but then declined again to 3.0 million in 2003 due to neglect of the sector by the government. South Africa has rail network of (km) 20,872, whereas Nigeria has only 3,505 km. Nigeria needs a decent rail transport network of 40,000kmto move a major part of its estimated50-60 million tons of freight per annum. On air transportation still there is much to be done as when compared with South Africa who has 85 Airport whereas Nigeria has 22 despite the population of Nigeria which almost double that of South Africa. In terms of seaport Nigeria has 13 seaports which is relatively adequate when compare with South Africa who 8 seaport, but the facilities at the Nigerian seaport are obsolete and inadequate to cater for the influx of cargo and passengers, modern equipment need to be installed at the seaport to facilitate quick service delivery at the port (kabiru, 2016). Road transport has experienced setbacks as most road in the country are in a dilapidated condition which makes transportation of goods and passengers somehow difficult this is because apart from hours spent in traffic, Nigeria loses between N133.8 billion and N175 billion because of increased vehicle operating cost, delayed turn-around, increased travel time, as well as reduction in asset value (Sumaila,2012).There is also human cost as about 80% of injuries in Nigeria are traffic accident related, making it the country with the second highest road traffic accident fatalities among 193 countries of the world (Ayo, 2013 & Ariyomo, 2014). Furthermore, electricity is the hub of economic, social and technological development as it is the engine room of development which facilitates the provision of power for socioeconomic activities to take place. Electricity supply is a very sensitive issue with several political and economic sophistications in many countries which most of the time define the industry's effectiveness. But this important facilitator of development is grossly inadequate when compare with other countries like Brazil for instance generates 100,000MW of grid-based power for 201 million and South Africa generates 40,000MW for 50 million (Chika,2015). The 3000 to 4000MW now being generated for Nigeria's population of 180 million, is still far too low (Kabiru, 2016). From the inception of Buhari administration there was an increase of approximately 35% of the electricity generation from 1,500MW to 4,000MW but this increase has been short-lived as the current generation has decreased drastically to below 2000MW and the supply kept on fluctuating every now and then. According to Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) reported that only five of the country’ 23 power plants are currently functional which resulted to country’s dwindling electricity supply that took a further nosedive to unprecedented all-time low level of 1,327 megawatts (MW) from the 4,800 MW level attained recently. Some of the causes of this downtrend is located in activities of vandals and the over perennial problem of fuel shortages. Physical infrastructure according to the American Heritage of English Dictionary the is an underlying base or foundation especially for organization or system, It is the basic facility, services, and installation needed for the functioning of a community or society such as transportation, communication, power, etc (AHDEL,2010). Physical infrastructures give life to worth attached to human development. They are the facilities that enhance and organize the economy of the State for functional engagements and progress. They aid economic production by facilitating the rigorous processes involved therein. This is the reason bad governance and economic underdevelopment are easily blamed on poor road network alongside ill-developed transportation system, unstable telecommunication system, lack of power supply.

Causes of Poor Infrastructure Development

The honest truth remains that the major causes of poor infrastructure development that permeate Nigeria nation and indeed many African countries find their roots in the structural, systemic and socio-political lapses that are inherent from the past historical realities of colonial administration. This is worsened in the contemporary experience of the neo- colonialism, militarism and the current political maneuvering of the present bourgeois democrats. There has been no clear and implemented political manifesto and ideology with regards to good governance in Nigeria especially since independence. Habu Mohammed (2008:156) asserted that: One of the challenges of development process in Nigeria as in other African societies has been most pronounced in the area of good governance… it lies with the operators of the system of governance in the country, the local and International elites and their perception of what democracy entails, represents and meant for society. Good governance remains a theory that has not found relevance in the concept of empiricism and testability in Nigeria; it remains a utopian theory, a million miles journey that is waiting for a takeoff grant. Only God knows when the wind of good governance will begin to blow in Nigeria. According to Chinua Achebe (1983:1) “the Nigeria problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenges of personal example which are the hallmark of a true leader”. Associated to the good governance problem is the cankerworm called corruption which has eaten deep into the fabric of Nigerian economy. According to Francis Oluleye and Kenneth Obi (2012:25), “corruption can be said to be largely responsible for the under development of Nigeria. Funds appropriated for development purposes are either diverted or misappropriated for self-aggrandizement with the consequence that those projects remain undone or uncompleted”. A visit to some of the uncompleted projects or abandoned projects that are scattered all over Nigeria will give a hind- sight and information on how very sound developmental projects which would have boosted the infrastructural state of the economy were abandoned to the detriment of the Nigerian poor masses. Some of these projects may have received certificate of completion from the appropriate authority even when they have not been completed. Writing on the effects of corruption on Economic development, Ihionkhan and Okpamen (2007:334) noted that:Corruption reduces economic development by creating economic inefficiencies, increasing the cost of doing business, reducing competition, scaring potential investors, diverting public funds from services that benefit citizens and reducing compliance with regulation.

