<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>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.</p>
</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.

Exploring the social legitimacy of urban road PPPs in Nigeria

Organization, Technology and Management in Construction: an International Journal

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"Exploring the social legitimacy of urban road PPPs in Nigeria"}

Public–private partnerships (PPPs) have become an effective and efficient contractual agreement between the state and the private sector for providing...

S/N	Description	Code	Interview mode
1	An executive with the state ministry of infrastructure	Executive -1	Face-to-face via note-taking
2	An executive with the state ministry of infrastructure	Executive -2	Face-to-face via note-taking
7	PPP consultant with the federal ministry of finance	Consultant	Zoom (recording not allowed)
8	Director at PPP agency	Director	Zoom (recording not allowed)

Exploring the social legitimacy of urban road PPPs in Nigeria

Article Category: Research Paper

Published Online: Jul 27, 2023

Page range: 23 - 33

Received: Aug 09, 2022

Accepted: Nov 25, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/otmcj-2023-0004

Keywords
shared beliefs, legitimacy, urban infrastructure, public-private partnerships, community engagement

© 2023 Ulohomuno Eze Afieroho et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Fig. 1:

List of professionals interviewed.

Exploring the social legitimacy of urban road PPPs in Nigeria

Article Category: Research Paper

Published Online: Jul 27, 2023

Page range: 23 - 33

Received: Aug 09, 2022

Accepted: Nov 25, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/otmcj-2023-0004

Keywordsshared beliefs, legitimacy, urban infrastructure, public-private partnerships, community engagement

© 2023 Ulohomuno Eze Afieroho et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Fig. 1:

List of professionals interviewed.

Keywords
shared beliefs, legitimacy, urban infrastructure, public-private partnerships, community engagement