Urbanisation and Housing in Nigeria- An Expository Study

Abstract

The need to develop an effective housing policy that would ameliorate the present acute shortage of urban housing by practically addressing the imbalance between demand and supply of existing housing stock necessitated this research. The method of study was by critical exposition of existing related literature and a review of relevant empirical research findings. The result of the study shows that the problem of housing in Nigeria is enormous and the challenge daunting and the threats to housing an estimated 65% of Nigerian populace expected to live in the city areas by the year 2020, high. The study concludes that renewed stakeholders collaboration is imperative, with high priority and impeccable commitment to drive the arduous task of housing the urban population to a success. Additionally, strategic plans for a pragmatic and effective urban housing must be made to convert the identified threats to opportunities and weakness to strengths. The study recommends that housing the urban dwellers must be seen by government as a critical dependency and should be accorded priority status alongside with security, health, education in annual budgets. The study also recommends the re-strategizing of existing housing delivery frameworks for improved service delivery in the sector.