IMPACT OF RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION ON DEMAND FOR RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY

THE IMPACT OF RURAL URBAN MIGRATION ON DEMAND FOR RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY IN NIGERIA CITIES

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Rural-urban migration was formerly regarded as favourable in economic development. Today, it has become one of the most embarrassing problems in the Nigerian development experience.

Rural-urban migration is ‘‘the phenomenon of a historically unprecedented movement of people from the rural countryside to the burgeoning cities of Africa, Asia and Latin America’’ (Todaro, 1997). ‘‘It is the movement of people from rural areas into cities’’ (Wikipedia, 2013). Some time ago, migration existed internally to enable excess labour to be taken slowly from the rural areas to provide workforce for industries in the urban areas and therefore aid industrial growth. However, experience in Nigeria has shown that the rate of rural-urban migration has ceaselessly outweighed the rate of job creation and having an overweight on the social and infrastructural amenities available in the urban areas which equally reflects on housing demand.

Housing is one of the best indicators of a person’s standard of living and his place in the society. Like food and clothing, housing ranks among the three (3) basic human needs. Its availability is very crucial to the welfare of every human. Housing, literally is defined as buildings or other shelters in which people live, a place to live, a dwelling and to Nations a critical component in social and economic fabric. To most groups housing means shelter but to others it means more as it serves as one of the best indicators of a person’s standard of living and his or her place in the society (Nubi, 2008). It is a priority for the attainment of living standard and it is important to both rural and urban areas. These attribute make demand for housing to know no bound as population growth and urbanization increase very rapidly and the gap between housing need and supply becomes widen.

According to Olofinji (2016), demand for residential property demand can be explained as the willingness and ability of housing consumer to pay for a particular dwelling, depending upon such consumer’s income, house type, location preferences and local prices.

In other words, demand for residential property at certain price refers to the value that is placed on a house linked with the satisfaction derived in such house.

Residential property demand in urban center is a manifestation and reflection of different household desires to live in an urban center. The desire of people to live in an urban center especially in Owerri is increasing at an alarming rate. Owerri for instance has a teeming population that exceeds the resources inherent, and the city may indeed witness a population explosion if urgent measures are not taken to curtail it.

It is against this introductory background of the study that the researcher has intended to examine the impact of rural urban migration on demand for residential properties in Nigeria cities with particular reference to Owerri Municipal of Imo State in Nigeria.

1.2   STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

At a glance to everyone who visits Owerri Municipal, it is not farfetched to notice the influx of rural population into the area which is evident in the over-crowdedness of Douglas road, Wetheral road, School road etc. This may not be far from the fact that these rural population are seeking for “better life”. In some other places like Oguamanam Street, Uche Street, Uche street extension, Lobo Street to mention but a few, as much as these areas are overcrowded, most people are found living in indecent building apartments due to their socio-economic background which cannot cope with an ever increasing price of decent houses.

Ever since Owerri became the state capital of Imo state, a lot of people have migrated and still migrate from the rural areas and even from some urban areas into it. They come in search of job opportunities, apprenticeship, trading, school etc. Due to this migration of people from different areas into Owerri Municipal, problems of accommodation started, overcrowding on social infrastructure also started which brought about ageing of the infrastructure, damages on the electrical fittings and plumbing fittings of houses, bad ground water due to excess waste that penetrates in the ground etc. Many people live in crowded areas which in turn affect the human health, living standard and the structural members of the city.

On the other hand, it may be the cause of traffic congestion, delayed services in banks, hospitals, and shopping centers. Low quality education in schools in Owerri municipal may also be an issue caused by rural-urban migration. It may have also been the reason for the over utilization of facilities yielding impacts such as  cracking of road, emergence of pot holes, wear-off on buildings etc.

Furthermore, observation has shown that government policies have been in favour of urban development, by purposely and continuously creating employment opportunities, educational opportunities and other infrastructural amenities more in the urban areas compared to the rural areas. Owerri Municipal is not an exemption to this fact. Currently, there exist about three (3) government owned Community Primary Schools clustered together within the boundaries of Tetlow Street and Royce Road whereas there are other surrounding communities which do not have up to two schools to support the entire community. It is noteworthy to also mention that some of the existing schools in these rural communities are not up to standard; therefore, people in search of better education may simply migrate from their rural communities into Owerri Municipal.

