First and foremost ,the state of infrastructure in any clime is a major catalyst for capacity building ,sustainable capacity building ,economic development and sustainable economic development respectively .Obviously ,it cannot be disputed that infrastructure plays an extremely important role in nation building and the practice of development cannot be easily detached from the realm of long term infrastructural development .It is also a symbolic evidence and a signatory to the level of development in an economy as well as a sole indicator of the development velocity mass at a particular period . Development can be measured by its robustness , quantity and quality especially in the provision of social services as may be desired by the state at a given period.This indicates thoroughly that to raise the level of development velocity and the practice of development including development regime respectively in an economy of a nation is to optimally maximizes the proportion of sustainable growth via infrastructural development at a particular period.Infact ,the mechanization of industrial system,industrialization and the so called evolution of modern information technology age cannot be possible without its welfare and providence .It is therefore a principal agent and apex gauge of national development and modern civilisation.
The World Bank -1994 ]like Kindle Berger in his book
‘Economic Development ‘ defines infrastructure as ‘Social Overhead Capital ‘ providing
services and public amenities as public goods such as telecom ,solid waste
disposal services ,electricity ,water
supply ,Sanitation,sewage and a
host of such public goods .It can also b e regarded as public works such as
drainage ,Roads , canals and major Dam works with utility channeled to
irrigation and transport facilities
including urban and inter-urban
services movements ,Airports ,rails and
waterways .It is therefore the structural linkage between the arts and
practice,developing system and developed system, leadership and followership,
urban and rural ,government and the people-governed and the evidence of political boons and democracy dividends –a consensus signatory to development
and as a development barometer is invariably a custodian of social contract and cultural
contract respectively between the state and the nation ,nationalities and
customs ,demographics and moral exigencies of the state.
Understanding the nature of development system and timely
needed development regimes including demographical dispersal and velocity
distribution and the strategic impact of widespread circulation of its mutual
benefits to both the state and the nation can insulates a nation against social
instability .Infact the longevity of the state rests largely on the insurable
welfare of this state of infrastructure
adequacy .Mass investment in
infrastructural development closes the gap between government and the
people,the governance and the governed .As incentives for capacity building and
nation building ,physical infrastructural development has taken a life of his
own growing at alarming rate with the advent of modern civilization. Nations
that have thrived and enjoyed landmark economic expansion and accelerates economic growth have had
massive influences and opportunity to be
tied to its apron string as the main
catalyst of better standard of living in the international community.The
applications of modern technological driven infrastructure tends to produce
widespread economic relief and competitive development regimes.
Infrastructure provides a framework for the participation of
the people ,demographics and for acceleration of faster growth in output ,reduces cost of production
,institutional dysnfunctioning ,promotes development , national competitiveness
and higher productivity .By increasing the quality of growth and the quality
and quantity of outputs ,the gains of higher productivity is transformed into
higher competitiveness.This enables competitive growth creating enabling
environment for economic agents and
workforce in its surrounding condition .Access to free information disclosure
can enhance and optimise its impact on a nation’s external terms of trade .
The objectives of the paper is to lay more emphasis on the
role of infrastructure in economic development.Industrialisation as requited by
Sanusi-2012] means ;’the totality of relations involving workers
,employers and the society as they
develop to make up the new machines
,process of building up a nation’s capacity
to connect raw materials and
other inputs into finished goods
and manufactured goods for other production or for final consumption
–Anyanwu,et al.,1997].While the United States committee on planning -1974] sees
it as not only a means of producing wider variety of products by the
application of modern technology , with
the strategic intent and ultimate means of revamping the condition of work
and standard of living of the poverty
stricken people of the world .Ibikunle-2012 sees it as the standard definition
of industrialization and a radical means of transformation process and
transformation management process respectively facilitated and accelerated by
the inviolable commerce of cumulative information production for the purpose of exchange and distribution
of tangible and intangible discharge and production of goods and services It is the middle stage
and middle passage of modern civilization and ultimate alibi of standard growth
of required standard of living of the citizenry
and development velocity mass as needed to safeguard the task of nation
building .With this platform
industrialization distributes and redistributes national income ,potentially
banish inequality of wealth and reduces mass poverty based on the significance and sustainable
leverage of the productive sector creating enabling environment for the
creation of mass employment and poverty free economy depending on available macroeconomic
strategy at a time.
Industrialization promotes rapid economic development in an
economy in which better infrastructure is put in place and infrastructural
development can also be seen as an integral part of industrialization process
or at best regarded as base metal of industrialization .In terms of its role in
infrastructural development
industrialization process economic surplus that further stimulates
economic development and therefore as symbolically accelerates faster growth in output and diversification function of that output .This
could lead to structural change conducive to sustainable income distribution
and economic growth.UNIDO;1993],Sanusi:2012].The diversification functions
also stimulates higher productivity ,better competitiveness ,efficiency
and inducing growth for further diversification
of exports ,multiplying capability effect and value added incentives to
sustainable revamp the process of the nation’s terms of trade and strengthens
development pattern and velocity of a nation .
