The Chartered Institute of Project Managers of Nigeria (CIPMN) has developed a new, homegrown project management framework designed to address the persistent issue of abandoned, delayed, and poorly executed projects in the country.

It said the framework is tailored specifically for Nigeria’s complex development environment as part of sweeping reforms aimed at improving the success rate of government and private sector projects nationwide.

The new methodology, code-named Delivering Unified Controlled Agile Project, combines global best practices with indigenous experiences to create a hybrid model designed to reduce project failure, delay, and abandonment.

Speaking on Tuesday at the institute’s 2025 Mid-Year Training Programme and Induction Ceremony in Abuja, the Registrar-General of CIPMN, Henry Mbadiwe, announced that the new framework would be launched before the end of the year.

“The institute has now developed a project management methodology code-named Delivering Unified Controlled Agile Project (DUCAP), which, once we clean it up, we will launch. That methodology takes learnings from other frameworks, such as PRINCE2, APM, and GILE practices in other countries, and then integrates our local and peculiar situation in Nigeria. It uses all those learnings to develop a methodology that would suit your project delivery in Kano or Lagos, and other locations.

“It is a project management framework using a methodology for delivering projects in Nigeria. It takes learning from all established frameworks and putting them in the Nigerian context overlay and suited for Nigeria, and not just something copied abroad. Using foreign frameworks in Nigeria without adapting to our peculiarities won’t work. That’s why we are developing DUCAP, to make project delivery easier and more effective. We are likely to deliver on this before the end of the year.”

Mbadiwe added that the institute will soon begin enforcement to ensure that only qualified professionals manage, teach, or deliver projects in the country.

“We are putting together regulatory frameworks. You will begin to see enforcement movements because we must ensure that those delivering projects obey the law.

“This is not to stop people but to enhance what they do. The era of project failures and waste must end,” he added.
The Registrar said poor project outcomes in Nigeria have been largely due to a lack of standards, adding that proper regulation and tailored methodologies are critical to national development.

“The goal is to reduce abandoned projects, delays, and waste. We want to start delivering value to the Nigerian people through world-class project management practices that reflect our environment. It is about the fact that we need to build a nation that does things right and reduces waste. A nation that ensures that its practices are of international standard while taking into consideration our local environment.”

Also speaking at the event, the President and Chairman of the CIPMN Council, Emmanuel Afolayan, stressed that the institute has reached a tipping point in its advocacy and is now focused on compliance.

“We are moving into what it takes for the sustainability of projects, and even ensuring the outcome of our project. We have spent years building awareness. Now is the time for enforcement.

“We have set up a committee that will begin compliance checks across institutions, starting subtly, because change can be resisted, but we’re committed to seeing it through. For now, we will be doing it in a subtle manner because we can’t just bring in a change overnight, particularly in an environment where change is resisted. But I can assure that everyone is together in this success story,” he stated.

The Lagos State Permanent Secretary for Economic Planning and Budget, Olayinka Ojo, hailed the move as a crucial pivot for national development.

“CIPMN is helping us build a model methodology to drive localised projects in line with global best practices. This is a turning point in our nation’s developmental trajectory.

“Those who still don’t believe in this direction must reconsider. The era of quacks must give way to professionalism. To me, that move is like defining our nation in the right perspective, and so if there are still people in the space of our economy who don’t believe in this step to national development should reconsider, and every quack should find a redefinition for where they want to be in this whole process,” he said.

A former member of the House of Representatives, Sani Sha’aban, also charged the institute’s members to adopt a nationalistic mindset and resist the temptation to cut corners.

“Your institute has a herculean task. We have had laws against indiscipline, but they are not ingrained in our daily work.

“If you stay committed, you can reshape Nigeria into the great future we all desire,” he explained.

The three-day event, themed “Project Management Practices: A Guarantee of Sustained Growth in This Digital Age”, will culminate in the formal induction of 604 members: 289 individuals as new inductees, 60 as fellows, 245 as chartered members, alongside graduate, associate, and corporate members.