AN APPRAISAL OF COMMUNITY EFFORTS IN INFRASTRUCTURAL PROVISION IN LAGOS STATE BY SAMSON A. OLAWUNI & KUYE OLUSEGUN

The Yaba Journal of Environmental Research.  Journal publication of the School of Environmental Studies, Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, volume 1, number 3, July 2010; pp 111-131.

ABSTRACT

The state of a nation’s economy and the general wellbeing of its people can be
determined by the level of its infrastructure development. It is therefore pertinent to fashion out workable approaches towards the provision and maintenance of public infrastructure in Nigeria in general and urban centres like Lagos in particular. This study appraised   community   efforts   towards appreciable   improvement   in   the   level   of infrastructure provision in Lagos State. Empirical studies showed that individuals and communities have hitherto depended on government for the provision of infrastructure in their respective neighbuorhoods. Unfortunately, government effort in this regard has been  assessed  to  be  inadequate.  Furthermore,  a  number  of  community-based infrastructures were identified and their mode of provision appraised in the course of this study.  The  research  revealed  that  there  is  high  dependence  on  government  for infrastructural provision. Individuals on the other hand, concentrate majorly on their respective housing units, giving less regard to the community services. The study therefore   recommends   that   government   should   encourage   more   of   community participation and the promotion of public-private-partnership in the provision of public infrastructure in order to enhance the quality of life of urban dwellers.

Keywords: Infrastructure, community projects, self-help, funding.

INTRODUCTION

The practice of total dependence on government for the provision and maintenance of public infrastructures in Nigeria over the decades has now resulted in their deficiency in terms of quantity and quality. It is a common practice in the public sector to ignore the maintenance of public  infrastructures  and  watch  their  progressive  deterioration  until  they  merit complete replacement involving huge capital outlay. On the other hand, the provision of infrastructure is capital  intensive and uneconomical  for  an  individual person to provide  all  the  needed infrastructure. The limited financial resources of government have warranted her inability to meet all the infrastructural needs of her teeming populace. This has necessitated some
community-based organizations to take up the challenges of infrastructural provision. In the case of private individuals developing their environments either for self-sufficiency, economic
growth or enhanced quality of life, there is the need to plan, coordinate, finance and execute some projects through self-help. It therefore means that if meaningful results are to be achieved in infrastructural provision through private arrangements, the following pertinent questions must
be answered:

(i)     What  categories  of  infrastructure  are  to  be  covered  by  such  community-based arrangement?

(ii)     What organizational structure/machineries that must be put in place for the planning and execution of self-help programmes?

(iii)   What alternative approaches are available to such organizations and which of them will yield the best result?

(iv)   What are the problems that could likely confront the different stakeholders in the provision of infrastructures on an efficient and sustainable basis?

AIM AND OBJECTIVES

The aim of this paper is to appraise the level of success of the various communities’ self-help programmes that are geared towards the provision of infrastructures especially in Lagos State. In order to achieve the stated aim, the following objectives were pursued:

(i)  The examination of the mode of provision of various infrastructures in the study area and the adequacy of such infrastructures.

(ii) The suggestions of strategies that will help improve infrastructural development in the study areas in particular, and Nigeria in general.

SCOPE OF STUDY

Infrastructure is looked at from the point of view of facilities provided to make human living complete  and  comfortable.  Examples  of  such  infrastructure considered  include  housing, transportation, communication, security, education, health, water and light, refuse disposal, recreation among others. In terms of infrastructural provision, two levels can be identified namely  primary  and  secondary.  The  primary  level  entails  bringing  the  main  sources  of
infrastructure to the community while the secondary level covers the distribution of infrastructure within the neighbourhood.

In this study, the self-help initiators such as community development associations, cooperative societies,  NGO  assisted,  public-private-partnership,  etc.,  were  given  due  consideration. However, in order to have a focused and detailed study, a cross section of four (4) out of the old twenty (20) local government structures of Lagos State were selected; these are Eti-Osa, Lagos Mainland, Mushin and Ifako/Ijaye Local Government areas.

SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

Drainage, health services, roads, etc., deserve attention in order to enhance the quality of life of the citizenry. As such government should accept the fact that the available resources cannot meet all the basic needs of people at the same time and thus provide the enabling environment
to facilitate the effective participant of the private sector which is achievable by way of policy formulation and its effective implementation. The efforts of both public and private sectors were examined with more emphasis on comparing the various approaches of providing infrastructure
through self-help. Without doubt, the study will help shed light on the initiatives of community based organizations in their efforts to cooperate with government in the areas of infrastructural provision. Furthermore, if the suggestions made in this study are considered by all stakeholders in the various segments of infrastructural provision, the absurd state of infrastructure delivery
should improve significantly.

LITERATURE REVIEW

NATURE OF INFRASTRUCTURE

The provision of infrastructural facilities plays a fundamental role in the development of any community. They are regarded as the engine that drives the city (Nubi, 2002). Infrastructure touches on all aspects of human life ranging from child development to health, education, work-place, home, recreation, worship and security among others. Hornby & Wehmeier (2005) gave the meaning of infrastructure as the basic structures and facilities necessary for a community or settlement   to   function   efficiently.   On   its   part,   the   Appraisal   Institute (2002)  defines infrastructures  as “building,  structures  and  apparatus  by  which  services  essential  to  the development and use of land are provided by developers and/or statutory authorities, such as railways, roads, bridges, electricity, gas, water, etc. This definition depicts that, like any other human activities infrastructure in land based, therefore it is pertinent to consider its planning alongside with other land uses.