It may also be noticed that rural-urban migration have resulted to inequality in the development and quality of life between the rural and urban areas, and therefore may be an enhancing factor to rural-urban migration. People could be attracted to urban areas because they think they will have greater opportunities there.

It is a general notion that the rural areas in Nigeria are being affected by several incapacities in various levels of severity such as: inaccessibility, seclusion, under development, poverty, drabness, boredom, ignorance, depopulation, hunger, and all types of sicknesses. Migration from rural to urban areas may lead to reduction in the number of rural populace and on the other hand may result to high rate of demand on urban housing in cities to which they migrated to.

Therefore, there is need for studies that will focus on the reduction of residential property / housing demand in Owerri Municipal by discouraging rural-urban migration. Such studies will be important so as to create awareness on the present situation, improve understanding and proffer solutions to the issue. This research work is part of the endeavour to contribute towards filling this gap and thus focuses on the impact of rural-urban migration on demand for residential properties in Nigeria with references to  Owerri Municipal, Nigeria.

1.3   AIM AND OBJECTIVES THE STUDY

The aim of this study is to examine the impact of rural-urban migration on demand for residential properties in Nigeria – a case study of Owerri Municipal.

OBJECTIVES

Specifically the objectives of the study are;

1. To ascertain the causes of rural-urban migration and its impact on demand for residential properties in Owerri Municipal.
2. To determine the setbacks which rural-urban migration has on residential property demand in Owerri Municipal.
3. To suggest ways of discouraging rural-urban migration thus reducing its impact on housing demand in Owerri Municipal.

1.4   RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following research questions are posed to guide the study.

1. What factors lead to rural-urban migration?
2. What are the impacts of rural-urban migration on the

demand for residential properties in Owerri Municipal?

• What mechanisms are to be adopted in solving the problem of rural-urban migration in other to reduce its impact on residential properties demand in Owerri Municipal?

1.5   RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

The hypothesis for this research work is as follows;

H₀: The rate of residential properties / housing demand in Owerri municipal is not dependent on rural-urban migration.

H₁: The rate of residential properties / housing demand in Owerri municipal is dependent on rural-urban migration.

1.6   SCOPE OF STUDY

The scope of this study is limited to rural-urban migration and its impact on residential properties demand in Nigeria, with the primary focus on Owerri Municipal in Imo State.

Furthermore, the research assessed the high rate of housing demand attributed to rural-urban migration which may be associated with various detrimental consequences that will be unfolded in the course of this research.

Hence, the study is limited to showing the adverse impact rural-urban migration has on the demand for housing in Owerri Municipal. Generally, the study looked at the problems, impacts, causes, and how they can be tackled.

1.7   SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This work is expected to provide a proper understanding for the subject matter under study, thus it will be of immense help in tackling the problem of its practical perspective.

The study will supply the much needed background in tackling the impact of rural-urban migration on housing demand. Most of the developed countries today are great because they make use of research findings, which often originate from research works.

Therefore;

– The study when successfully completed will be of value to the educational planners and the government.

– The study will be of importance to researchers/students working on related topics.

– The study will reveal the reasons why people migrate from rural area to urban centers and the impact of such movement on housing demand in the study area.

– The study will also be an addition to previous works on the topic, thus, an addition to knowledge.

1.8   THE STUDY AREA

Owerri Municipal is a local government area of Imo state, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the city of Owerri. Owerri Municipal council, formerly the headquarters of old Owerri local government area(comprising the present day Owerri Municipal, Owerri north, Owerri west and Ngor-Okpala local government areas) became a Municipal council on 15^th December 1996.

