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| THE NIGERIA STATE, URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND THE DILEMMA OF GOOD GOVERNANCE. |
 PRINTABLE VERSION |
There is also increasing level of disparity between Urban and rural areas. The problems of the urban areas are as a result of the influx of people from the rural areas, traffic congestion, and pollution amongst others. Some problems arise due to the pressure of people using the facilities compared to the member of people it was designed for.
Nigeria’s urban infrastructure is crumbing. Water supply, sewage, sanitation, drainage, roads, electricity and waster disposal all suffer from years of serious neglect. Periodic and routine maintenance, by far the most cost-effective infrastructure spending, is almost zero.
It has become the norm in Nigeria to wait for a capital infusion to rehabilitate, replacing instead of maintaining the infrastructure. But declining financing resources is making this less feasible and deterioration is accelerating, compounding the situation is rapid urbanization caused by migration from rural areas. The number of people living in Nigeria’s towns and cities is expected to double to 80 million in the next 13 years and reach 100 million by 2010.
Urbanization is a positive force in development. Cities and towns are home to most industry, commerce, and services, all of which can be highly productive.
Nigeria’s urban population, over the period 1980-1993, grew at an astonishing 5.5 percent a year, compared with 2.9 percent nationwide. Many urban Nigerians, however, do not earn enough to cover even basic needs. An estimated 21 percent or so (8.5 million persons ) were below the poverty lines in 1992-93. They, more than anybody, suffer from the breakdown in urban infrastructure, especially through poor health. Most of the burden falls on women and children.
Urban pollution and poor management of municipal waste (sewage and refuse) add to the health hazards. Numerous industries dump untreated and often toxic liquids in open gutters, streams, rivers and lagoon. And, as elsewhere fumes from vehicles contaminate the air and water.
In recent years, Nigeria’s leadership, institutions, and policies have been subject to abrupt and unpredictable change, making any planning difficult. A starting point for action can be found in the National Urban Development Policy, prepared in 1992. This, however, has not been adopted officially.
Other government policies have hampered urban productivity and welfare. Fiscal deficits have fueled inflation. Big subsidies for fertilizer, petrol and loss-making state enterprises drain revenues away from more productive use. It has been observed that inadequate control on public spending, massive extra budgetary allocations, and lack of accountability and transparency hinder allocation of resources for infrastructure and social services.
The same situation obtains with urban real estate. The state owns much of the land that could be used for housing, factories, offices, or as collateral for credit. But bureaucratic procedure make it difficult, time-consuming, and expensive to acquire real estate. Moreover, the private sector is excluded from aspects of infrastructure and services (electricity, water and telecommunications, for instance).
With scarce financial resources and too few trained people, local governments (774 of them) are unable to carry out their assigned functions. As usual, the poor suffer most.
Reliving and reducing poverty must be the main aim of urban development. Even modest investment can make a big improvement in the lives of the urban poor. Better basic services in low-income urban areas can have a major impact on the welfare and productivity of the poor. But such investments must be part of broader programs fro primary health care, education, and employment.
Another problem transportation and traffic congestion due bad roads, lack of street lights and street signs and little or no building set backs.
Statistics show that the increasing number of accidents is due to the inability of the government to function properly in the area of transportation among others. There is the problem of road bandits who parade long distance routes adding to the number of accidents that occur on Nigerian roads. Another problem I the issue of poor maintenance of road. It can scarcely be taken that Nigeria is enriched with oil resources but lacked the ability to use the bitumen obtained from petroleum to make her roads functional.
There has been the issue of night workers known as prostitutes, armed robbers and even pen thieves in offices especially at high places. In the country it is found that corrupt police officers who are meant to be defending the rights of the citizens abuse these citizens physically.
In the construction industry, corruption has eaten deep into the system that fake plans, building more than the number of floors approved, political influence of building plan approvals, encroaching on government land as a result of these issues there have been incessant building collapse and bridges in various states, with Lagos having the highest number, followed by Port Harcourt, River State capital.
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Writer Profile
akinbo a. a. cornerstone
A prolific Nigerian writer with a gift for words. Wrote under the pen name of Fad and Quad during the Military Era. Currently uses the "pscornerstone" signature.
An activist with religious inclination and respect for cultural heritage, he grew up streetwise and with great love for his country, Nigeria.
He believes that he who holds the word holds the world.
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Spend a few minutes reading the other students' blogs and adding your comments NLfS-team5 | Sep 1st, 2007
Spend a few minutes reading the other students' blogs and adding your comments
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