ABSTRACT
This paper examines
the importance of housing to man as an essential need and a prerequisite for
the survival of man after food. It equally recognizes profound influence it has
on the health, behavior and efficiency of man and the nation as a whole. The
study was carried out with the aid of questionnaire administration, building
and facility survey Using random sampling technique, every 5th houses in the
two district areas was picked for assessment of which questionnaires were
administered to those houses. Also, data were collected from related government
ministries and departments to particular find out government’s intervention in
this area. Findings from the study reveal that the area chosen for the study
exhibit slum condition that has undenied impact on the residential housing
conditions and the socio-economic lifestyles and the health of the residents
which has caused bad residential housing, as well as the uninteresting general
outlook of the environment. Recommendations were proffered to guide the policy makers
towards enhancing the lives of the residents of the area. Some of which include
upgrading program through the provision of urban basic services and improved
sanitation strategies for sustainable management of the area, Public enlighten
campaign is also recommended so that the residents will know the importance of
good living condition to their health and as well to know the danger of abusing
their environment.
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1:
Socio-economic characteristics of respondents…………………..22
Table 2: Building
characteristics……………………………………………..…24
Table 3: distribution
of sanitary services………………………..……26
Table 4: distribution
of general facilities………………..…………28
Table 5:
Environmental related problems and likely causative factors…….29
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: map of Edo
State showing the location of study area……….18
Figure 2: map showing
the position of Edo State……………..…….…20
Figure 3: Edo State
map showing the location of the study area (Ovia North East Local Government
Area) …………………………………………21
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1
BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Housing is often
regarded as one of the basic human needs. It ranks second after food and
thereafter clothing. It is a pre-requisite for the survival of man
(Onibokun,1985). Housing as a unit of the environment has profound influence on
the health, efficiency, social behavior, satisfaction and general welfare of
the community. It reflects the cultural, social and economic values of a
society, as it is the best physical and historical evidence of the civilization
of a country. Adedeji (2004) argued that housing issues affect the life of
individuals as well as that of a nation; hence both nature and society ascribed
great importance to the role it plays to bring about human comfort. Housing all
over the world has remained an interdependent phenomenon that affects every
facets of mankind and it represents one of the most basic human needs which no
doubt has a profound impact on the health, welfare and productivity of every
individual irrespective of socio-economic status, colour or creed. In spite of
the importance of housing to mankind, there is however, a universal shortage of
needed dwelling units especially in developing countries including Nigeria
where population growth and urbanization are rapidly on the increase and where
the gap between the housing supply and housing demand is so wide. Housing
shortage in Nigeria is reported to be estimated at about 14 to 16 million
housing units with an esteemed whooping sum of N4.7 trillion required to meet
the deficit. The importance of providing adequate and quality housing in any
country cannot be overstated nor disputed in time or space. It is a stimulant
to the national economy. However, the re-current nature of housing needs and
the unending desire for good housing tend to confirm the widely impression that
there is hardly any society that has been able to cope satisfactorily with its
housing requirement (Modupe, 1986). The proliferation of shanty dwellings,
squatter settlements and slums in most of our cities in the Nigeria and other
less developed nations of the world is attributed to a chain of factors. Of
course, such factors are closely associated with the low level of
socio-economic and cultural lifestyles of the inhabitants and the effects of
residential housing in our environment. This paper, therefore, intends to
investigate the characteristics of housing condition, the positive and negative
effects of residential housing, and the socio-economic lifestyle of residential
neighborhood in Ovia North East and Ovia South West Local Government Area,
Benin City, Edo state (Nigeria) with a view to determining the factors that are
actually responsible for the formation of good and bad residential housing
conditions in urban and rural settings.