Over three decades after the Federal Government introduced a comprehensive National Construction Policy, experts and stakeholders in the built environment are calling for its urgent review and revival, citing its potential to address the country’s persistent infrastructure deficits, abandoned projects, and reliance on foreign construction inputs, CHINEDUM UWAEGBULAM reports.
In May 1991, the Federal Government introduced a landmark National Construction Policy (NCP), a document that many believed would transform the nation’s fragmented construction industry into a catalyst for economic growth.
The NCP addressed key areas such as local materials development, construction standards, project financing, manpower development, and technological advancement, as well as safety considerations, environment planning and management.
But 33 years later, the NCP is a largely forgotten document, neither repealed nor revised, and the construction sector is suffering the consequences. The construction sector contributes about three to four per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), far below its potential. In peer economies, such as South Africa and Egypt, the sector is a larger contributor to national output and a major job creator.
The Nigerian construction industry is modelled largely after the British system, although since independence, it has taken into consideration the styles of other Western countries, notably Italy, Germany, and France.
Generally, construction is an all-embracing term, which covers the erection of buildings for various uses such as residential, commercial, industrial, administrative, educational and recreational.
It also covers the other civil engineering activities such as the construction of roads and highways, bridges, wharves, jetties, dams, water distribution networks, airfields, drainage and other heavy engineering facilities like refineries, steel complexes and power works.
The construction industry is a potent motivator of the national economy, providing the driving force necessary for either sustaining a buoyant economy or reviving a depressed one. Many developed countries have successfully revised their national economies by maintaining high levels of activity in the construction industry.
In Nigeria, for example, the yearly growth in the construction industry in 1974 was 269.4 per cent when the GDP grew by 131.2 per cent. But when in 1984 the construction industry declined by 27 per cent, the GDP correspondingly declined by 11 per cent. In the developed economies, construction capability is a potent export commodity, bringing hard currency and national respect as gains.
The industry is dominated by large expatriate firms, which, for example, executed 90 per cent of the work in 1974. This imbalance in the share of construction work between indigenous and expatriate firms has remained unchanged. On the other hand, the consultancy sector has gradually risen from minority participation by indigenous firms in the past to the current substantial participation.
The substantial participation is, however, limited to traditional areas (highways, buildings, water supplies), leaving consultancy services in the telecommunication, chemical, and petrochemical industries, steel complexes, airfields, and harbour development completely in expatriate hands.
The 1991 NCP was ambitious in scope. It aimed to promote indigenous building materials and reduce reliance on imports, develop local construction equipment and tools industries, establish clear standards and best practices across public and private construction works, foster skills acquisition and technical education in the building trades, strengthen financing systems and reduce the reliance on problematic “mobilisation fees.”
It also proposed job creation, stimulating the economy through infrastructure expansion and institutional reforms, such as enhancing the capacity of the Federal Ministry of Works and relevant professional bodies to regulate and enforce quality and safety standards.
Despite its promise, the NCP quickly fell into obscurity. Political instability, frequent leadership changes, and the lack of a structured review mechanism. Despite employing millions, Nigeria’s construction industry faces systemic issues, including substandard infrastructure, safety violations, regulatory gaps, and capital flight, largely due to its heavy dependence on foreign contractors and materials.
Its comprehensive framework notwithstanding, the NPC has faced several implementation challenges, such as a lack of continuity. Subsequent administrations failed to maintain a consistent commitment to the policy, leading to its gradual neglect.
Inadequate institutional frameworks and bureaucratic inefficiencies have also hindered the effective implementation of policies.
There is also insufficient funding, which leads to limited financial resources being allocated to the construction sector, a development that impedes the realisation of policy objectives. The absence of regular reviews has ensured that the policy is not subjected to periodic evaluations or updates, thereby preventing it from adapting to evolving industry dynamics and challenges.
As a result of the above, the policy has largely been abandoned and remains unreviewed, leading to persistent issues within Nigeria’s construction sector, such as substandard infrastructure, reliance on imported materials, and inadequate regulatory oversight.
The consequences are visible. For instance, thousands of federal and state-funded projects are abandoned across the country; imported building materials account for more than 60 per cent of inputs in high-end construction; regulatory enforcement is weak, leading to safety failures and building collapses, while professionals lack updated training that aligns with global construction technologies.