The council has an urban setting with one autonomous community made up of 5 indigenous kindred (Owerri nchiise) vis: Umuororonjo, Amawom, Umuonyeocha, Umuodu and Umuoyima, under the rulership of one permanent traditional ruler, presently he is the Eze of Owerre (a.k.a Ozuruigbo of Owerri). The apex traditional institution in the area is the “Oha Owerri” elder’s council, which is the area, is also the judicial aim of government (settling all dispute and other matters). “Onyeishi ala Owerri” is the traditional chief priest of the community. The entire women of “Owerri nchiise” are also under one umbrella body- the “Udodinindom Owerri”.

Generally, the five kindred of Owerri Municipal council are: Amawom, Umuodu, Umuonyeocha, Umuoronjo, Umuoyima. Owerri Municipal also covers the following areas: New Owerri, Ikenegbu, Aladimma, G.R.A and Work layout. Entrances into the Municipal council are Okigwe road, Onitsha road, Port-harcortroad, Aba road and Mbaise road.

1.8.1        LOCATION AND SITE

Owerri Municipal in Owerri, Imo state, Nigeria is located at approximately 5.4833N (Latitude in decimal degrees) and 7.03041E (longitude in decimal degrees). That is 5.4833N 7.035E coordinates: 5.485N 7.035E

Nigeria->Imo state->Owerri->Owerri Municipal Time zone: WAT (UTC+1) Owerri Municipal is bounded on the north by Amakohia, on the north east by Uratta, on the east by Egbu, on the east by Naze, on the south by Nekede and on the north east by Irete.

(a)    Rainfall

The study area is within the rain forest belt of Nigeria. Two distinct condition or season (ie wet and dry season) exists. These two regimes are derived from the different air masses prevailing over the country at different times of the year namely; the dry northeast air mass of Sahara origin (tropical continental air mass) which is responsible for the dry season. It blows across the Sahara desert towards Nigeria. This wind pushes the southeast wind further towards the coast where the tropical front is now formed. It is cold, dusty and dry; hence, it does not bring rain. Rather, it brings very cold, dusty, and dry weather called harmattan. It usually starts from November and ends around February and the humid tropical maritime air mass (south west trade wind) originating from the south atlantics. It blows from the high pressure belt area in the south in June to the low pressure belt in the north. This then pushes the tropical continental air mass towards the north where the inter-tropical front is formed. That is, the wind blows across the Atlantic oceans towards the coast of Nigeria. The wind is warm and wet; hence it brings rainfall to the study area. The rainfall decreases towards the northern part of Nigeria. It usually starts around March and ends around October with a short dry period in august called august break.

The rainfall pattern in the area is oscillatory, that is convectional rainfall occurs in area intensively heated like the study area. This results in heavy rain, accompanied by thunder and lightning. The area is characterised by heavy winds, lightning and thunder storm accompanied with heavy rain. The two peak periods are usually between June and September. The annual rainfall ranges from 1600-2900mm.

AN APPRAISAL OF HOUSING CONDITION IN KANTOMA, SULEJA, NIGER STATE

AN APPRAISAL OF HOUSING CONDITION IN KANTOMA, SULEJA, NIGER STATE

ABSTRACT

The need for Housing in Kantoma as there is both qualitative and quantitative housing provision in the study area, people find it difficult to move to place of work and other activities and some go outside the neighbourhood to work, this motivated the work.  Primary data were obtained through administration of structured questionnaires to a random size of population in the area. Oral interviews and field observations were also carried out for holistic and detail assessment of the environment. Secondary data were obtained from desk review method; information on environmental issues resulting housing shortage. The study identifies some problems and recommends that a strong legislation with severe sanction be put in place and they should be a continuous public enlightenment.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

In recent times, there has been a growing concern on the deteriorating state of housing in most urban areas of the developing nations. Consequently, the need for a decent and adequate shelter has long been an issue requiring urgent global attention. Since shelter constitutes one of man’s basic needs, it does have a profound impact on the health, wellbeing, social attitudes and economic productivity of the individual. However, it has been pointed out that residential quality and the quality of life are two variables of the same equation. Thus, the quality of housing, being basically an important health element, affects the well-being of the people, their productivity, manner of living and the decencies of their lives.

