Abubakar, S Y (1998) Investigation of factors affecting rural road maintenance: the case of Sokoto State, Nigeria. PhD thesis, Loughborough University, UK.
Abstract
The study relates to road management in Nigeria, on one (land locked) state out of the 36 that comprise the country. The state (Sokoto) has a population of over four million people, and the acute shortage of road connections to the majority of its rural inhabitants necessitated the research. The practice of road management in Sokoto is broadly representative of other Nigerian States. Sokoto like all the northern states, is distant from the coast, and its main asset is an abundant supply of cheap labour. Roads provide the principal mode of access, and are a key factor to trade, industry and social development. An intensive literature review was carried out to determine the existing state of knowledge on the problems encountered by practitioners in the field. The review (desk study) occupied the first stage of the research. It rapidly became clear that the topic is seriously under-researched, both internationally and specifically in the study area. The review has also drawn upon a variety of published and unpublished sources, drawing upon the limited amount of quantified and rigorous data that is available, but also assessing the more substantial quantity of partially quantified or impressionistic information to be found in project reports and case studies. For research to be successful, observable indicators must be found for at least some of the abstract concepts used in the theory. In this regard, six months field work (data collection) was carried out in Nigeria as the study’s second stage. This translates the research hypothesis into an operational hypothesis. The third stage of the research covers the analysis and validation of data. This includes an interpretation, which serves as a bridge between the theoretical and practical data. The thesis describes how the empirical data has been used in analysis, to spell out parameters that affect rural road management in Nigeria as in many Sub-Saharan Africa. The research revealed the inappropriate use of technology to be the major factor hindering performance. The study suggests some workable operating methods as possible alternatives that can simplify the difficulties of road maintenance under different operating conditions.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | developing country; labour; maintenance; Nigeria; road; technology |
| Index terms: | developing country, drawing, Sub-Saharan Africa, literature review, population, practitioner, validation, case study, Nigeria, investigation, land |
| Subjects: | data analysis and analytics, real estate economics, technical documentation, practitioner, data collection methods, demography, professional development, development economics, Geography, physical geography and landforms |
| Topics: | Information Management, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Urban Studies, Design Practice, International Construction |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here