The Nature And Challenges Of Infrastructural Development In Nigeria

Arguably, infrastructural facilities are in deplorable state in Nigeria. The basis for bad governance is explained from this understanding. This is one of the reasons Oyedele (2012) posited that, infrastructure development is one of the foundations for assessing the achievements of democratic leaders and it is the foundation of good democratic governance. Experience in Nigeria shows that agitation for infrastructural development is higher in democratic government than in military dictatorship. This is because the resources for provision of infrastructure are always scarce. This lack has opened unquantifiable loopholes for infrastructural deficits. In fact, the Infrastructural report of Nigeria just like any third world country is nothing to write home about. The housing situation is in a sorry state both quantitatively and qualitatively (Agbola, 1998; Ajanlekoko, 2001; Nubi,2000; Onibokun, 1996; Oyedele, 2006). Most infrastructures are now decayed and need repair, rehabilitation or replacement. The governance needed to provide this is glaringly absent. Government is the system that plans, organizes, controls and supervises the people who are resident in an area in other for all to have conducive-environment for living and a sense of belonging. Governments have the power to put in place all measures that it deem fit will make an environment beneficial for living for everybody. Additionally, infrastructure development in developing countries like Nigeria is more challenging because of the accessibility of people to government and involves identifying the right project, carrying out feasibility and viability studies and embarking out physical development of the project. The challenges are numerous and include finance, technology for development, maintenance and design. The challenges also include quality requirements of projects to meet international standard and to be sustainably developed. Projects must meet the carbon emission standard set by international organizations like International Standard Organisation. Air capture and analysis are done in communities to ensure that they emit as little greenhouse gases (GHGs) as possible, human settlements must be bio-diversified with co-habitation of other animals and plants and natural environment must be conserved for sustainable development and so on (Oyedele, 2012).

The numerous challenges have not been tackled as they should. Nigeria's lack of basic infrastructure to facilitate sustainable development and trade – both regionally and globally – and to ensure competitiveness is already known by all. In particular, for the large number of local governments, especially the rural ones, the dwellers produce have no access to markets and are not stored, hampered by weak transport and energy infrastructure (Oyedele, 2012). The trickle-down effects of the above are numerous. For instance, tradesmen and other technical human resources needed for infrastructural development are scarce because of lack of training and motivation. “As a result many professional people, tradesmen and senior managers are migrating to other countries” (Robbins et al, 2009). Because of fast money, most youths that are supposed to learn a trade are now “commercial motorcycle riders”.

State Of Infrastructure Development And Implications For National Development In Nigeria