Morish and Brown (1967) as cited in Akujuru (2004) described infrastructure as, “the systematic framework which under pins a communities ability to fulfill its mission of providing a base for its
citizens to be productive and to nurture social equity”. This presents infrastructure as a factor that is indispensable to any human settlement – rural and urban alike. This fact is buttressed by Odutayo (2004) confirming that infrastructure accelerates social and economic growth of a community. Omuojine (1997) distinguished ‘infrastructure’ from ‘infrastructural facilities’ as follows:

a) Infrastructure refers to the stock of fixed capital assets in a country for example roads, railways, airports, power stations, hospitals, water works and telecommunication network.

b) Infrastructural facilities on the other hand constitute those services that are generated from these  capital  assets  such  as  electricity  supply,  water  supply,  medical  services  and transportation network. Put together, they serve as inevitable catalysts in the economic development of the nation.

Akujuru (2004) likened infrastructure to a slender thread that weaves together human needs and values with those of the environment and summarized its basic characteristics thus:

• Its provision requires large lump sum investment;
• Enjoys considerable economies of scale which results in monopolies;
• It has a high level of externalities both positive and negative;
• It requires intermediate inputs; and
• It poses difficulties in cost recovery.

These are general characteristics. Some further peculiar nature of infrastructure could manifest depending on whether it is rural or urban infrastructure; whether the provider/operator is public or private; or whether the provision is at central or local level.

CLASSIFICATION OF INFRASTRUCTURE

Infrastructure can be conceptualized as both social and economic. The social sub-sector covers social services, information, town and country planning as well as social welfare services in the society. On the other hand, the economic sub-sector covers the hardcore economic activities
such as provision of energy, communication services that can be referred to as utilities. Obateru (2003) however categories infrastructure into two, namely: physical and social. The physical comprises transportation facilities and public utilities such as electricity, water, drainage and
telephone services, while social infrastructure refers to community facilities and services like schools, health centres, shopping areas, fire protections, police post, street clearing and refuse
disposal. Conclusively, Omuojine (1997) broadly classified infrastructure as follows:

1. Transportation: This includes all modes of transportation such as roads, railways, airports, seaports and water ways. Keeble (1969) defines road as the skeleton of any town  planning  and  the  arteries  of  the  organism  through  which  the  life  blood  of communication flows. He concluded by saying that a public or private estate where access roads are well maintained, there is the possibility for the value of properties within such areas to be high.

Transportation has to do with the movement of people, goods, services and information from one place to another or within a particular settlement. There is no doubt that mechanized transport has greatly influenced the development of modern society. Its seemingly unrelenting growth has been instrumental in reshaping the landscape to such a marked extent, that new people can justly claim that their mode of living remains untouched to the influence of transport and transportation system. People’s desire for increased mobility has therefore become a necessity and like any additive process we have  become  dependent  on  the  support  provided  by  transport  in  order  to  what transportation has helped to achieve. Transportation therefore played a very major role in the development of the nation’s economy.

2. Water supply (water works and dams): Keeble (1969) asserted that water represents the medium of lie on earth and one of the four ancient elements, in a summarizing and general term, for which no exact scientific definition can be given. The importance of water to mankind is immeasurable. It serves as life support and a source of hygiene which is an important ingredient of well being. It serves unique purposes as a factor of
production, a source of energy generation, a transportation channel in riverine areas and a source of recreational facility in urban centres, among others. It is an essential amenity and thus possesses great aesthetic values apart from being symbolic in our various religious beliefs.

3. Electricity (including power stations): Power infrastructure or electricity supply as the name implies is the provision of electricity to the populace. The supply of electricity enhances  the  development  of  any  nation  and  it  also  increase  the  production  of individuals and manufacturing companies. Therefore any nation without the supply of electricity discourages the opening up of new opportunities for entrepreneur and does not make the existing the profitable. Such nation cannot grow. Electricity can be said to be a derived demand because it is used in the production of supply water, production of ice-block, it is also used in the manufacturing industries. Power Holding Company of Nigeria Plc is in charge of power generation, transmission and distribution to the entire nation.

4. Telecommunication: This class of infrastructure includes postal, telephone, telex and fax services. Communication is an act of conveying information, parcels, messages and other  documents  from  one  place  to  another.  The  availability  of  communication infrastructure increases the value of the property and the general standard of living. The important social services rendered, enhances the nation’s poor and inefficient transport
services. Telecommunication in Nigeria   is   now   improving   especially   with   both international and local telecommunication companies like Globacom, Zain, Visa phone, Etisalat, Intercellular and Multi-links among other related companies competing to take a
share of the addition, the avalanche of private and public radio and television stations that are now available have greatly improved the efficiency of information dissemination
in the country.

5. Health infrastructure: Health facilities such as hospital, maternity homes and health centres are special infrastructure responsible for the health care of the populace in a neighbourhood; it might either be private or public centres. The private health centres are owned and run by private individuals, while public health centres are owned and run by the government. The present administration in Lagos State has really improved the public health centres by providing free medical services and drugs for children between the ages of 0-12 years and also for adults between the ages 60 and above. There is even provision of free eyeglasses known as “Digi Bola” by the Lagos State Government.