Significantly, good quality housing provides the foundation for stable communities and social inclusion. Previous research has established that a positive correlation exists between the quality of life and the comfort, convenience and visual appeal of housing. Good quality housing is therefore essential to planning. It does not only ensure the safety and wellbeing of people, but promotes beauty, convenience and aesthetics in the overall built-up environment.

Existing realities have however indicated an apparent variation in housing characteristics across different regions. The consequences of adaptation and restructuring have resulted into differences in housing quality in different communities. This problem of differential housing quality is compounded by the very rapid urban growth. However, studies have shown that the provision of appropriate housing, particularly for the urban poor constitutes a major challenge to development in most African countries and developing nations’ at large; and. Despite increasing emphasis on the need to improve housing, particularly within the urban areas of the less developed countries (LDCs), a high proportion of the urban population are deprived of access to good quality housing. Going by a UN-Habitat estimate, more than one billion of the world’s city residents live in low quality housing, mostly in the sprawling slums and squatter settlements in developing countries. The reality is that this urban housing scenario has adverse implications on the general wellbeing of the people and portends severe danger to the socioeconomic and physical development of the nations at large.

In Suleja, like in other towns and cities in the country, the provision of housing has been a major concern for some time. Access to decent and good quality housing has posed serious challenge to sustainable growth and development. While there has been an increasing demand for additional housing stock in the urban areas, the condition and overall quality of the existing stock falls short of the expected standard. Consequently, the urban house forms accommodated extended families living with many inconveniences while spatial congestion and infrastructure overloads cause problem in living comfort.

Considering the gravity of the housing problems and its effects on the wellbeing of the people and the nation at large, there is the need for housing improvements in our cities, and this is predicated on the appreciation of the essence of the house within the context of human habitation. There is no doubt, that housing remains a basic human need. Its quality, cost, and availability are crucial to individual’s quality of life. Also, the location, planning, layout and design make an important contribution to community spirit and identity, and are significant components of the social dimension of sustainable development.

1.2       STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS

There is high prevalence of housing quantitative deficiency and inadequacy in supply in the study area as a result of absence of affordable land for housing development, cost of building material, inadequate provision of infrastructure and service and non-implementation of National housing policy.

1.3       AIM

The aim of this dissertation is to assess housing condition in Kantoma, Suleja Town with a view to evolving physical planning proposals improvement.

1.4       OBJECTIVES

i.       To examine the concept and indicators for evaluating housing condition.

ii.      To examine the physical condition of Kantoma.

iii.     To examine the socio-economic characteristic of the residence of Kantoma.

iv.     To evaluate the housing condition of the town.

v.      To evolve physical planning solution to the identified problems.

1.5       SCOPE

The study area covers the entireKantoma, Suleja Town located in Suleja local government area of Niger State.

1.6       LIMITATION

The following are the limitation encountered in the course of the research.

1. There was shortage of fund to carry out the project.
2. During the data collection, some respondent were reluctant to fill the question.

1.7       JUSTIFICATION

The result of this study will provide a guide for the appropriate authorities to decide on a new strategy for housing development.

1.8       PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

The climate of Suleja is associated with two distinct seasons, wet and dry season. The rainy season starts from March to October and sometimes delays to around April to October. The rainy season occur for about seven (7) months. The dry season is about five (5) months November to March. During the period, the temperature and humidity follow closely the pattern of two dominant tropical air masses leading to the emergence of distinct regimes of;

(i)         Hot and humid period April- July

(ii)        Cool and humid period July – October

(iii)       Cool and dry period November – February

(iv)       Hot and dry period February – March

1.8.1    TEMPERATURE

Temperature within this area is average of about . The possibilities of the temperature drooping to the barest minimum degree centigrade are positive because it is embedded within a mountain.

1.8.2    LAND USE OF THE AREA

The land use of the area is predominantly residential/commercial development coming up.

1.8.3    VEGETATION

 Generally, the vegetation of Niger State is characterized by savannah which is also typically stratified community with a discontinuous canopy, shrubs and grass layers. The free stratum is less dense than that of the savannah woodland but more substantial than that of the shrub savannah.

