Journal of Emerging Trends in Engineering and Applied Sciences: Research Areas

Abstract:
The infrastructure deficit in most African countries is abysmal. This is evident from Nigeria - one of the most developed nations on the continent - that was scored the following on a scale of 5: 1.64, 1.36, 1.29, 1.52 and 1.98 for transportation infrastructure, electric power, water, healthcare and oil & gas infrastructure respectively, according to a survey conducted by the Nigerian Society of Engineers in 2017 (NSE, 2017). The same survey referred to the housing situation as being �deplorable�. Nigeria is said to require more than US$15 billion annually for the next 15 years to meet her infrastructure needs (Leigh, 2018). Only in 2017 did the country ever come close to investing a third of the required funds in infrastructure. So, it is beginning to receive serious attention through a multi-pronged approach, comprising of increased budgetary allocation and several funding models, but it will still be a while before the benefits become apparent. Therefore, it is imperative that we carefully evaluate how sustainable the approaches that have been adopted are; and, more importantly, how much local content is involved in this development. This understanding is crucial for the acceleration of infrastructure development as it is presently largely predicated, unsustainably, on foreign manpower and technologies, with little or no input from the local engineers. The astronomical population explosion across the continent and the consequences of conflicts and natural disasters indicate that it is now a matter of urgency to evolve and adopt easily replicable models that would accelerate the provision of basic infrastructure. This paper will attempt to proffer a model for actualizing this in a manner that sustainably internalizes aspects of innovations from foreign lands that have been proven to be effective remedies; while at the same time managing to retain some of our own long-standing cultural heritage.

Keywords: sustainable, infrastructure, cultural heritage, home-grown, innovations.

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