INFRASTRUCTURE AND POPULATION GROWTH

A cursory look at the world population shows an increase of between 200 million to 500 million people every five years. The total world population rose from 2.5billion in 1950 to over 5.0billion in 1990, a period of forty years. Relying on these figures, it was estimated to reach 6.0billion mark in year 2000 as shown in table 1 below (Agbola, 2001).

Table 1: World Population

REGION	1950	1955	1960	1965	1970	1975	1980	1985	1990	1995	2000
WORLD	2,515,312	2,751,558	3,019,376	3,335,927	3,697,918	4,079,756	4,450,310	4,853,840	5,292,178	5,765,861	60,251,052
AFRICA	224,075	249,878	281,076	315,150	362,788	415,108	481,034	557,441	647,516	752,626	872,234
LATIN AMERICA	165,365	199,618	217,649	250,390	285,127	322,746	361,756	403,646	448,096	493,802	539,097
SOUTH AMERICA	111,245	128,052	146,840	168,474	190,580	214,078	239,820	267,611	296,787	326,393	356,007
NORTH AMERICA	166,075	181,174	198,663	214,076	226,480	238,807	251,808	264,777	275,880	285,895	394,830
ASIA	1,374,552	1,511,679	1,666,801	1,859,966	2,101,102	2,353,380	2,582,836	2,834,226	3,108,476	3,4014,077	3,697,849
EUROPE	392,523	408,332	425,070	444,889	460,132	473,717	484,436	492,177	497,741	503,156	508,569
OCEANIA	12,647	14,151	15,782	17,516	19,329	21,134	22,794	24,634	26,476	28,304	21,139
USSR	190,075	196,159	214,335	230,940	242,959	254,851	285,458	276,946	287,991	298,000	307,737

Source: Agbola (2001).

The essence of this analysis is to reflect the position of Africa in world population and Nigeria eventually.  From  table 1,  Asia  and  Africa  ranked  first  and  second  in  year 2000  with approximately 3.7billion and 0.87billion people respectively. It is important to note that both regions are dominantly developing countries.

The Nigeria population figures from 2006 census, (Table 2 – Provisional Results), showed a total population of over 140million. The figures remain controversial as male population was higher than female and a number of States, particularly Lagos expressed reservations about the results. However, the general consensus about population growth in Nigeria and Lagos in particular, is that the rate is uncomfortably high. By the same 2006 population figures, Lagos State  was  officially  put  at  about 9  million  by  the  National  Population  Commission  but independent sources estimated it at about 18 million people (Olaseni, 1999).

Table 2: Population of Nigeria, 1991 and 2006 (Provisional Results)

Name	Capital	Area (km²)	1991	2006
Abia	Umuahia	6,320	2,338,487	2,845,380
Adamawa	Yola	36,917	2,102,053	3,178,950
Akwa Ibom	Uyo	7,081	2,409,613	3,902,051
Anambra	Awka	4,844	2,796,475	4,177,828
Bauchi	Bauchi	45,837	2,861,887	4,653,066
Bayelsa	Yenagoa	10,773	1,121,693	1,704,515
Benue	Makurdi	34,059	2,753,077	4,253,641
Borno	Maiduguri	70,898	2,536,003	4,171,104
Cross River	Calabar	20,156	1,911,297	2,892,988
Delta	Asaba	17,698	2,590,491	4,112,445
Ebonyi	Abakaliki	5,670	1,029,312	2,176,947

 

Edo	Benin City	17,802	2,172,005	3,233,366
Ekiti	Ado Ekiti	6,353	1,535,790	2,398,957
Enugu	Enugu	7,161	2,125,068	3,267,837
Federal Capital Territory	Abuja	7,315	371,674	1,406,239
Gombe	Gombe	18,768	1,489,120	2,365,040
Imo	Owerri	5,530	2,485,635	3,927,563
Jigawa	Dutse	23,154	2,875,525	4,361,002
Kaduna	Kaduna	46,053	3,935,618	6,113,503
Kano	Kano	20,131	5,810,470	9,401,288
Katsina	Katsina	24,192	3,753,133	5,801,584
Kebbi	Birnin Kebbi	36,800	2,068,490	3,256,541
Kogi	Lokoja	29,833	2,147,756	3,314,043
Kwara	Ilorin	36,825	1,548,412	2,365,353
Lagos	Ikeja	3,345	5,725,116	9,113,605
Nassarawa	Lafia	27,117	1,207,876	1,869,377
Niger	Minna	76,363	2,421,581	3,954,772
Ogun	Abeokuta	16,762	2,333,726	3,751,140
Ondo	Akure	14,606	2,249,548	3,460,877
Osun	Oshogbo	9,251	2,158,143	3,416,959
Oyo	Ibadan	28,454	3,452,720	5,580,894
Plateau	Jos	30,913	2,104,536	3,206,531
Rivers	Port Harcourt	11,077	3,187,844	5,198,716
Sokoto	Sokoto	25,973	2,418,585	3,702,676
Taraba	Jalingo	54,473	1,512,163	2,294,800
Yobe	Damaturu	45,502	1,399,687	2,321,339
Zamfara	Gusau	39,762	2,051,591	3,278,873
Nigeria	Abuja	923,768	88,992,220	140,431,790

Source: National Population Commission of Nigeria (2006).