1.8.4    SOIL AND GEOLOGY

The geographical area is sand and rocky. These rocky are igneous rock the soil part of the region is good. It consists of humus soil that is responsible for the good vegetation within the region.

1.8.5    WIND

The two pronounced air masses experienced in Suleja are the north-east trade winds (tropical continental winds) from the Sahara desert in winter (September-April) which is moist south west monsoon winds which blows from the Atlantic ocean and brings rain with it.

1.8.6    HUMIDITY

Reference to Nasarawa, relative humidity is high compare to what is experienced in most northern States this is because of effects of altitude.

1.8.7    HYDROLOGY

Suleja is characterized by a network of streams and rivers. Many of the streams are small and seasonal. The major ones like river Uke and Ado are the ones that flow through the season, but in some extreme  years they dry up at the peak of dry season.

1.8.8    TOPOGRAPHY

Suleja has a gentle slope that is undulating dissected by a network of streams characterized by a lot of hills and granite in other parts of the area. ‘The area is generally within 300 – 500m above sea level.

HOUSING CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY APPROACH TO HOUSING DELIVERY

HOUSING CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY APPROACH TO HOUSING DELIVERY

According to Dogarawa (2005), Co-operative Societies emerged as an option explored by the majority which are mostly low income group and are somewhat alienated by the privileged minority that control the resources of an economy. The Societies have become a strong, vibrant and viable economic alternative in a period when many people feel helpless, powerless or disenfranchised to change their living conditions. Co-operative Societies are formed principally to meet peoples’ mutual needs based on the idea that together, a group of people can achieve goals that none of them could achieve alone. The formation and goal of Co-operative Societies is not to meet unessential collective or individual needs. Rather, it is aimed at providing basic needs which otherwise might take a long time to realize or completely unaffordable without assistance.

The UN-Habitat (2002) identified co-operatives as an important way of achieving the two goals of Habitat  Agenda which are “Adequate Shelter for all” and “Sustainable Human Settlement Development”. Also, the Global Strategy for Shelter to the year 2000 states that implementation of a shelter strategy will involve the redistribution of responsibilities to a variety of actors and stakeholders, including individual households, cooperative groups, informal and formal private producers, governmental agencies and ministries (UN-Habitat, 1989).

Co-operatives are people-centred and are owned, controlled, used and invested in by their members, who have a responsibility to support their co-operative by being an active member. In return, the co-operative must ethically service the needs of its members (Cooper 2012). Members are the heart and soul of a co-operative. The main purpose of a co-operative is for all members to join with a group of like-minded people to share in the benefits of co-operation, which are designed to meet the social, economic and cultural needs of its members. Co-operatives promote member development through their participation in governing the organisation, and usually provide local social or economic development, such as providing employment, goods or services that would not otherwise be available or affordable to the members.

Whether the term is used as co-operative housing or housing co-operative the literature on the subject matter is extant with conceptual clarifications (Wikipedia 2013, Sazama, 2000; Fasakin, 1998; NCHAA, 2001; Kennedy, 1996). The different definitions however reflect varying typologies rather than kinds of co-operatives. For instance, Wikipedia defined Housing co-operative as “a legal entity, usually a corporation, renting own real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings, and that, it is one type of housing tenure”.

According to Sazama (2000) housing cooperative is one in which member-residents jointly own their building, democratically control it and receive the social and economic benefits accruable from living in and owning a cooperative. Housing co-operatives are often established to meet the needs and visions of certain groups of people, such as people from low income households, of specific ethnic or religious background, artistic persuasion, age, sex, sexual preference, disabilities, or environmental awareness.The general objective function of the housing co-operatives is to provide for the low and medium income class, decent and affordable housing. In terms of structure and function, they are mostly set up by civic organisations or private realtors with partial funding from governments which in most cases act as policy maker or facilitator (Adeboyejo & Oderinde, 2013).

