Housing quality has significant
impact on socio-economic development of occupant. It dictates the occupant’s
socio economic objectives and the possibility of attaining such objectives
.housing is very fundamental to welfare, survival and health of individual.
That is, comfortable housing cannot be overemphasized in the sustenance of
human life and rising of standard of living. It is widely acknowledged that
adequate housing is essential for good life; it is a key requirement for an
efficient and satisfied lob-our force and the foundation of satisfying community
life. The major contributing factor to the growing incidence of poor housing is
urbanization, which can be attributed to higher internal birth rate and
migration.
Due to more prospects, there has been high
degree of migration of people from rural to cities in search of greener
pastures, leading to overstretch of housing facilities. The consequence of this
housing problem is, growing incidence of shanties, overcrowded houses and
slums, Inadequate water supply, poor sanitary condition, pollution, poor
transportation system and poor electrification, specifically dilapidated
residential buildings are closely associated to poor housing condition.
Although, it was argued that poor housing condition has become a threat to
healthy living, particularly in the city. However, housing condition whether
good or bad has significant impact on the way of life and socio-economic
development of the inhabitants, since housing form the environment, where most
of human activities take place. In most part of the world, higher
proportion of the poor, the underprivileged lives in the poor housing area, the
slum area.
That is the reason why some scholars have
argued that urban landscape is a mirror reflecting the society, and at the same
time produces and maintains it. Lagos, Otto metropolitan area, is one Nigerian
cities that is experiencing poor housing condition, high level of housing
deterioration and high growing incidence of slum. The situation has observed
has been posing a numbers of challenges not on the resident alone, but to the
urban philosophers. From human behavior point of view, slum is regarded as a
social group or a particular section of the city where pathologies of
alcoholism, distorted family life, and the likes common. From a mainstream
view, it can be said that slum spoil the look of the city.
Because slum breeds poverty and high
unemployment, there is a high crime rate steaming from these
neighborhoods. Although, it is argued that crime rate is mostly common in Kenya
slum urban centre as a result of poor mechanism that was put in place, studies
conducted in metropolitan areas, indicated that the highly concentrated crime
area is predominantly in the slum area such as Ajegunle, Mushin, iponri, oshodi
and Otto in the mainland were residential dwellers satisfaction is called to
question. An example of kissensi slum area in Kenya that was well known as a
high-crime area, including greatest concentration of prostitute, sales of
illegally brewed beer, gambling and drug was reportedly in the order of the day
in that settlement as a result of government less concentration.
Slum residents are the most marginalized and most world vulnerable set of urban
dwellers. A case in point is the focused inhabitant in Lagos metropolis were
studies shows that inadequate accessibility is one of the problems confronting
the settlement of the community were building inspected shows high levels of interred road were
only footpath remain accessible, a wide saying that road is indeed a
source that open up development cannot be wrong. An imaginable experience which
a Nigerian popular musician nice “describe as a worse scenario of a life time,
where in his message in the album “titled” ANYTIME, said, ‘’at the slightest
rain fail in shomolu late at night, when people are sleeping, both his mother
and him are busy evacuating piled water that dropped directly in their room
out, for them to get a place called shelter to bury their head and sleep. As
worrisome as the Otto environment is, its accessibility has a narrow way due to
poor land use planning and development. A resident, Mr. Raheem, explain that
the resident as a whole, is primarily confronted with sanitary challenges,
which can be attributed to inadequate an ineffective disposal systems. A physical observation shows that
the environment is littered with domestic waste, while in some places; human
faces are found besides the residential building on the open space where some
of the resident carried out their cooking and within the abandon building. The
scenario triggered the question of whether there is indeed need for residential satisfaction in that settlement at
least for those who deserved to be in a satisfactory environment. On the other hand, one
wonders if indeed they have a regulatory agency that is saddled with the
responsibility of managing the activity of that settlement said another
resident, Mr. Bosede.
In a group discuss with some of
the residence, to get their own side of perception, they largely agreed that
some factors like inadequate capital which under normal circumstance would have
prompted them in to community self help as a way of getting directly involve in
developing their community remains inconceivable given the situation that they found them self in. while some agreed
that the poor environmental condition is one of the attribute of the low
income. However, some agree that the poor environmental condition could be
attributed to lack of assistance from government. All factors considered, the
government must ensure that their present is felt in that settlement since poor
housing condition has consequences of breeding social disillusionment with
respect to the inhabitants’ objectives and their responsibilities towards
attainment of those perceived inefficiencies in that environment. Similarly,
ignorance of the slum residents sustains poverty and poor environment, because
they could not think and plan to escape from the twin problem of poverty and
poor environment. This is because they lack the essential need to exploit the
available opportunity around them. Their story should change.
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