The National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) has called the attention of the state, the Federal Government, heads of institutions, and all stakeholders to the urgent need to enthrone effective project management as a catalyst for sustainable national development.
In a statement by NAPS Director of Project Management, Comrade Israel Odeyemi, billions of naira have been committed to projects across the nation, but the majority of the projects have been abandoned or poorly executed.
According to Odeyemi, many intervention projects aimed at improving the quality of education in campuses across the country have either suffered neglect or remain uncompleted years after their commencement.
This, according to him, has been depriving students of quality learning facilities and weakening the nation’s aspirations for educational advancement.
“Nigeria’s development challenge is not necessarily the absence of projects, but the absence of continuity, proper planning, accountability, and effective management. Across the nation, billions of naira have been committed to projects that have either been abandoned, poorly executed, or left to deteriorate, only to be rehabilitated repeatedly at enormous costs.
“According to the Chartered Institute of Project Managers of Nigeria (CIPMN), abandoned projects across the country are estimated to be worth over ₦17 trillion, a figure that speaks volumes about the consequences of poor project management and policy discontinuity.
“Sadly, this unfortunate trend has also manifested within our tertiary institutions. Across many campuses, lecture theatres, hostels, laboratories, ICT centres, and intervention projects meant to improve the quality of education have either suffered neglect or remain uncompleted years after their commencement.
“This recurring pattern continues to deprive students of quality learning facilities and weakens the nation’s aspirations for educational advancement.
“As a nation, we must ask ourselves: why should successive administrations continue to spend public resources repairing the same roads, revisiting the same projects, and commissioning the same infrastructure that ought to have been completed once and for all? Governance should not be reduced to a cycle of abandonment and rehabilitation. Public projects are national assets, not political monuments.
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“Project continuity is not a political favour; it is a national obligation. A responsible government is not one that merely initiates projects but one that completes inherited projects and ensures they serve the people. National development cannot thrive where every administration abandons the vision of its predecessor in pursuit of fresh headlines and political recognition.”
“The National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS), through the Office of the Director of Project Management, therefore calls on governments at all levels to prioritise project continuity, strengthen monitoring mechanisms, ensure strict adherence to project timelines, and hold contractors and public officials accountable for abandoned and poorly executed projects.
“We equally urge public office holders to desist from the culture of flagging off numerous projects without a corresponding commitment to completion. Nigeria cannot continue pressing the reset button every election cycle while expecting meaningful progress. Development is achieved through continuity, not constant repetition.
“History will not remember the number of projects announced; history will remember the number of projects completed and the number of lives positively impacted.
“As Director of Project Management of the National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS), I firmly believe that effective project management remains one of the strongest tools for national development. The time has come for governments to think beyond political tenures and institutionalise a culture where projects outlive administrations and become enduring legacies for generations yet unborn.
“Enough of repairing the same roads. Enough of recommissioning the same structures. Enough of wasting scarce resources on avoidable repetitions.
“Nigeria deserves projects that are planned, completed, maintained, and sustained,” the statement read.
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