In Nigeria, co-operative housing is not new, as the principle is embedded in the customs of many Nigerian ethnic nationalities. Among the Yorubas of South-western Nigeria, for instance, informal co-operative means, known as aaro in local language, have been used to achieve aspects of home ownership. This involved pooling physical efforts of relatives and friends, and obtaining loans, aajo or esusu from saving societies. However, there are very few, if any formal, or real housing cooperative movements in the country (Adeboyejo & Oderinde, 2013).

NATURE OF HOUSING DELIVERY IN NIGERIA

NATURE OF HOUSING DELIVERY IN NIGERIA

UN-Habitat (2010; 2012) estimated total housing needs in Africa at around 4 million units per year with over 60 per cent of the demand required to accommodate urban residents and that the figure may likely increase to 5 million per year in the cities. This translates into nearly 15,000 dwellings per day in order to accommodate the expected urban population growth. UN-Habitat (2010) also observed that rapid urbanization is generating extraordinary demographic pressure and demand for housing, land and infrastructure especially in African cities.

In many developing countries, including Nigeria, urban housing crisis is escalating unabated despite a number of new policies, programs and strategies being engaged in by public and private sectors in addressing this problem. Government has recognized that the majority of those in need of housing in many less-developed nations in Africa, Asia and South America are in the low income categories and that some require special housing programs to be able to live in decent housing (Offiaet, 2014).

Several studies have indicated that public housing provision involves policy formulation, institutional development, actual housing provision, allocation and management (Omole, 2001; Valenca, 2007; Sengupta and Tipple, 2007). This goes to suggest that challenges in public housing provision are related to policy formulation, institutional growth and development as well as actual production and consumption of housing units and services. In fact, Sengupta and Tipple (2007) noted that the performance of public-sector housing in terms of total supply and quality, price and affordability of housing and services depends on these key areas and perhaps on other intervening factors.

Specifically, the actual production of housing units and associated services is one of the key objectives of public housing provision which aims at increasing decent and affordable housing stock within a country, state or locality. However, evidence from literature review clearly shows that public housing provision in many developing countries, including Nigeria, has not recorded any impressive result in matching housing production to housing demand, as there are huge housing supply deficits in many less developed countries (Rondinelli, 1990; Mukhija, 2004; Sengupta and Ganesan, 2004; Olotuah, 2010).

The burgeoning housing supply deficit in Nigerian which as at 2015 was put at over 35 million housing units (Onwuemenyi, 2015) for instance, has been blamed on low productivity in public-sector housing. Taking a closer look at planned and constructed number of housing units in the different public housing programs initiated between 1962 and 1999 record shows that a total of 618,498 housing units were planned for production in the various public housing schemes across the country and around 85,812 housing units representing around 14% of the planned housing units were actually completed. This achievement level clearly shows that many of the public housing programs initiated by government within that period failed to meet the targeted number of housing units.

With respect to affordable housing provision, the UN-HABITAT (2006) report on Nigeria noted that past public housing policies and programs in the country were aimed at enabling low-income earners gain access to decent housing at affordable cost. According to Aribigbola (2008), the 2002 New National Housing and Urban Development Policy (NNHUDP) for instance, asserted that no Nigerian is expected to pay more than 20% of his or her monthly income on housing. But to the contrary, prior studies (Onibokun, 1985; Awotona, 1990; Mba 1992; Olotuah and Bobadoye, 2009; Ibem, 2010) have shown that the targeted population of many past public housing schemes in Nigeria did not benefit from such schemes. This was due to high cost of housing units provided. Consequently, several authors have contended that the constraints in accessing housing inputs (land, building materials and finance) as well as cost of providing infrastructure were partly responsible for the hike in the cost of public housing beyond the reach of an average Nigerian (Ikejiofor, 1999; UN-HABITAT, 2006; Aribigbola, 2008).

PROBLEMS OF HOUSING IN NIGERIA

PROBLEMS OF HOUSING IN NIGERIA

The Nigerian Government, in the past few years, has made the provision of housing for its inhabitants an important issue. one of the most significant efforts is that they have co-worked with private organizations in the design, construction and implementation of housing projects throughout the country.

Despite their efforts to improve the housing situation of the country, about 90% of urban housing is produced by private investors.