The state of infrastructure development in Nigeria is still below expectations despite the various legal institutional frameworks, commitments and interventions by both state and non-state actors. The state of infrastructure is a constraint to achieving socio-economic development in the country. The absence of critical and required infrastructure in virtually all the sectors of the economy (i.e. transportation, e power, communication, aviation, education, health, etc.) not only affects economic development but also efforts at enhancing the standard of living of the populace. Statistics over time have shown the high level of infrastructure deficits in the country. Nigerian infrastructural deficit is estimated at $100 bn annually. This is estimated to be 100% above the yearly infrastructure budget in the past two decades in the country (Onwuamaeze, 2022). At present, the value of infrastructural development in Nigeria is 35% of GDP compared to the developed countries with 70% of GDP (ISD, n.d.). The country requires $1.5 tn to fix the infrastructure gap over the next 10 years (Umunna, 2022). The above statistics further show that investment in infrastructure in Nigeria is grossly inadequate considering the population and the land mass of the country. Furthermore, the World Economic Forum’s 2019 Global Competitiveness Index ranked Nigeria 116 out of 141 countries. The poor performance could be attributed to the poor state of infrastructure in the country. The situation is worse in the rural areas in Nigeria where the level of infrastructure development is near zero. A study carried out shows that more than $100 bn is required to address the problem of infrastructure deficit in Nigeria (Adesina et al., 2021). Also worrisome is the rate of abandoned projects in Nigeria. Many ongoing projects are left unattended for many years by the government. The implication is that the unstable inflationary rate makes initial cost agreements on these projects unattainable. The cost of such projects increases over time. Thus, causing additional expenditure for the government. Statistics as of August 2021 indicate that the cost of abandoned projects in Nigeria is approximately 12 tn Naira (₦) (Business Elites Africa, 2020). A report by the Nigerian Institute of Quality Surveyor (NIQS) shows that there are about 56,000 abandoned projects by both the state and federal governments across the country (Business Elites Africa, 2020). Huge sums of money were expended on some of these projects before they were abandoned because of a lack of funds to complete them. Sometimes money used to finance these projects were loans collected from international and local financial institutions. Some of the projects are jointly financed by the government and private firms through PPP. The government’s inability to do correct estimations of the cost implications of these projects could be adduced for these anomalies. The implication is that a lot of scarce financial resources are wasted in the process. The transportation and power sectors are the most affected by the problem of infrastructure deficit. The state of infrastructure in these sectors is infectious and in a state of comatose. For example, the road transport system is the most utilised and popular mode of transportation in Nigeria. This mode of transport constitutes 80% of the means of human and goods traffic in Nigeria. Unfortunately, less than 40% of the road networks are tarred with more than half of the road networks unconducive for traffic. In other words, the country has about 195 000 km of road networks, and only 60 000 km of the roads constituting 40% of the entire road network is tarred (Infrastructure Regulatory Commission, 2019). This implies that most of the roads are bad and not good for traffic. Traffic along these roads is difficult because of potholes, uneven surfaces, erosion and dangerous bends. Other reasons adduced for the decay in the road networks include using inferior materials and poor construction works by contractors. Many of the roads are not constructed in line with specifications and as such get unfit for traffic within a short period after completion. Also, the roads lacked timely and adequate maintenance. There is also the problem of road vandalism and sabotage by some local communities and road users (Babalola, 2021; Business Day Newspaper, 2021). The finding of a survey carried out by Business Elites Africa revealed that seven states in Nigeria are the worst hit when it comes to bad roads in Nigeria. The states are: Abia, Edo, Imo, Anambra, Lagos, Rivers and Benue (Business Elites Africa, 2022). Unfortunately, these states are very strategic in terms of their economic importance. For instance, Abia, Imo and Anambra states are the trade and industrial hubs in Nigeria. The popular Aba market is in Abia state, while the popular Onitsha market is located in Anambra state. Some of the operating viable industries in Nigeria are located in these states. The roads along these states have also been linked to the south–east to the south–west zones of the country. The roads along these routes are important for the traffic of humans and goods. The recent completion of the second Niger Bridge in Onitsha, named after the immediate past president of the country, Mohammadu Buhari, will ease the traffic and serve as a gateway connecting the south and other parts of the country (Ajakaiye, 2023). Lagos state is the economic capital of Nigeria. Most of the major big private firms and companies that operate in the economy have their headquarters in Lagos. The state is also connected to the Atlantic Ocean where most of the imported goods are transported to other parts of the country. Edo state is the gateway to Lagos from the south-south, south-east and north-central. It links the economic capital, Lagos, to other parts of Nigeria. Benue state is also adjudged to be the food basket of Nigeria. Thus, the state is important in achieving the food security required for the economic development of Nigeria. One of the implications of the poor and dilapidated road networks is that the roads are so dangerous that it accounts for the high mortality or death rate in Nigeria, after ill health. Statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO) as reported by Ajimotokan (2023) indicate that 41 693 people are killed annually because of road accidents along the roads in Nigeria and the number of casualties constitutes 2.82%, which was the highest in the world. Furthermore, 350 961 people were killed and 120 889 were injured because of road accidents in Nigeria from 1960 to 2016. From 2016 to 2021, a total number of 32 617 people died and 64 053 were injured in various road accidents in the country. Therefore, an estimated 383 278 people were killed and 1 240 701 people were injured in various road accidents from 1960 to 2021. Also, in 2021, more than 11 800 road traffic casualties were reported. About 10 200 people were badly injured with many losing their limbs, while 1700 fatalities were recorded. Nigerian road casualties are one of the highest in the world with an estimate of 33.7% per 100 000. Statistics show that 15 persons die in Nigeria daily because of road traffic accidents translating to the death of four people every 6 h, and 426 deaths per month (Ajimotokan, 2023; Ojo, 2022; Oyeyemi, 2017). One major reason that could be reason for high rate of casualties is the bad roads in the country. Furthermore, the roads in Nigeria are low-speed roads with a speed range of 30 km – 60 km because of the poor and bad road networks in the country. Nigeria was ranked 143 out of 162 countries with bad road networks and it ranked 13 out of the 15 African countries sampled for study. High-speed roads were found in rich and developed countries, while the slow ones are in poor, developing countries (Uduu, 2022). The road network is no doubt a catalyst for socio-economic development in Nigeria and it constitutes an integral part of the transport system and infrastructure in the country. The road network enhances the delivery of products from farms to the market. It provides easy access to health care services, education services and agriculture extension services. It also enhances rural development, reduces rural-urban migration, facilitates social mobility and urbanisation, and reduces poverty, unemployment and inequality. Unfortunately, this cannot be said of Nigeria. The obvious fact is that improving the quality of road networks in Nigeria is critical to achieving national development, especially the SDGs in the country. The rail system also constitutes an important infrastructure necessary for national development in Nigeria. It is an important means of ensuring a safe and cost-effective movement of heavy goods and services. Before and shortly after Nigeria’s independence in 1960, the rail transport system was the major means of transportation in Nigeria. The rail lines covered the major economic hubs of the country. They include Lagos to Kano and Lagos to Port Harcourt, via Kaduna; Lagos to Maiduguri via Kano, Minna to Baro, Nguru to Maiduguri and Ajaukuta to Warri. The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) is in charge of the rail system in Nigeria. The Nigerian railway’s performance from 1960 to late 1970 was remarkable as it contributed significantly to the GDP and the transport system in Nigeria. The impressive performance of the Nigerian railway started decreasing in mid-1970s. As of 1980, the Nigerian railway was bedevilled by various operational problems affecting the financial status and performance of the NRC. The long period of nonperformance led to its total collapse in the mid-1980s. The rail system has not been revitalised for effective service delivery since its collapse over four decades ago. Some of the problems that led to the collapse of the Nigerian railways include poor or bad management, corruption, and out-modern and dilapidated facilities, that is trucks, wagons, couches, tracks and communication gadgets, among others. Several efforts were put in place to revive the sector right from the 1980s, from the Management Contract agreement entered into with India in 1976, to the partnership entered with the China Railways in the 1990s. These efforts were not successful as the railway system remains ineffective. Today, most of the railway stations and yards have turned into ghost towns with no activities going on there.