The development of
several studies in the classical
literature and academic development
discourse that opine that industrialization brings about social equality should be debunked not just
with a wave of hand but its thematic ambiguity expelled with its
undebatable misrepresentation of
convoluted facts .The same with infrastructural development .Rather what it
does is to set the pace for the mobilization of social equality using its
revolutionary platform as vehicle of social transformation ,promotes higher
level of social stability , mass employment and more equitable distribution of
disposable income setting the pace for social equality and closes the gap
between the rich and the poor ,haves and haves not .This invariably provides
the society with the tool to get the there or get the work done .The management
of the economy at large and the
predisposition of governance institutions available at the helms of leadership
and followership regimes provides the
avenue for the mobilization of raw materials and production of finished goods
.Its most important benchmark as evidence of structural change is the
alteration or change in the nature of physical ,material ,economic ,human and
natural resources previously deployed in
comparison to altered environment .
Anyanwu et al -1997 ]unveiled the significance of
industrialization and its multiplier effect on finished goods or intermediate
goods .Output expansion and mass
employment reflects diversification of wealth ,boosts human capital and
manpower development and generate foreign exchange to the fullest of natural
resources potential of the State . This cannot be possible according to
Oshikoya et al.2012] without that
critical mass .Obviously it is a causal factor for growth drivers and also a
pivotal stalk of growth sustainability
and competitiveness of such growth .Sanusi:2012] also commended it” plays the
role of both consumption goods and input into the production process of
nearly every sector “.
It further noted “As a driving factor of economic growth
,there is a strong correlation between the growth of GDP and economic infrastructure which tends to work both ways .Growth of
infrastructure can result from the
demand of other sectors e.g.industry
that needs ports ,roads and power
supplies to function well”The availability of such facilities tends to
stimulate investment for exponential economic growth promoting value added
productive and competitive and barrier breaking sustainable economic development
.
Infrastructure provides incentives that reduces cost, buoy
mass productivity and enhances price competitiveness .It also unleashes unusual
growth in investment , savings
,consumption and increases the investment rate of marginal projects and allied divestiture by economic
agents who now exploit diverse
ranges to invest in a non-inflationary
environment .Consequently growth velocity increases and as a determinant of price
and non-price competitiveness in the international markets also enhances competitiveness among various factors of
production mobilisable for every round economic growth .It also improves price
and non-price competitiveness as intermediate input in both low cost ,high and marginal form of
infrastructure service.
It accelerates trade in foreign market ,boosting timely and
safe delivery of goods and services and
adequately promote free flow of technical information needed for such trade justifying its essence
also as a determinant of non-price competitiveness .As market capacity is
governed by a given proportion of development ,so also is the level of the
capital flows public and private is also determined by the level of convenience
entrenched in the existing
infrastructure as an enabling environment for long run economic growth .In some
economies it is faster to recoup mass investment made in infrastructure say
telecom for instance .Whereas in some other
countries it can be tedious venture but still in the long run infrastructure
risk-reward pay off is often a boon to the economy .
AFRICAN
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVLOPMENT CHALLENGES :HISTORICAL PROFILE
Generally speaking the state of infrastructure in Africa is
deplorable begging for urgent attention by policy makers, bureaucrats and politician
alike and parlous in outlook in general
.
Although over the last few years Africa has benefitted
immensely from some gigantic improvements
in infrastructure .A monumental jump
of over 50 percent of
AFRICANS who lived with one form of GSM
signal in 2006 had redefined the pattern of economic growth on the dark
continent .Five African countries and twelve others have either met millennium
development targets for universal water access or are on track to achieve
same,huge development space still begs for massive attention
Electricity ,motor able roads ,workable rail ,water
facilities and a host of other facilities
and basic amenities are in short
supply in the economies under survey .A basket of prepaid mobile phone
services on a monthly basis costs 12
dollars compared to only 2 dollars in
south Asia ;Africans pay twice as much
for basic services like elsewhere around the world ;more
than 20 percent of African population spreading from Ghana , Cameroun,
Mauritania Niger ,Tanzania and Mauritania to access basic or primary water
supply must travel two kilometers’ and only one out of three Africans in the
rural areas have access to all-season
roads compared to 80 percent of Africa
‘s main road network under good attention …
Sanusi-2011 notes that Africa accounts for 20 percent of
global telecom lines and that there are
more telephone lines in Brazil than the
whole of AFRICA. This shortfall nevertheless is
still an improvement than what we had in 2001 when telephone lines in
New York alone exceeded the whole of Africa .Nigeria’s teledensity now is
70:100 compared to 0.6 percent in 2001
when the revolution started.The provision of basic amenities was skewed in
favour of the urban areas whereas 80 percent of
Nigerians live in blackout with no electricity ,no light.source:ADB/CBN
:2003 .The repairable stage of existing
facilities and vandalisation menace ,diversion of funds for capital projects ,maintenance
of overbureacreaucy and construction of
new facilitites has led to perennial economic decline ,sabotage of growth ,low
productivity and growing
deindustrialization in which the industrial
production and capacity utilization
perpetually declines wobbling tirelessly without lasting resolve .For
instance according to CBN annual report
and statement of accounts ,variouis issssues , and index of major
industrialization nosedived from 162.9 percent
in 1990 to 131.8 percent in 1998 .Also
in another study the capacity utilization eroded from capacity
utilization rose from 73.3 percent in 1981 to 32.4 percent in 1998 and 55 percent respectively in 2009.
