Collaborative Governance and Project Community Stakeholding in Developing Countries’ Infrastructural Governance: Lessons from Nigeria’s Experiential Knowledge

Abstract

This study exhibits a departure from the existing “traditional” collaborative research agenda which emphasises rationalisation and efficiency by looking at the dynamics of collaborative governance hinged on shared governance, public accountability and stakeholders’ interests. Participants were drawn from different groups and sub-groups in communities where PPP infrastructural projects are located using both probabilistic and non-probabilistic techniques. Data were gathered and analysed through a blend of qualitative and quantitative methods. Based on the analysis, there were theoretical propositions that emerged from this study: (1) Community engagement is sacrosanct to the survival of any project located within the territorial space of the local community (2.) There was no evidence to suggest that the conventional public participation mechanisms had any positive impact on community groups’ suspicions and lack of trust in the handlers of a project. Hence, the study found a parasitic relationship between the host communities, project owners and project handlers. The study, therefore, recommends that policymakers in developing countries should entrench an endearing stakeholders’ policy that recognises and empowers the host communities for effective engagement in government’s collaborative arrangements with the private sector for infrastructural development in line with what is obtainable in the developed nations. Keywords: Collaborative Governance, Community Stake-holding, Community Exclusion, Public-private Partnership (PPP)