As Nigeria continues to grapple with collapsing infrastructure, underutilised manpower, and spiralling construction costs, the failure to revisit and implement the policy stands out as a major governance gap.
Reactivating and modernising the NCP is not just a bureaucratic task; it is a development imperative.
Analysts warn that continued neglect of the policy could derail key national development plans, including the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF), urban renewal programmes, and Nigeria’s climate adaptation strategies.
Currently, there is a growing consensus among stakeholders that the 1991 policy needs urgent revival. A coalition of professional bodies, including the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), and the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS), has all submitted proposals for a policy overhaul.
Their recommendations include Updating the NCP to include climate-resilient construction, digital tools such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), and green building codes; establishing a Construction Industry Regulatory Commission; mandating yearly infrastructure audits and performance reviews; and streamlining project procurement to reduce corruption-prone industry practices.
Experts advocate for a revised policy that incorporates modern themes, such as climate-resilient construction, green building standards, the adoption of digital technology (like Building Information Modelling), and gender inclusion in the construction workforce.
The immediate past president of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), Mr Nathaniel Atebije, told The Guardian that the major concern of the NPC was to promote indigenous capacity in the construction industry.
“The National Construction Policy was intended to build a robust, self-sustaining, and competitive indigenous construction industry capable of meeting national development needs through development and participation of indigenous construction firms in the industry; minimise the monopoly of foreign construction companies, promote transfer of technology, and create employment opportunities for Nigerians.”
He explained that the implementation of the policy has faced several constraints that have limited its effectiveness and impact, including a lack of political will, a weak institutional framework, inadequate funding, a shortage of local technical experts, endemic corruption, low patronage of local contractors, and insufficient infrastructure. These same challenges have faced the implementation of the Nigerian Urban and Regional Planning Law of 1992, as amended in 2004.
According to him, the abandonment or weak implementation of the policy has led to several negative consequences in Nigeria’s construction sector and overall infrastructure development. These include the continued dominance of foreign firms, the slow growth of local expertise, slow economic growth, limited job creation, and inadequate national development.
“The nation also suffers capital flight, substandard infrastructure due to poor project supervision and weak regulatory oversight. Restricted opportunities to build and maintain infrastructure through indigenous capacity have eroded national confidence of professionals in the built environment and abused Nigeria’s self-reliance goals.”
Atebije emphasised that the construction policy remains relevant due to its intention to develop indigenous capacity, promote local content, and encourage self-reliance in infrastructure delivery. It may, however, need to be improved upon to meet contemporary needs and international best practices.
He stated that the three most important elements that should be incorporated into a revised construction policy are indigenous capacity development and local content enforcement, in line with relevant acts of parliament; sustainable infrastructure and technology integration; and institutional reforms, regulations, and accountability.
Atebije said, “Ensuring political commitment and accountability in implementing any future construction policy in Nigeria is crucial to avoid repeating past failures. However, due to the endemic nature of poor political will and accountability, drastic systemic reforms and strategic engagement are necessary.
“These could be achieved through enacting the policy into law, establishing a high-level implementation body, ensuring its implementation is budgeted for annually, promoting inclusiveness by involving stakeholders, politicians and civil society groups in the oversight functions.”
The President, Commonwealth Association of Surveying and Land Economy (CASLE), Segun Ajanlekoko, said the policy was less popular than the National Housing Policy of February 1991, even though both failed to achieve their goals and objectives, including complementing the National Development Plan in achieving self-sufficiency in housing and total development of infrastructure.
He explained that the policy failed due to a lack of commitment by succeeding governments, and the abandonment led to significant housing deficits, the non-development of relevant infrastructure, the incessant collapse of buildings, and a large dependence on imported materials.
Ajanlekoko called for its overhaul in light of today’s global best practices, coupled with the latest technology and digitalisation.
He said that a new policy should include funding for affordable mass housing, research into self-independence using local materials, and an overhaul of the procurement process, alongside a review of the conditions of contract.
“Operating a fixed price contract in today’s economic climate is fraught with danger and abandonment of projects or shoddy jobs being executed.”
