Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.2478/otmcj-2023-0004
Exploring the social legitimacy of urban road PPPs in Nigeria
Ulohomuno Eze Afieroho
; Alma Mater Europaea ECM, Slovenska ulica 17, 2000, Maribor, Slovenia
Yongkui Li
; School of Economics and Management, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
Yilong Han
; School of Economics and Management, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
Mladen Radujkovic
; Alma Mater Europaea ECM, Slovenska ulica 17, 2000, Maribor, Slovenia
Abstract
Public–private partnerships (PPPs) have
become an effective and efficient contractual agreement
between the state and the private sector for providing
infrastructure services. Yet, their social acceptance and
legitimacy are questionable. Communities accept such
changes to their social contract with the government
only if the PPPs are perceived to be legitimate as public
institutions
are not trusted by the communities. As a
result, the disappointments
and controversial underperformance
of PPPs in Nigeria, like most developing
countries, have been generally
associated with community
opposition due to any agency or competence-related
failure. Hence, the need for this study. Drawing on data
from two urban road PPPs in Nigeria, we identify the
following
three deeply internalised
shared beliefs that
shape a community group’s perceptions and attitudes
towards an infrastructure built by PPPs in their neighbourhood:
the public services
should be provided for
free, PPPs are created mainly to serve perceived ‘corrupt’
politicians and public institutions are not effective and
efficient in service delivery. These beliefs, combined with
the community’s structural power, explain why some
community groups oppose (or support) infrastructure
PPPs within their proximity, and the growing legitimacy
challenge PPPs face. Our paper in this regard provides a
guidance for designing effective and targeted community
engagement strategies for PPP projects and contributed
to PPP stakeholder management and mainstream stakeholder
management research.
Keywords
shared beliefs; legitimacy; urban infrastructure; public–private partnerships; community engagement
Hrčak ID:
307054
URI
Publication date:
1.1.2023.
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