In Nigeria, like in any other developing country, when we talk about provision of housing, it is usually for the middle class(most times the low middle class) and the lower class inhabitants of the urban mass and this in most cases lead to the construction of different mass housing schemes to help solve the housing shortage, and come with certain problems.

There are several problems associated with the housing in Nigeria, and these include:
1. Safety and Security
2. Affordability
3. Accessibility
4. Lack of infrastructures and support facilities
5. Quality of housing
6. Variety of housing types
7. Location of housing

Safety and security: As identified by Plessis (1999) in the previous chapter, “One of the requirements of a sustainable environment is that it should be safe for all who use it. Just as it should not pose health threats to its inhabitants, people should not have cause to fear for their personal safety and the safety of their possessions”. In Nigeria, one of the most problems with housing is the issue of security and safety. Where an individual lives determines the safety and security of that person and his/her family.

There are safe and secure housing environments in the country but the cost of housing in a well situated environment is so high that only people in the upper class and upper middle class can afford to stay in safe environments, while the low income earners reside in houses located in areas isolated from the rest of the city, coupled with the fact that the wealthy people in the environment can afford security in their housing environments even when the situations is neglected by the authorities in charge and the low income earners cannot.

The provision of security in one part of a city to eradicate/restrict crime usually redistribute it from the housing environments of the elite, the high income earners and the upper middle class earners, to the housing environments of the lower middle class and the low income earners.

Affordability: Housing ,as we see today, is like any other commodity in the market. It is produced, and can be sold and bought by individuals or organizations. This notion tends to exclude the poor from the housing market. Due to this, and the fact that most of the housing stocks in the country are owned and produced by private investors, they are usually of a high cost. As John Logan and Harvey Molotch explained in their essay, “The City as a Growth Machine ” these private investors who are place entrepreneurs, usually attempt through collective actions and in most cases in alliance with other business men to create conditions that will intensify future land use in an area. Therefore due to the intensification of land use in such areas there is difficulty for acquiring land for new construction and the price of housing is usually at a rate which is affordable by elite and the upper middle class citizens in the country.

ACCESSBILITY: Another problems of housing in Nigeria is the accessibility of housing environment to infrastructures and support facilities. Because of the cost of housings in the major parts of the city, people move towards the outskirts of the city in search of affordable housing. Most of these areas are usually in an isolated away from the jobs in the center and are linked to the city centers usually by a single route, for access to place of work, school and health facilities, people who live in these areas have to go all the way to the city center.

This increase the everyday cost of living of the already low income earners and also the traffic congestion on these routes at certain times of the day.

LACK OF INFRASTRUCTURES AND SUPPORT FACILITIES: Most housing environments lack infrastructure and support facilities. in most public housings, especially the mass housings environments there is little or no water supply and electricity, Mass housings environments lacks the provision of schools, health facilities, public parks and gardens.

QUALITY: Not only is the quality of housings a problems in Nigeria, the quality of the housing environment is also a problems. Most housing environments lack maintenance, especially in rental housing and mass housing environments. sanitation has long been forgotten about in most parts of the country even in environments where the elites reside. The only difference is that the elite have the capital to afford private companies to take care of this problems while the low income earners do not.

VARIETY OF HOUSING TYPES: There is a lack of broad range of housing types and prizes levels when it comes to mass housings in Nigeria, and even if there is a variety in price range, it usually starts from a price which is above the affordability level of the low income earners. A broad range of housing types usually brings people of diverse ages, races and income into daily interaction but because most housings environments in Nigeria lacks this people of different statues are highly segregated, especially when it comes to income level.

LOCATION: In Nigeria also comes with a social stigma. When an individual lives in mass housings environments, he/she is seen as a different individuals from those who live in private houses or houses located in the more expensive part of the city. This is usually caused by the unhygienic and overcrowded nature of the environments of most these mass housing developments.

INADEQUATE SUPPLY: Is also a serious problems, This is because there is a shortage of qualified and experienced tradesmen in the mass housings developments, and as therefore made impossible for the building industry to meet housings demands.