Review Of National Housing Policy

According to Article No. 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, every individual has a fundamental human right to housing that ensures access to a safe, secure, habitable and affordable home with freedom from forced eviction. Thus, the Human Right to adequate housing is the right of every individual male, female, young, old, child, rich or poor to acquire and sustain a secure home to live in peace and dignity. The Right to Housing is codified as a Human Right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which stipulates that “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for health and wellbeing of himself and of his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions”. In order to clarify the meaning and scope of the right to housing as expressed in the Covenant, in 1991, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), the body that monitors the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, issued its general comment that “ the Right to Housing applies to everyone. The phrase “himself and his family” does not refer to any limitation in right to housing to individuals, or over groups. Furthermore, individuals as well as families are entitle to adequate housing regardless of age, economic status, group or other affiliation or status, and employment and the right must not be subject to any form of discrimination”(CESCR, 1991) The right to housing can also be interpreted in a broad and inclusive sense as the right to live in “security, peace and dignity” rather than in a narrow or restrictive sense. Therefore, right to housing is inextricably linked to other fundamental human rights and should be seen as referring to not only housing but adequate housing. There are seven principles that are fundamental to human right to housing which includes:

Security of Tenure: Residence should possess a degree of security of tenure that guarantees protection against forced evictions, harassment and other threats including predatory redevelopment and displacement.