The  implication  of  this  ever-increasing  population  is  directly  felt  on  the  productivity  and habitability of our environment. There is an extreme high human pressure on the existing infrastructures in urban centres while physical development in the sub-urban areas keeps faster pace ahead of infrastructural provision. The import of this problem is the need for a vigorous
infrastructural development planning, installation, operation and implementable maintenance policy.

PLANNING FOR INFRASTRUCTURE

Planning is an inter-disciplinary process. It has been narrowly defined as the activities of allocating the use of land and sitting of buildings and communication routes with a view to achieving a balance between convenience, beauty and cost. Social and economic criteria cannot be left out as they are of particular importance in the planning process. Furthermore, planning helps in determine where people will live, move about and accommodates many other needs within the available resources as efficiently and economically as possible.

The government recognizes the need to provide infrastructural facilities for the purpose of promoting and sustaining growth and development of agriculture, industry and commerce.
However, the available resources cannot go round. Therefore there is the need to plan for infrastructural development alongside with other land uses at both physical and economic levels. Infrastructure is a unifying factor between all the sectors of the economy. It influences output through supply and demand (Akujuru, 2004). Supply is affected by a direct input in production while demand is affected by creating income for workers and entrepreneur.

The environmental effects of infrastructure changes depend on the details of their uses. For example, expansions in infrastructure usually entail some environmental sacrifice like pollution in the short-run which may be beneficial in the long-run. Adequate advance planning for infrastructural provision and maintenance is inevitable if all operational stakeholders would be
properly coordinated.

FUNDING OF INFRASTRUCTURE

The issue of funding infrastructure is very important because no matter how good a proposal may be, it can never materialize without finance. Government has been the main provider of fund for infrastructure in Nigeria. The ability of each of the three tiers of government to respond to infrastructure needs in their areas of jurisdiction has been a function of availability of funds.
Centrally generated revenue is shared between the three levels of government through a seemingly complex sharing formula. The Federal Government takes the lion share and allocates the rest to States and Local Governments. In the past, Local Governments have barely been
able to meet their recurrent expenditure and have only on rare occasions generated recurrent surpluses to finance infrastructure investments. State Governments, on the other hand, have in
the past financed infrastructure through the different sources. In the general, lack of adequate funds at State and Local Government levels has hindered the provision of infrastructure in both
rural and urban areas.

In summary, government efforts in the past to tackle the problem of funding infrastructure include the establishment of:

• World Bank Assisted Programmes towards which started in Lagos, Benin, Ondo and the
       then Gongola States in 1983;
• Infrastructure Development  Fund (IDF), 1985;
• Directory of Foods, Roads and Rural infrastructure (DFRRI), 1986;   Urban Development Bank of Nigeria (UDBN), 1992;
• National Urban Development Policy; 1997; and
• National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategies (NEEDS), 2004.

Despite all these efforts, the state of infrastructure in our communities is still very poor. Therefore there is an urgent need to explore other viable mechanisms for infrastructure firms towards infrastructure started in Lagos, Benin, Ondo and the then Gongola States in 1983. Olaseni (1999) classified the source of funds for the provision of infrastructure into traditional and non-traditional sources. The traditional sources are those financed purely through public funds and the services involved are not profit oriented. Such sources are:

• Annual budgetary provisions;
• Foreign or external loan facilities, like World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Infrastructure Development Fund (IDF), and African Development Bank (ADB) among others that are usually guaranteed by Federal Government;
• Locally syndicated loan facilities through the capital market (Commercial Banks);
• Contractor finance/supplier credits;
• Financing from export credit agencies, and
• Bilateral assistance programmes;

The non-traditional sources of project finance include: 

• Revenue linked asset/asset-backed securities
• Cross border leasing
• Medium term note programmes; and
• Letter of credit backed commercial paper programme.

INFRASTRUCTURE PROVISION AND LAND DEVELOPMENT

There is no real estate scheme or development that can be regarded as complete unless the needed infrastructure has been provided. This supports the idea of distinguishing between a mere shelter and a well serviced housing unit. Any housing environment for basic comfort and satisfactions must necessarily have basic infrastructure provided. Akujuru (2004) describes an emerging housing estate without roads, water/electricity supply, security and waste disposal system, as a mere slum. The availability of infrastructure in any housing estate layout/scheme will have a strong impact on the quality of life of its potential inhabitants but without such basic facilities, the eventual inhabitants of such estate will definitely find life unbearable. Where the estates are already built up, the eventual introduction of infrastructures become haphazard and uncoordinated in their installation (Omuojine, 1997) and this may even be achieved at a very high cost. In addition to the imposition of extra costs on residents of such estates, there is often the overburdening and overstretching of existing facilities.

The resultant effect of the availability or otherwise of infrastructure on real estate development is directly reflected on property value. A developer will naturally compare the relative efficiency of different layouts in relation to infrastructure costs while considering developable sites vis-à-vis the price payable on them.

INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES

According  to  Merna  and  Dubey     (1998)  as  cited  in  Babawale    (2004),  the  provision  of infrastructure by the government in several countries, has resulted in serious and widespread
mis-allocation of scare resources, poor performance and failure to respond people’s demand.
Privatization on the other hand is known to improve the efficiency, productivity, accelerate economic growth brings about competitive price and encourage local entrepreneurship, among others. Partnership also encourages better risk sharing, accountability, monitoring and better management of infrastructure provision. In true privatization, the role of government is shifted from a provider to enabler or at best a partner while at the same time acting as a regulator or
catalyst.  According  to  Babawale (2004),  a  combination  of  privatization  and  community participation programmes have yielded positives results in China, India and Angola as shown
below:

• China: Early in 1990s, Chengdu was one of the most polluted cities in Southwest China. In 1993, the city embarked on a comprehensive rehabilitation plan with self-help approach in guiding the use of water from rivers Fu and Nan to meet social, environmental and economic objectives.  A  framework  was  established  for  the  participation  of  representatives  from planning, construction, land administration, business enterprises, neighbourhood committees and local residents in the development of vision for a sustainable future. The project involved the rehabilitation of a major section of the rivers through the renovation of bridges, drainage, channels and dykes. Apart from improving the oversight of more than 1000 polluting enterprises, affordable houses were provided and public parks created along the riverbanks.
• India: The Self-employed Women’s Association (SEWA) was established in Ahmdedabad, India in 1972. The primary objective of the Association was to empower low-income women working in the informal sector which accounted for about 96% of the employed women. The Association set up a cooperative bank and a housing trust to provide members with legal, technical and financial assistance to improve their shelter and access to infrastructure services. By the end of 1999, SEWA Bank had close to 1,300 depositors and 36,000 borrowers with a working capital of over US$6million. The bank was able to provide families with loans for different purposes ranging from house maintenance to electricity and water connections among others. The Association received international recognition in 1996.
• Angola: In view of the poor living condition in Launda, Angola, an innovative partnership between government agencies, the private sector and the community was established in 1993  and  named “Self-financed Urban  Infrastructure  Programme”.  Some  of the  social components  of  the  programme  were  resettlement  of  squatter  families,  job  creation, infrastructure investment initiatives, city expansion and rehabilitation of public spaces. The programme created a formal, private real estate market, which was non-existing in Angola.

Babawale (2004) concluded that private participation in infrastructure provision is not new in Nigeria but the new challenge is to increase the current low rate of mobilization and leverage of local  resources  and  use the  available  funds  effectively.  To  show  the  willingness  of  the international community in assisting self-help projects, there was an advertisement on the Internet June and October 2004 by the Executive Office of Environment Affairs of Boston requesting to sponsor projects up to 70% of cost.

SELF-HELP APPROACHES

Having examined the issues of infrastructural development from different perspectives, it is germane  to  consider  some  alternative  approaches  proposed  by  researchers  in  different
countries of the world. Particularly, those options that are community-based, private sector initiatives or self-help in content are presented in this section. Self-help approaches are referred to  variously  as  cooperative,  community-based,  participating,  and  self-sustaining  and  are characterized by citizens participating in directly providing for their own unmet needs through neighbourhood organizations. Community participation scheme brings together state and local
government teams, NGOs and residents to formulate development plan, define priorities for improvements, and determine equitable cost sharing formula to finance infrastructure in a particular neighbourhood. Sometimes the community defines their priorities, develop their plans and elect committee to serve as a link (directly or through NGOs) to the local or state government. Community participation programme can also be initiated by the private sector
including NGOs.

Creating  and  sustaining  a  community  scheme  requires  extensive  outreach  effort  and consultations  with  every  benefiting  household;  regular  public  meetings  to  promote  local residents awareness of their role in their communities (Babawale, 2004). Olawore (2004) was of the opinion that self-help approaches are situations where the private sector harnesses its financial  and  managerial  resources  with  or  without  government  resources  for  housing
production.

Innovative models and precedents for the financing and delivery of services abound but individual countries may adopt variants that are most suited to their circumstances, culture and economy. The private initiative embracing the variant models can achieve value for money and
risk transfers as well reduce corruption in social service delivery. This concept allows for initiative, ingenuity, reduced dependence on government patronage and an awakening of the legal rights of every citizen to demand value for money.

The Lagos State Ministry of Works has a department of Urban Infrastructure. The department has in many ways encouraged private initiatives in providing infrastructure in the state. In the
area of road rehabilitation, the effort of Akin Olawore & Co. (Estate Surveyors and Valuers) is quite commendable in the coordination of the rehabilitation of popular Ligali Ayorinde Street on
Victoria Island in Lagos. Another Lagos State agency involved in motivating self-help projects is the Ministry of Environment. The Ministry recognized the beautification of a road setback by
Philips Plc, Ojota.

At Federal level, there is an on-going arrangement between the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos State, the Resident’s Association of Victoria Island and Ikoyi and a number of corporate organizations in these areas. On the beautification of road setback/open spaces in Ikoyi and Victoria Island, there are several self-help projects in different parts in area covering diverse aspects of infrastructural provision. Some are in the form of neighbourhood gate construction to beef-up security, channelization of canals, building of multipurpose community halls, repair of drainage system, etc. (Punch newspaper of June 16, 2005).

In the area of housing infrastructure, the Cooperative Villas at Badore, Ajah and the Victoria Garden City along Lagos/Epe Road are good examples of private housing initiatives which are self-help in nature. An example of a self-help initiative in Nigeria similar to that of India is the Lagos Mainland Widows Association with initiative on human development. The Association’s objective was to make widows self-dependent by establishing a vocational training and skills acquisition centre. Furthermore, the Egun Community established a fish market in Makoko – sprawling neighbourhood in Lagos Mainland Local Government of Lagos State.

