Abstract

This article explores the root causes of project abandonment in Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria. Structured questionnaires were distributed to targeted officials playing a role in the administration of project management in the Institutions, namely, bursars, internal auditors, directors of works, directors of physical planning, quantity surveyors in the physical planning and works Units. Four hundred and seventy five completed questionnaires returned were analyzed and tested using relative important index (R.I.I.) and simple percentages. The result from the study showed that the root causes of project abandonment in tertiary Institutions in Nigeria like any other government establishment are, the lack of articulated vision and objectives, lack of adequate planning for the project at inception, lack of adequate funds and budgetary allocation before projects are embarked upon, Inefficient and effective legal system, poor contract documentation, corruption and compromises, lack of municipal services, non release of government white papers on investigations carried out on abandonment of projects, lack of true leadership, lack of continuity and Institutions’ long term strategic plans to drive the Institutions, ambiguity in contract documentations. The study concludes that any reason for project abandonment can be related directly or remotely to compromises on the above root causes.

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