Modelling the Governance-Participation-Performance Nexus in Community Infrastructure Provision: Evidence from Abuja, Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63746/njtd.v23i3.4881Keywords:
Participatory governance, structural equation modeling, infrastructure provision, mediation analysis, bootstrapping, Abuja, NigeriaAbstract
Shortfalls in urban infrastructure across the Global South are persistent, even decades after significant investments have been made. While there is a strong consensus on the need for improved governance through participation, there are limited statistical findings that relate participation in governance to measurable infrastructure outcomes. This study presents a participative governance framework and tests it through the use of structural equation modeling (SEM) with bootstrapped mediation analysis, employing survey data from 212 respondents within four area councils in Abuja, Nigeria. Based on the analysis, it was found that institutional inclusion (? = 0.412; p < .001) and social trust (? = 0.286; p < .01) are statistically significant predictors of community participation. Community participation is also found to be a strong predictor of infrastructure outcomes (? = 0.56; p < .001) and partially mediates the governance-outcomes relationship (indirect effect = 0.269; 95% bias corrected bootstrap CI [0.168 to 0.385]). The model fit was determined to be acceptable (?2(345) = 724.5; p < .001; Comparative Fit Index = .93; Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) = .05 (90% CI [0.04 to 0.06]); Standardized Root Mean Squared Residual = .04). While the findings support a governance-participation-performance pathway, the ability to draw causal claims is limited by the cross-sectional design. Nevertheless, an empirically validated framework was provided to promote collaborative governance of infrastructure in rapidly urbanizing cities across Africa.
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