ENVIRONMENT AREA CONCEPT IN RELATION TO INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT

For a proper conceptualization of infrastructural provision in our urban centres with Lagos as the case study, this study anchors on ‘Environmental Area Concept’. This is one of the urban design concepts usually employed by planners to determine among other things the circulatory system; the arrangement of structures; the location and distribution of community facilities within urban centres. This is with a view to making each neighbourhood perform its functions of promoting socio-economic and political development; ensuring a secured and healthy environment. Button (1976) affirmed that cities represent the centre of economic activities as well as residential concentrations.  The  concept is therefore  designed  to  overcome  some  of  the  problems confronting policy markers in providing adequate housing (i.e. shelter plus infrastructure) for the nation’s design concept, its overriding consideration centres on convenience, comfort and safety of the residents in the neighbourhood. Furthermore, the concept is intended to achieve a clean and peaceful environment, free from pollution and simply functional.

Applying this concept to what obtains in Lagos State, a number of places are well planned and serviced with some infrastructure as observable in Ikoyi, Victoria Island, Yaba, Ilupeju Estate, Omole Estate, etc. It is important to quickly mention that these areas are already being overburdened. On the other hand, many areas lack infrastructure as can be seen at Ogba, Bariga, Ipaja, Agege, Agbado, Okokomaiko, Ojo, etc.

Furthermore, on the application of the Environmental Area Concept, there is the need to make sacrifice in the usage of available land resources by making adequate land available for infrastructural provision. By this, the expected satisfaction will be derivable from our various neighbourhoods. For instance, an environmental area should not be denied of necessary community facilities like shopping centre, open spaces, places of worship, schools, market and so on. Apart from being within walking distance from residence, they require to be served with adequate infrastructure as well.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The steps taken in achieving the objectives of the study are summarized here. Data for the study were gathered from both primary and secondary sources. Primary data were obtained through observations, oral interviews and administration of questionnaire.

For effective research survey, the study area, Lagos State was delineated into four strata and one Local Government area was selected to represent each stratum from where fifteen (15) community-based associations were randomly sampled. Secondary data were obtained from relevant journals, textbooks, conference and seminar papers. In addition to these, several visits were paid to appropriate offices that keep custody of such information, like Federal Office of Statistics, National Population Commission and some Local Government offices. Information gathered were analyzed using statistical tools like frequency distribution, regression model and chi-square in order to draw objective conclusions.

Table 3: Local Government Areas of Lagos State

Source: National Population Commission of Nigeria (2006)

Name	1991	2006
Agege	417,981	461,743

 

Ajeromi-Ifelodun (Ajegunle)

593,561

687,316

 

Alimosho (Ikotun)

430,890

1,319,571

 

Amuwo-Odofin (Festac Town)

225,823

328,975

 

Apapa

154,477

222,986

 

Eti-Osa (Ikoyi)

157,387

283,791

 

Ifako-Ijaye

233,341

427,737

 

Ikeja

203,383

317,614

 

Kosofe (Ogudu)

412,407

682,772

 

Lagos Island

165,996

212,700

 

Lagos Mainland (Ebute-Metta)

273,079

326,700

 

Mushin

539,783

631,857

 

Ojo

215,837

609,173

 

Oshodi-Isolo

449,781

629,061

 

Shomolu

358,787

403,569

 

Surulere

462,261

502,865

 

Total

5,294,774

8,048,430

DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

A total of sixty (60) copies of questionnaire were administered and forty (40) copies were retrieved. The analysis presented below is therefore based on 40 responses which constitute 66.67% on the average. The response on Local Government basis is shown in table 4 below:

Table 4: Percentage response by Local Government

Local government	Number administered	Number retrieved	% response
Eti-Osa	15	6	40
Lagos Mainland	15	10	67
Mushin	15	11	73
Ifako/Ijaye	15	12	80
Total	60	39	65

Source: Field Survey, 2009

From Table 4 above, the highest response of 80% came from Ifako/Ijaye while the lowest (40%) was from Eti-Osa Local Government Area. The other two local government areas – Lagos Mainland and Mushin recorded 67% and 73% response respectively. One of the respondents did not identify himself or herself with any particular local government area. This therefore reduced the percentage response to 65% average.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC PARAMETERS

Table 5: Gender status of respondents

Sex	Frequency	% Response
Male	31	77.5
Female	9	22.5
Total	40	100

Source: Field survey, 2009

Table 5 shows that 77.4% (about 3/4) of the respondents are male while the remaining 22.5% are female. This presents the fact that more men than women are involved in the organization of community based associations.

Table 6: Age category of respondents

Age	Frequency	% Response
< 35	11	27.5
35-44	7	17.5
45-64	17	12.5
65+	5	12.5
TOTAL	40	100

Source: Field survey, 2009

For the purpose of this research, it was believed that ages under 35 are not substantially involved in community association activities. However, with the field survey, this particular age category ranked second with 27.5% after 45.64 which is the most active age category with 42.5%. Other categories are 35-44 and 65+ with 17.5% and 12.5% respectively.

Table 7: Qualification of respondents

Highest qualification	Frequency	% Response
Primary	0	0
Secondary	-4	10
HND/Bachelor	12	30
PGP/Masters/Professional	24	60
Total	40	100

Source: Field Survey, 2009

Substantial number of the respondents (60%) is highly literate. The effect of this is to lend credence to the reliability of the results of the research. Educational qualifications of other respondents are secondary school level with 10% and first degree with 30%.

