ROLE OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF RESIDENTIAL ESTATES IN NIGERIA

ROLE OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF RESIDENTIAL ESTATES IN NIGERIA

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).

ROLE OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF RESIDENTIAL ESTATES IN NIGERIA