CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
Background of the study
Public physical infrastructure constitutes a high share of the country's investment and is managed and controlled by the state for public consumptions. It varies from road, railways, harbors, recreational centers, and others. Baldwin and Dixon (2008), divided infrastructure into three groups: machinery and equipment, buildings, engineering structures. These infrastructures are called the public infrastructure since it creates benefits for a large number of users. According to San SI (2012), public infrastructure such as building and other facilities are to be satisfied social and administrative needs as a means to the fulfillment of economic responsibilities of the general public. Better quality and quantity of infrastructure can directly raise the productivity of human, physical capital and hence growth through many channels (Agénor and Moreno 2006 ).
Infrastructures frequently devalue with time so appropriate continuance management needs to be conducted regularly to keep it to the original state. According to the U.S. Congressional Budget Office (CBO), operations and maintenance expenditures are generally needed to provide required service for infrastructures to serve its purpose and also needed to enhance the existing infrastructures from deteriorating (Congressional Budget Office 2007). Maintaining existing infrastructures though comes with a cost but it‟s a prudent investment that saves cost than erecting new ones. Infrastructure maintenance in advanced countries is not really impressing, however, there seems to be a vast difference in the maintenance and consequently the economic life of infrastructures projects in developing countries (Matthew Dornan, 2012). In the US, 57% of total spending on infrastructure in 2014 has been towards the operation and maintenance of existing infrastructure assets and this has been rising by about 6% since 2014 (Congress 2014).
Over the years, there have been improvements in public infrastructure maintenance through heavy investments but most developing countries still bear the brunt of insufficient infrastructure access, quality, and reliability due to improper maintenance. Nahimah (2008), as cited by (Kumar and Kumar 2018) conducted a research on the state of Nigerian Aviation Industry, opined that the flaws in the Nigerian Aviation sector were ascribed to lack of maintenance culture and the training of expertise engineers. The author further argued that acquiring aircraft is not as relevant to the industry as good maintenance of the existing ones, adding that a well-maintained aging aircraft is as good as a poorly maintained new aircraft. The condition of infrastructure is very much related to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations (Lee, Wang et al. 2018). From this, it is clear that proper maintenance and management of public infrastructure are very keen on ensuring its lifespan to serve its main purpose. Efobi and Anierobi (2014) further explained that the practice of maintaining prevailing public infrastructures have been abandon to the building of new infrastructures in developing countries. Most developing countries are only interested in erecting new structures to the total neglect of placing measures in place to sustain the existing ones. Inadequate maintenance in developing countries has resulted in rapidly increasing deterioration of public infrastructures to prevent it from serving its purpose.
The Government of Nigeria is currently engulfed with enormous challenges in infrastructure improvement which are proving to be a constraint on growth and development. Though the country is doing well economically, there stay serious shortfalls with the provision of infrastructure and maintenance of the present ones. This can be attributed to the negative attitude of stakeholders in the direction of rehabilitation and maintenance of its constructions and facilities. In fact, the country is facing a heavy infrastructural deficit and apparently poor maintenance of existing public property (Nkrumah et al 2017). The Nigerian community is failing to restore the actual functioning of an asset to prolong its lifespan and the maintenance of infrastructure has to with drawing up foolproof maintenance programme, instituting schedule of inspection, establishing schedule of work, supervision of maintenance of work and preparation of schedule of dilapidation (de la Fuente, González -Prida et al. 2018). There is no refuting the fact, the spirit of sustainability and maintenance culture among developing countries is very atrocious which Nigeria is no exception. This bad attitude is obvious not only amongst those exercising authorities or political powers, however, the ordinary man on the street. It‟s very disgusting upon entering some premises in the country to see that repair and maintenance are absent in the minds of those in charge of the infrastructure.
The Nigeria public infrastructures such as stadia, are sickening and have led to plug of the death trap. These are attributed to the problem of over-centralization of maintenance decisions. The channels through which decisions are made are very cumbersome which delays the maintenance practices. Also, there is inadequate fund and delays in the release of funds have contributed significantly to the present state of public infrastructures.(Agbenorku 2018) A number of newspapers, political leaders and the citizens have lamented over the state of misery of the public infrastructure but the zeal to execute is very slow. This is quite clear that the issue of poor maintenance culture in Nigeria has enjoyed debate but without the necessary actions. However, most studies have been done on the maintenance practices in Nigeria and Africa at large but there is no substantial extent of research addressing the problem of public infrastructure management and how to improve the maintenance practices of public infrastructure. This study, however, aims to unravel the infrastructure maintenance practices being hired in public infrastructures that can be improved.