Table 8: Occupation of respondents

Occupation	Frequency	% Response
Trading	4	10
Technician	1	2.5
Artisan	2	5
Civil servant	21	52.5
Pensioner	2	5
Professionals	10	25
Total	40	100

Source: Field Survey, 2009

As shown in table 8, majority of the respondents are civil servants with 52.5%. Professionals like Accountants, Builders and Engineer accounts for 25% while other fields of endeavour of the sampled population are trading – 10%, artisan – 5% and technicians 2.5%.

Table 9: Type of community-based association

Association	Frequency	% Response
Landlords/residents	24	60
Market men/women	2	5
CDA	8	20
NGO	4	10
Missing	2	5
Total	40	100

Source: Field Survey, 2009

Table 9 above shows that 60% of the respondents belong to landlords/residents associations, 20%  belong  to  community  development  associations, 10%  are  representatives  of  Non-governmental organizations and 5% are Market men/women. The remaining 5% did not identify with any specific association.

Table 10: leadership status of respondents

Post held	Frequency	% of total
Chairman	0	0
Vice-chairman	5	12.5
Secretary	5	12.5
Treasurer	0	0
Member	22	55
Missing	8	20
Total	40	100

Source: Field Survey, 2009

The table above shows that 55% (more than a half) of the respondents are floor members in the associations they represent. Vice chairman and secretary account for 12.5% each while there was no representation for the post of chairman and treasurer.

Table 11: Ownership status

Status	Frequency	% Response
Landlord	11	27.5
Tenant	24	60
Missing	5	12.5
Total	40	100

Source: Field survey, 2009

From table 11, tenants account for 60% of the total number of respondents. While landlords are 27.5% and the remaining 12.5% did not disclose their property ownership status in the community.

Table 12: Period of stay in the community

Occupation	Frequency	% Response
Under 5years	14	35
6-10years	10	25
11-20	6	15
Over 20 years	10	25
Total	40	100

Source: Field survey, 2009

From table 12, the proportion of respondents who have stayed for five (5) years and below accounts for 35%. Other respondents record 25%, 15% and 25% for 6-10, 11-20 years and over 20 years accordingly.

Table 13: Main objective of community associations

Objectives	Frequency	% Response
Physical development	22	55
Human development	4	10
Poverty alleviation	3	7.5
Environment beautification	9	22.5
Security	2	5
Total	40	100

Source: Field Survey, 2009

As shown in the table above, 55% of the respondents are involved in physical development of their community. Environmental beautification constitutes 22.5% while human development, poverty alleviation and security account for 10%, 7.5% and 5% respectively.

Table 14: Membership strength of community associations

Membership	Frequency	% Response
1-20	2	5
21-50	15	37.5
51-100	11	27.5
Over 100	7	17.5
Missing	5	12.5
Total	40	100

Source: Field survey, 2009

In terms of membership strength of the respondents associations, 5% had 20 members and below; 17.5% had membership of over 100; 27.5% had between 51 and 100; and 37.5% (the highest) was recorded by associations with 21-50 members. 12.5% of the respondents did not specify their associations’ membership strength.

Table 15: Mode of project execution

Mode	Frequency	% Response
Contract	12	30
Direct labour	11	27.5
Contract & labour	10	25
Mission	7	17.5
Total	40	100

Source: Field Survey, 2009

Table 15 above reveals that 30% of respondents executed their project through contract award, 27.5% through direct labour while 25% adopted a combination of contract method and direct labour. The remaining 17.5% account for those who did not select any specific mode of project
execution.

Table 16: Factors enhancing the performance of associations

Factors	Frequency	% Response
Contract person	14	35
Religion	4	10
Ethnicity	6	15
Political party	3	7.5
Missing	13	32.5
Total	40	100

Source: Field Survey, 2009

From table 16, it is obvious that the achievements of some community based associations are influenced by various factors. 35% of the respondents disclosed that their enhancement factor is having a contract person in the relevant government agency. Other factors are religion – 10%,
ethnicity – 15%; and political party influence – 7.5%. Those that did not disclose any factor
account for 32.5%.

Hypothesis Testing and Interpretation of Result The hypothesis:

H₀:  There  is  no  significant  difference  in  the  reasons  adduced  for  lack  of  provision  of infrastructure in the area.

H₁: There is significant difference in the reasons adduced for lack of provision of infrastructure in the area.

Test of hypothesis:

Table 18: Causes of Inadequate Provision of Infrastructure

Causes	Total response	Total weighted	Average weighted response
Shortage of fund	31	72	2.32
Uncooperative attitude                 of members	28	77	2.75
Bureaucratic delay	22	46	2.09
Others	7	7	1.75
Total	40	100

Source: Field Survey, 2009

Key

GPA 1.0 – 1.99  – Not severe

2.0 – 2.99           – severe

3.0`                    – highly severe

4.00 +                – Most severe

Other causes of inadequate provision of infrastructure in table      18 above are: corruption, favouritism and complete neglect.

All the other causes of inadequate provision of infrastructure fall between 2.09 and 2.32 which
imply that they are severe problems militating against infrastructural provision. The causes of inadequate provision of infrastructure were tested using chi-square. The computed chi-square, x² at 95% confidence level and 39 degree of freedom is 0.5 while the critical (tabulated) x² is 1.68. The computed (0.5) is less than the critical (1.68), hence H₀ is accepted. Therefore there is no significant difference in the causes of lack of provision of infrastructure in the area.