Availability of Services, Materials, Facilities and Infrastructures: Housing must provide certain facilities essential for health, security, comfort and nutrition. For instance, residence must have access to safe drinking water, heating and lighting, washing facilities, means of food storage and sanitation.

Affordability: Housing costs should be as such a level that the attainment and satisfaction of other basic needs are not threatened or compromised. For example, one should not have to choose between paying rent and buying food.

Habitability: Housing must provide its residence adequate space that protects them cold, damp, heat, rain, wind or other threats to health; structural hazards, and diseases.

Accessibility: Housing must be accessible to all. And disadvantaged and vulnerable groups must be accorded full access to housing resources.

Location: Housing should not be built on polluted sites, or in immediate proximity to pollution sources that threaten the right to health of its residence. The physical safety of residents must be guaranteed as well. Similarly, housing must be in a location which allows access to employment opportunities, heath care services and other social facilities.

Cultural Adequacy: Housing and housing policies must guarantee the expression of cultural identity and diversity, including preservation of cultural landmark, institutions or redevelopment. Modernization programmes must ensure that the cultural significance of housing and communities is not sacrificed.

Galadanci (2010) observed that provision of housing through the creation of mortgages is taken very seriously in developed countries but remains a major challenge in the developing countries especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. The private sector has been traditionally responsible for the provision of housing in Nigeria. “public housing for a considerable period was limited to the provision for expatriate staff and a few housing units built such as the railways and the Post and Telecommunication (P&T) for their junior staff.” The late 1950s and early 1960s saw increased , but still rather limited intervention by government of Nigeria in housing provision. The government through the newly created regional housing corporations developed new middle class housing estates and later introduced the mortgage lending through the establishment of the Nigerian Building Society (NBS) which later transformed to the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) and the staff housing schemes designed to promote owner – occupations by civil servants. Until 1975, government in Nigeria did not explicitly accept any social responsibility for providing houses for the masses and therefore did not deem it necessary to participate actively in mass housing programmes apart from re-housing schemes necessitated by occasional slum clearance activities”( Third National Development plan:308) In those days, housing and housing allocations were lumped together with town and country planning which until 1975 was regarded as a low priority sector, while the private sector was unable to meet the demands for housing in the country as the sector buckled under constraints of insufficient private savings, inadequate credit facilities, high cost of and difficulty of obtaining land particularly in urban centers and the ever growing increasing in the price of building materials. To address the problem, the following measures were put in place:

Direct construction of housing units by both the Federal and State Governments for letting at a subsidized rate.

Increased construction of residential housing estate for government officials

Expansion of credit facilities to enhance private housing construction.

Increased investment in domestic production of cement and other essential building materials.

Increased importation of the building materials to supplement domestic production.

The plan while calling on the private sector to rise up to the challenge of the housing needs in the country, set ambitious targets for dwelling units in twenty urban centers in Nigeria. To effect the practical implementation of the measures, the following steps were used:

Establishment of the Federal Mortgage Bank to provide credit facilities to individuals and mortgage institutions in the country at 3 percent interest rate.

Strengthening of the Federal Housing Authority to enable it undertake effective layout and construction of houses in different parts of the country.

Creation of the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Environment to initiate policies and give leadership in all matters relating to housing, urban development and environment.

The planned construction of 200,000 housing units in various locations across Nigeria by the federal government at an estimated cost of #2,000,000 million. States governments were also to embark on direct construction of housing units and improvement of the physical layout of their urban centers. In all, the total of the planned expenditure on housing by the various governments during the plan period was #2,256,390 million which represents 5.2% of the total planned expenditure.

Abolition of import duty on cement and attempts at the control of its price. Also, a number of cement factories were set up in different parts of the country.

vi. Promulgation of Decree No. 33 of 1976 with the objective of providing a new basis for the assessment of compensation in respect of land compulsory acquired for the public purposes of the federation or of a state.