The study focuses on maintenance practices of public infrastructure in general with particular reference to the Accra Sports Stadium, Kumasi sports stadium, tamale sports stadium and Essippong stadium. The stadia each had a capacity of 20,000, and was once renovated into an edifice to meet FIFA criteria to host the 26th edition of the African cup of nations (Local Organizing Committee, 2008) as cited by (Fuseini, Yaro et al. 2017). The government of Nigeria purportedly spent close to GH30 million for renovation and constructions of new ones. These includes the refurbishment of the State box, replacement of the broken seats, re-grassing of the pitch which was in a tremble state, replacement of the broken and weak iron gates, provision of ultra-modern scoreboard, provision of toilet facilities as well as painting of the entire stadium Unfortunately, the modifications at the stadia were short lived. The various sporting infrastructural facilities of the stadia are in the very deplorable state with some not just requiring renovation but replacement. The detrition of the facility commences from the two iron gates and other major iron gates which serves as the entrance. Most of the seats in the stands have broken down and the football pitch is nearly shunned of grass. The scoreboards are not working and the metal pillars that keep it have additionally. The effects on these are not minimal and have caused the loss of a huge sum of money.
This paper assesses the maintenance practices of the traditional public stadia. It seeks to evaluate the current state of public infrastructure and maintenance practice by the stadia. In this regard, the discussions cover the major causes and effects of poor maintenance practice of public infrastructures, suggesting and recommending the appropriate maintenance management to the stakeholders.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows. The next section provides the literature review and formulates hypotheses. The third section provides the methodology for the study. The fourth section analyzes the results, and the final section concludes the paper by providing implication.
Statement of the Problem
Calabar are experiencing rapid urbanization rates which exert pressure on the existing housing stock, with an estimated growth rate of between 8% at independence to about 34% currently, and a projection of about 60% by 2030 GoK (2002). Provision of adequate housing thus remains a daunting challenge in the country particularly in urban areas considering the high demand for housing
Despite the challenge of housing shortage the sector is also faced with deteriorating quality housing particularly for the low income residents and Public residential units, characterized by a poor state of maintenance. Lee (1987) indicates that evidence suggests that in general, buildings are under-maintained and that a substantial part of the building stock is in danger of deteriorating below the point of economic repair. A study by Aluga (2001) confirms that local council buildings in Nigeria are deficient of maintenance with the building fabrics being unattractive and of unacceptable standards to the users. GoK (2004) further confirms that institutional housing has not been spared either, and especially those developed for public servants. They have greatly deteriorated and in deplorable conditions.
Objectives of the Study
The main objective of this study is to assess An Examination Of Maintenance Culture Employed In Urban Structure In Calabar. A Study Of Calabar Stadium
Significance of the study
The information provided by the study will be useful to policy makers in government as well as the general public. The study will provide empirical evidence on how to execute maintenance for institutional housing by first identifying the gaps and areas that require strengthening within existing frameworks. It will also contribute towards the efforts of ensuring effective maintenance of housing stock, ultimately resulting in the improvement of existing housing stock. It will also result in improving the living conditions of beneficiaries who reside in institutional housing. Thirdly, the study will be of use to academicians and researchers as it will open opportunities for further research in the area of housing maintenance.
Scope of the Study
The study was conducted within Calabar, cross river state with interviews administered to technical officers within top management, middle and operational
Limitations of the Study
A major limitation in the research was the respondent’s attitude towards the study. This would have been a major barrier to accuracy of information in that, the respondents were suspicious about the objectives of the study. Lack of trust for the researcher and the study could result in wrong information being obtained. To minimize this, the researcher sensitized the respondents on the objectives of the study in advance to get them acquainted. Another limitation may have been low response rate which would do more damage in rendering a survey’s results questionable than a small sample. To deal with this challenge, the researcher persuaded the respondents who were hesitant and made several follow ups to ensure most of the questionnaires were filled.
Poor targeting may arise as a major limitation when not properly done. Errors in defining and selecting the sample during data collection would bias the results by making the sample less representative of the target population. This can be due to non-inclusion errors where people are supposed to be included in the sample are not included. To avoid these errors, the researcher ensured correct research and sampling designs were used to ensure correct selection of the appropriate target and sample populations for the study.
DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS
Adequate Housing is shelter that encompasses social, economic, cultural, climatic, and ecological factors among others.
Central Government is system of administration that operates nationally and handles matters affecting the whole country
Employee culture involves employee attitudes, standards, motivation, work ethics, rites and rituals within the organization.
Facilities management is administrative process of managing buildings beginning with design, leasing, operations, maintenance and repair
Governance culture is the framework of rules and practices that ensure accountability, fairness, and transparency in managing of organizations affairs
Institutional Housing is residential premises provided by an organization to its employees
Local Authority is an administrative body for a small geographic area like a city,town, county or state.
Maintenance of public housing is making regular inspections with an aim of preventing or correcting defects in state owned houses.
Maintenance-Culture is the sustained practice of providing support or upkeep to property
Organizational culture is the values and behaviors that form the unique social and psychological environment of an organization and entails attitudes, beliefs, customs, and written and unwritten rules
Public Housing is housing owned and managed by Government and provided at nominal rent to the needy
Public servant is an employee of Government by either election or appointment
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