CONCLUSIONS

The importance of social and economic advancement in the development and growth of a country like Nigeria cannot be over emphasized. To this end, a meaningful attempt to entrench
social and economic development must prominently feature adequate provision of infrastructural facilities for the simple fact that infrastructures are regarded as critical components of local economic development and key to improving the quality of life in any community irrespective of size. Furthermore, the general level of property value in a neighbourhood or rather the class
created for a neighbourhood as a whole is a function of infrastructural provision in that neighbourhood. A good example is the sharp distinction in value between the well laid out Ilupeju Estate and the adjoining traditional setting of old Ilupeju village in Lagos. The peculiar characteristic of housing in many parts of Lagos is primarily that of inadequate provision of infrastructural facilities like roads, drainage, water supply, electricity, refuse disposal among others.

In the literature review, different aspects of infrastructural provision were critically examined. The provision of infrastructure was related to population growth, land development, physical and economic planning before examples of self-help approaches are considered within and outside the  country.  Infrastructural  provision  in  urban  settlement  like  Lagos  was  related  to  the environment area concept.

The role government has been criticized for its lack of continuity in policy formulation and implementation, bad maintenance culture and absolute lack of empowerment of poor and marginalized  communities.  The  involvement  of  government  agencies  did  not  produce
satisfactory results either because they lack merit and proper coordination for political reasons.
Consequently, the community that requires the infrastructure could not provide it because there is no initiative in that regard and local leadership quality cum financial capacity is lacking.

Having  appraised  the  efforts  of  the  different  stakeholders  in  infrastructural  development, partnership arrangement is being proposed in the form of self-help approach. This approach is a recent initiative that has been tried in a number of developing countries and they were found to have achieved considerable success. For instance in Pakistan, it was observed that the alarming deficiency in infrastructure, especially water supply, has hindered the implementation of  local  development  programmes  resulting  in  a  marked  decline  in  the  region’s  Gross
development product (GDP). By improving the community participation and redirection of resources towards financing productive infrastructure (water supply project) in Karachi, the quality of the services improved substantially and the willingness of the people to pay for the
service equally increased. The collection of water rates increased greatly despite a 400% rise in the average water rate charged within five (5) years (Serageldin, Kim & Waliba, 2000).

The  state  of  infrastructural  deficiency  in  Lagos  requires  attention,  and  it  is  against  this background that self-help approaches were examined towards proffering suggestions that will help  ensure  the  delivery  of  infrastructural  facilities  and  thus  promote  sustainable  local development. It is a fact that a meaningful socio-economic development cannot take place without  infrastructural  provision.  Infrastructure  services  are  therefore  regarded  as  critical components for improving the quality of life of in a community. By nature, provision of infrastructure is highly capital intensive, uneconomical and it amounts to underutilization of resources for individual persons to embark upon. On the part of government, it is difficult to
provide for all and sundry at the same time given the limited resources to be rationed among all sectors. It is in this pressure of demand against short supply of infrastructure that necessitated
the involvement of community based associations to take up the challenge of infrastructural provision.

The study established that the importance of infrastructure to main in all his endeavours is immeasurable. Its provision therefore has to be accorded the required priority by both public and private sectors. The expected role of government is to encourage, empower and regulate the activities of the community-based associations in this regard. The efforts of both government agencies and self-help initiatives should be properly planned and coordinated to achieve economic utilization of resources. Finally, if the foregoing recommendations are considered by all  stakeholders  in  the  various  segments  of  infrastructure  provision,  the  absurd  state  of infrastructure delivery shall improve significantly.

RECOMMENDATIONS

In view of the findings and conclusions drawn above, the study hereby recommends the following measures in order to meet the challenges of providing infrastructure through self-help in Lagos State in particular and Nigeria in general.

a) Government should accept the fact that the available resources cannot meet all the basic needs at the same time and therefore provide the enabling environment for private sector. This  can  be  achieved  by  way  of  policy  formulation  as  well  as  the establishment of a coordinating agency to avoid working at cross-purposes.

b) It was observed that in some parts of the study area, physical housing development had gone far ahead of infrastructural provision. It is recommended that the sites and services schemes of state and federal government are right steps in the right direction. The schemes should be given greater attention. Existing examples where they are properly implemented have reflected substantial increase in property value.

c) Being the closet government to the people at the grassroots, local government areas have invaluable role to play in the area of enlightenment campaign to create awareness, coordinating the activities of community development associations and maintenance of infrastructure that are already provided. The local government budget should provide specially for infrastructural provision and maintenance.

d) Nigeria could  borrow  a  leaf  from  some  of  the  international  examples  of  self-help  approaches cited in this study, such as Self-employed Women’s Association (SEWA) of India, to buttress the current efforts of government in its implementation of Poverty Alleviation Programmes and the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategies (NEEDS).

e) In each community-based association, cooperation among members can go a long way in improving their performance. Since the organizations are voluntary, some members allow their personal interest to jeopardize the common interest of the community while others remain indifferent. If they cooperate, some speak in one voice and enjoy local government backing, their achievement will be enhanced.

f) Public accountability in the utilization of community funds goes a long way in motivating members to pay their contributions and even make voluntary donations. It is therefore recommended that the executives of community associations should make judicious use of funs and provide regular feedbacks for their members.

If a particular community service is to be paid for, e.g. tolled-road, members of the community will be happy to use and pay for such infrastructure provided it is regularly maintained.

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