There can be no
substitute for infrastructure and
industrial development flag especially
its strategic importance in the distribution
of national income and wealth .-a giant missing link to developing
countries .Its capacity is predominantly oriented to close the gap between the
rich and poor nations in the international community should not be
overemphasized .Barrier to capacity building effectively declines through
infrastructural development and its impact on sustainable economic development.Consequently
industrial development stimulates leverage on existing infrastructure to boost
wealth creation and maximum growth in
capacity of the economy at large .
The case of gross under capacity utilization and idle human capacity
is symbolic with low index of industrial production and the inability of the state to put idle
capital and labour into production .As long as idle labour exists ,it can be
very difficult to stimulate infrastructural development in a low skilled
environment which may not necessarily entails putting idle labour into
productive use .In other words ,infrastructural development and human capacity building must be
stimulated alongside each other for the enterprise of human and capacity building via sustainable
infrastructural development to reap the reward
and gain of long term industrial development.
Human resources are either clogs or
tools to manage these machines which
when successfully impugned to signify
sectoral decline has been noted as paramount key of industrialization.
Anyanwu et al :1997 ] places more emphasis on the role of
infrastructural development vis-a-vis
its strategic impact on economic development .This includes the
provision of a channel for the
transformation of raw materials into finished goods .This boosts
mass employment ,grows culture ,diversify the economic base and helps
balloons the forex base revenues ,optimize use of raw materials ,reduce
external debt burden dependence and grow
local capacity building .
However the concept of infrastructure is a bit broad based and especially the categorization
of infrastructural types ensures the use of optimal analysis for purpose of
clarity .The complex competition that infrastructure provides in the
stimulation of industrial development for the purpose of economic
development cannot be overemphasized
,thereby motivation the role of infrastructure in nation building .
In fra structure can be divided into public or conventional
physical infrastructure as referred earlier
to - by Harvard professor Jeffrey Sachs .Besides we have anew form of human infrastructure or perhaps
the oldest or youngest form ever since they were deployed in the mill of labor In
developing nation’s labour market of course labor is cheap ,less priced and
especially the exploitation of brain drain – a plague to developing nation and
a brain gain to advanced has reached the neplus ulstra never seen before in
history .Though the physical infrastructure is prominent without with
industrialization and a modern standard of living cannot be possible ,there is
also financial infrastructure that lubricates the financial sector and economy at large .
Energy access is critical to African economic growth and
poverty reduction .It is the bedrock of modern civilization .Access to abundant
energy supplies often in favor of Africa can promote the rebirth of African
economies and renaissance of black civilization . About 30 African countries
today are been plagued by monumental energy crisis ;while only one in four
Africans can boast of sustainable access to electricity .The total electricity
generation output of the 48 sub-Saharan Africa countries put at 68 gigawats is
still less than that of Spain .Power constraint according to the corporate sector
is still the leading nightmare and apart from South Africa power consumption is
barely a percent 1% of the high income countries.
THE STATE OF INFRASTRUCTURE IN NIGERIA
Mordern infrastructure
development started way back in the colonial era marred with a long winding road of unsteady
and uneven development .The main exclusive role of the British colonial masters
was to intergrate the national boundaries into external trade through the
provision of transport infrasport.This facilitated mass invesmnet in rail,roads
,port meant to evacuate domestic
products from the hinterland to link them to local agricultural produce to
foreign market and ensure in exchange
the safe delivery of imported manufactured goods.The total road network by 1950 stood at 4,400km while the rail network stood at 3,505km
narrow gauge track was completed in 1930 and linked lagoa to kano , and then
Port Harcourt ..CBN,2003].The size of domestic trade provides stimulus for low road network expansion of the period
.
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