Post-Resettlement Changes and Adjustment: A case study of SabonWuse in Niger State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the various socio-economic activities and adjustment to changes resulting from the resettlement programme in Sabon Wuse Settlement of Tafa Local Government Area of Niger State. In order to achieve this aim, the socio-economic activities, the sources of livelihoods and the level of satisfaction with the public utilities and services were assessed. In all, a total of 268 questionnaires were administered to household heads through a systematic sampling technique and frequencies and percentages were used for descriptive statistical results. Findings show that there is a relatively adjustments to the new settlement, as there has been a relative increase in the income level of household heads, 47.8% of the respondents now earn between N25,001.00 to N35,000.00 while 17.9% of the respondents now earn more than N35,000.00. 49.3% of the respondents are engaged in secondary economic activities compared to their previous forms of occupations (agriculture and cattle rearing). The utilities and services provided in the study area were adequate to a as 29% of the total respondents travel less than 500 metres to access to water supply. The healthcare services has also improved as revealed by the survey, before the resettlement, 39.1% of the respondents travel a distance of 1,501 – 2,000 metres in order to get healthcare services but after the resettlement only 22.8% of the respondents travel the same distance to get healthcare services. It is recommended that measures should be put in place to control the rate of physical development and as the settlement experiences growth, there is need for improvements on public utilities and services such as roads, water supply, electricity, schools, etc. on incremental basis.