Social sustainability in procurement of construction projects: a literature review from a Nigerian perspective

Sustainability in procurement is gaining popularity and subsequent momentum globally. However, the aspect of social sustainability, particularly from a Nigerian perspective, is given little, if any focus. Based on this premise, this paper reviews the literature on the subject, which sets out the landscape in the context of social sustainability in procurement. From the review carried out, a gap in knowledge is identified that shows an imbalance in implementation of the triple bottom line on construction projects; namely environmental and financial factors are given more attention than social. In a Nigerian construction industry context, this is accredited to sustainability policies being skewed towards environmental and economic sustainability, with social sustainability lacking. To address this, an insight into social sustainability in procurement from an international context is provided, subsequently turning the lens on Nigeria. The absence of social sustainability factors within Nigeria's policies, amplified by poor implementation of existing policies, limit the implementation of sustainable procurement in construction in the country. This subsequently results in making the industry’s output uncertifiable by globally accepted standard measures of sustainability. The imbalance in content of policy instruments and poor implementation, heightens the barriers to the integration of the social factors of sustainability by stakeholders. However, sustainability is shown to deploy procurement to support implementation of the wider social, economic, and environmental objectives. The paper concludes by recommending the development of model-based recommendations that culminates in theories which will enforce implementation strategies on stakeholders within a Nigerian context.