CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Corruption is issue facing virtually all organisation in Nigeria. Corruption endangers the right choices and holds up crooks and deviants as models of distinction for the upcoming generation, it erodes quality, dents economic and social development, while also degenerates to a culture of illegality that in turn breeds market inefficiency and further increases cost of goods and services, promotes unproductive investments, and leads to a decline in quality of public and private service and indeed the heaviest price is not in the bribes themselves but rather in the underlying economic distortions they trigger (Osisioma, 2012).

Hawkins (2013) adopted the definition of corruption as defined by Transparency International as “The abuse of entrusted power for private gains”. This actually covers not only the public authorities where private gains includes such issues like institutionaland political gains involving contractors, consultants, suppliers, sub-contractors, clients and even supervisors who are the key players in the process of infrastructure delivery.

Another definition of corruption as defined by Okafor (2013) is that “corruption is sociologically, any act or behaviour that contravenes societal approved standards and negatively valued by a number of individuals in the society”. Oladele (2013) argued that the definition of corruption becomes more complicated when viewed in terms of such classifications as supportive corruption, transactional corruption, extortive corruption, personal and institutional corruption, traditional and modern corruption, local, national or international corruption, or representational corruption, grand as well as petty corruption. From the foregoing, one can infer that there is no consensus on the meaning of the term “corruption” but there are indicators of behaviours that might be adjudged as corrupt as these elements portrayed such conduct as corruptible tendencies. (Adeyemo, 2015; Iyanda, 2010).

The different forms of corruption as noted by Osisioma (2012) includes: Bribery and extortion; fraud and embezzlement; illegal use of public assets for private gains; over and under-invoicing; payment of salaries and other benefits to non-existent (“ghost”) workers and pensioners; payment for goods not supplied or services not rendered (air supply); under-payment of taxes and duties on exports and imports through false invoicing or other declarations; purchase of goods at inflated prices; misappropriation of assets; court decisions awarding monetary damages well in excess of any injury; removal of documents or even whole case files; and nepotism amongst others.

Inuwa et al.(2015) observed that in the Nigerian construction industry, most building projects fail as a result of the menace of corrupt related activities on the part of the professionals whom the management and responsibility rests on. The Nigerian construction industry is extremely vulnerable to corruptible erosion due to the structure and nature of the industry which makes it imperative for construction professionals to exhibit some high level of unethical conducts (Oyewobi et al., 2011). They further submitted in their work that the international community viewed corruption and other unethical activities as common occurrences at all stages of the Nigerian workforce considering the rankings by the TI (Transparency International) which ranked Nigeria as the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 18th and 37th most corrupt nation in the world in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007, respectively. The constructed project may not perform as anticipated because the owner may have unrealistic expectations regarding the delivery time of construction forcing contractors into unrealistic gambles, corner-cutting or commitments that may not be realistic (Frimpong 2003). It is to this regard that the study is based on an assessment of the impact of corruption on building construction projects delivery in Minna, Niger state.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The performance of the construction industry in Minna, Niger State is on a steady decline and the time for delivery of building construction projects is not encouraging. This might be as a result of corruption in the construction sector in Nigeria. There are so many things that can cause corruption in the Nigeria construction industry; one of them is greed, bribery, poor negotiation of contracts, cost of materials and management issues. When these issues are not looked into; it could result to corruption in the construction industry in Nigeria.  

1.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main aim of the research work is to carry out an assessment of the impact of corruption on building construction projects delivery in Minna, Niger state. The objectives of the study are:

1. To determine the causes of corruption in the construction sector in Minna, Niger state
2. To determine the relationship between corruption and building construction projects delivery in Minna, Niger state
3. To identify the factors affecting building construction projects delivery in Minna, Niger state
4. To recommend ways to reduce corruption and improve building construction projects delivery in Minna, Niger state

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following research questions guide the objectives of the study:

1. What are the causes of corruption in the construction sector in Minna, Niger state?
2. What is the relationship between corruption and building construction projects delivery in Minna, Niger state?
3. What are the factors affecting building construction projects delivery in Minna, Niger state?
4. What are the ways to reduce corruption and improve building construction projects delivery in Minna, Niger state?

1.5 STATEMENT OF THE HYPOTHESIS

H0: there is no significant relationship between corruption and building construction projects delivery in Minna, Niger state

H1: there is significant relationship between corruption and building construction projects delivery in Minna, Niger state

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

The study on assessment of the impact of corruption on building construction projects delivery will be of immense benefit to the entire construction companies in Minna, Niger state. The study will identify the root cause of corruption and how they affect building construction projects delivery in Minna, Niger state. The study will serve as a source of information to other researchers and students that desire to carry out similar research on the above topic. Finally the study will contribute to the body of the existing literature on assessment of the impact of corruption on building construction projects delivery.

1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study covers on assessment of the impact of corruption on building construction projects delivery with focus on construction companies in Minna, Niger state

1.8 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

TIME CONSTRAINTS: One the challenges experienced by the researcher is the issue of time; the research will simultaneously engage in departmental activities like seminars and attendance to lectures. But the researcher was able to meet up with the deadline for the submission of the project.

FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS: Every research work needs funding; however lack of adequate funds might affect the speed of the researcher in getting materials for completion of the project

1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS

CORRUPTION PERCEPTION INDEX: The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is an index published annually by Berlin-based Transparency International since 1995 which ranks countries "by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys

BUILDING: a structure with a roof and walls, such as a house or factory.