2.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Structural Functionalist Theory

This paper adopts the Structural Functionalist Theory as developed by Emile Durkeim, Talcott Person and Robert Merton as theoretical framework of analysis. The theory is chosen because it serves as a means of explaining the functions performed by the structures in a system. The theory suggests that every system (Society) has various departmental structures that perform certain functions for the utmost survival of the whole system. It argues that every system has structures that must function to remain in balance; if one structure of the political system changes, equilibrium or balance is temporarily disrupted until other structures change to create a new equilibrium otherwise the entire system may go dysfunctional. It focuses on social integration, stability and co-operation. According to Merton (1990) some functions are manifest functions and they are intended and recognized but latent functions are unintended and unrecognized. These social patterns that contribute to the maintenance of a political system are regarded as functional while those that have negative consequences are considered dysfunctional. Talcott person observed the structural functionalist theory as a political system made of different but interrelated parts. These parts are supposed to work harmoniously to ensure the survival of the whole system. However, when related to society, structural functionalism can be described as a means of explaining basic functions of societal structures in the political system and it also serves as a tool of investigation. Since the society is made up of parts, structural-functional approach explains the relationship between the parts (structures) on one hand and the relationship between the parts and the whole (political system) on the other hand. The structures are many and they can take any form. It is the contribution of each part (structure) that sustains the political system (whole). Relating the structural functional theory to this paper, an infrastructure is the structural, functional and basic element needed for economic development of the State to take place. For a political system to be effective, every facility including the social and physical must be made available and functional. Hence, it is important to recognize the fact that infrastructural facilities like roads, power, transport, telecommunication, healthcare system, educational system, governance process amongst several others must be put in place and adequately developed to suite the societal need of the people. When not made available, a society may suffer incomprehensible level of institutional decay and backwardness as the above instances of infrastructures are necessary condiments for the survival of the society. Therefore, the theory provides basic tool for understanding the nature and character of the Nigeria status when infrastructural development forms a discourse. Drawing from the above, Clinton (1993) apparently relating infrastructure from the point of view of the structural-functional perspective, submitted that it is the framework of interrelated and interdependent networks and systems comprising identifiable industries, and institutions including people and procedures, cap distribution abilities that provide reliable flow of product and services essential to the economy, and the defense of United State. Hence, the interrelated and interdependent functioning of the various institutional compartment of any society, rest solely on the viability of infrastructural facilities.

2.3 EMPIRICAL REVIEW

Asaju (2023) The study examined the state of infrastructure in Nigeria and the efforts put in place to meet the infrastructure deficit in the country. Method: The study was a descriptive qualitative research and secondary data was used. The data was analysed using content analysis. The study covers the entire country, Nigeria. Result: The study showed that the various infrastructures in Nigeria are in a deplorable state and efforts at building modern infrastructure are still very insignificant. The major reasons for the deplorable state of infrastructure in Nigeria can be attributed to inadequate funds, a high rate of corruption in the public domain among others. Conclusion: The study suggested a rigorous revenue-generating strategy by the government to fill the deficit gap, reduce corruption in the public institutions in Nigeria, among others. Contribution: The paper no doubt revealed the ineptitude of the Nigerian leaders to understand the vital role of infrastructure in National development. Leaders with foresight will embark on infrastructure development, not only to enhance economic growth but to attract foreign investors. Unfortunately, the findings of the study showed that the Nigerian government has failed and lacked the political will to develop the relevant infrastructure required for economic development and enhancing the overall welfare of the citizens.

Bakare (2022) xamined the infrastructural financing pattern of Nigeria over a decade of her return to the fourth republic and its implications on her national development. The study utilized time series secondary data sourced from Central Bank Statistical Bulletin and World Development Indicators. The data was analyzed using ordinary linear square (OLS) and furthered with the nonlinear connection among the variables using the system GMM. The final analysis before the diagnostic test was the robustness check using the GLS to confirm the validity of the results obtained with system GMM. The result showed thatgrowth in road construction, education expenditure, health expenditure, administration expenditure, social expenditure,and economic services could account for approximately a 65% fall in the unemployment rate. The study established that infrastructure finance in respect of road, health, education, administration social and economic services of government could be used to reduce unemployment and poverty levels and engender overall national development of Nigeria. The implication,therefore,is that the quantum of economic growth which propels national development could be raised by infrastructure finance in Nigeria. It was recommended that there is a strong need for the government to develop a well-structured framework for a sustainable infrastructural development financing plan to engender desirable growth and development.