CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Education in some developing countries like Nigeria has been suffering from inadequate

funding. Poor funding of Tertiary education is seen as an African phenomenon

(Onuka, 2004 and Ayo-Sobowale & Samuel, 2011). This lack of funding has been one

of the major factors affecting the quality of education in Nigerian tertiary institutions.

Babalola (2002) and Samuel (2003) further affirmed that Federal Universities in Nigeria

are lacking the financial resources to maintain educational quality in the face of

enrolment explosion. UNESCO recommended at least 26% of national budget to

educational funding, but Nigeria has not been able to meet that percentage in previous

years (Onuka, 2004).

The Federal Government of Nigeria in 2013 established 3 (three) new Federal

Universities making the total number of Federal Universities in the country to 40

(Nigerian Universities Commission, 2013). One of the infrastructure problems facing

institutions of higher learning in the country is inadequate hostel accommodation for the

increasing students‘ population and this has been causing serious concern to the

government and university authorities. Hostel accommodation plays an important role

in the life of students in Universities. This is because, to get the best result from

students, adequate arrangements must be made for their housing/accommodation.

According to Okebukola et al,. (2004) in standardized academic communities, hostels in

the form of dormitories, residential halls and bedsitting are the forms of residential

accommodation developed for students. Ubong (2007) however laments that hostel

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accommodation is not given the necessary attention in the Nigerian tertiary education

institutions.

Government have looking for a way to bring the private sector in to provision of

infrastructure. Public Private Partnership is one of the method this could be achieved.

Private companies in conjunction with the public sector or one of its branches have

therefore introduced this solution which provide a more integrated financial design,

construction, maintenance and operational solution to infrastructure in project. According

to Bicourtney (2007); ECA (2005); NEPAD (2006), cited in Dahiru and Bala (2008),

Build Operate Transfer concept in the context of Public Private Partnership (PPP‘s) has

emerged as an important tool for improving economic competitiveness and

infrastructure services in Nigeria and other developing countries. The scheme is

increasingly being considered as a mechanism to fill the infrastructural deficit in

developing countries.

Llanto (2008) described a BOT project as one in which a public sector organisation

grants a concession for a period of time to a private company for the development of a

project. The private company then builds the project to the specifications agreed,

operates and manages the project for a number of years after its completion. This gives

the private company the chance to recoup its construction costs and make a profit out of

the proceeds coming from the operation and commercial exploitation of the project. At

the end of the concession period, the rights of the project company in the project are

transferred to the Government or its designee, normally free of any charge. Then the

government is free to operate it, or contract its operation to another contractor or even to

the same contractor (Argyris, 2003). In Nigeria, besides the on-going privatization