ROLE OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF
RESIDENTIAL ESTATES IN NIGERIA (A CASE STUDY OF AKWA IBOM STATE GOVERNMENT)
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Few
residential estates built across Nigeria by both federal and state government
has been able to meet the housing needs of many Nigerians. Shelter is a basic
necessities an esteemed need of man. It used to be ranked second after food in
the hierarchy of man’s needs but according to Ebie (2009) it is the first and most
important of all rights. According to him, because of the importance attaching
to provision of housing and coupled with the fact that a proper housing unit in
all its ramifications is more than mere blocks of buildings since it embraces
all social services and utilities that go to make a community or neighbourhood
a livable environment, it is now a right. Though inadequate, but the federal
government of Nigeria and various corporate organizations have invested in the
building residential estate for the purpose of profit making and meeting the
housing needs of Nigerians. Even though this provision is not actionable, it
reinforces the call for government at all levels to invest in massive housing
provision in Nigeria and this study is however examining the role of Akwa Ibom
State Government in the development of residential estates in the state.
A residential housing estate is a group of
homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact
form may vary from country to country. Accordingly, a housing estate is usually
built by a single contractor, with only a few styles of house or building
design, so they tend to be uniform in appearance.
The desire for adequate and affordable
housing also has strong links to the need for security, safety and proper socio
– economic status of individuals and communities. In spite of this widely
acknowledged importance of housing and various efforts in making adequate and
affordable housing available to majority of people, a large proportion of urban
residents in less developed countries do not have access to decent housing at affordable
cost (Tipple, 2004; 2006; UN-HABITAT, 2006; Greene and Rojas, 2008).
As a result, most urban residents in Developing
countries live in housing conditions that constitute an affront to human
dignity and which comes with appalling social, economic, spatial and health implications
(Coker et al., 2007; UNFPA, 2007). Hence, inadequate housing condition has become
an intractable challenge that has continued to receive attention from
governments and individuals in many developing countries. Previous studies have
shown that successive administrations in Nigeria had launched a minimum of
seven residential housing programmes in the last few decades in a bid to
address increasing housing challenges in the country (Akinmoladun and Oluwoye,
2007; Ademiluyi and Raji, 2008) However, substantial literature on public
residential estate in developing countries has revealed three main streams of
criticism (Mukhija, 2004). First, it is argued that most public residential schemes
are inefficient and ill conceived, and thus failed to meet the needs of target
population (Rondinelli, 1990; Mba, 1992). Second, direct government involvement
in housing provision is viewed as being negligible compared to the volume of residential
estates provided by informal private sector (UN-HABITAT, 2006). Finally, government
intervention in the housing market to check rising cost of housing is seen as
counter – productive and an impediment to smooth operation of housing market and
efficient housing delivery system.
Consequently,
many scholars and stakeholders have argued that government has no business in
providing housing for people, but rather government should act as a partner,
enabler and facilitator of housing process by making available appropriate
incentives, policy and good regulatory environment necessary for effective private
sector participation in building of residential estate (Ebie, 2009). It is
important to note that state governments have not been able to contribute to
the development of residential housing schemes in Nigeria as most of the
available residential estates are built by the federal government. However,
Akwa Ibom state government has built 310 prime units
mini estates at 10 per local government in all the Local Government Areas
mainly for local government chieftains. Work is ongoing on the construction of
10,000 modern and affordable houses to the Akwa Ibom populace.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Ong and Lenard (2002) were of the opinion
that provision of residential estate should be collaborative effort between
government and private sector and this does not necessarily mean reduction in
government’s social responsibility in providing housing for the citizens, but
rather it implies the production of housing through collaborative approach in
an integrated manner. In the light of foregoing criticisms coupled with the
need for sustainable solution to burgeoning housing challenges in most state in
Nigeria including Akwa Ibom state; it is important to ascertain the
contribution of state governments over the years on the provision of
residential estate for the citizens. The foregoing gory picture and deplorable
condition of housing in Nigeria applies with equal force to Akwa Ibom State if
not to a higher extent considering that more than 60% of the population live in
urban areas. Thus Akwa Ibom State also shares in this global developmental
reality; and one of the most important challenges facing the state is how to
ensure adequate and affordable housing to the poor and low-income group. Unfortunately,
despite all efforts of the state government at achieving sustained housing delivery
through provision of residential estates to the common people, existing
realities indicate the goal is far from being achieved. It is against this
background that this study examines the role of Akwa Ibom state government in
the development of residential estates.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The
following are the objectives of this study
1. To
examine the role of Akwa Ibom state government in the development of
residential estates.
2. To
analyze the perception of Nigerians on the provision of residential estates
3. To
identify the factor hindering the provision of residential estates in Nigeria.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What
is the role of Akwa Ibom state government in the development of residential
estates?
2. What
is the perception of Nigerians on the provision of residential estate?
3. What
are the factors hindering the provision of residential estates in Nigeria?
1.5 HYPOTHESIS
HO:
Akwa Ibom State government has not provided adequate residential estates for
the citizen
HA:
Akwa Ibom State government has provided adequate residential estates for the
citizen
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
A
research on the role of State government in the development of residential
estate in Nigeria a case study of Akwa Ibom State is no doubt an important one.
This is going by the notion that the outcomes of current strategies engaged by
government in solving the problem of providing adequate, affordable and
sustainable housing in this State in recent time are not known. Therefore, this
study is important for several reasons.
First,
Bana (1991) and Emerole (2002) indicated that inadequate capacity of public
housing agencies to deliver housing was one of the key challenges of public
housing in Nigeria. This suggests that understanding the organizational
capacity and constraints of public housing agencies to provide housing is
necessary in judging their performance. It can also help improve on their
capacity and thus enhancing the productivity of the public housing sub-sector.
This study is thus important on the basis that it attempts to provide basic
information that will enhance our knowledge of the organizational capacity of
selected key public housing agencies in study area. This is also considered
necessary in assessing the outcomes of public housing provisions and making
useful recommendations.
Second,
Mukhija (2004) noted that there is little consensus on the strategies and
approaches governments should follow in addressing the housing need of their
citizens. This suggests that research works are yet to focus attention on
comparing outcomes of the various housing delivery strategies used in public
housing provisions to identify which strategies work best and under what
conditions. This situation accounts for continuous engagement of inefficient
and dysfunctional housing delivery strategies, which Emerole (2002), Oladapo
(2002) and African Ministerial Council in Urban Development (2008) noted was
responsible for increasing housing supply deficit in Nigeria. By investigating
the outcomes of four housing delivery strategies used in residential estate
provisions in Akwa Ibom State.
1.7 SCOPE/LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
This
study on the role of state government in the development of residential estates
is limited to the public housing schemes and residential estates initiated and
completed by the government of Akwa Ibom State.
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