Assessment of Factors Responsible for Encroachment on Public Land in Ajoda New Town in Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Public land is crucial for the execution of developmental projects in many nations. However, studies have indicated that most of the time, public land is often being encroached. The issue of concern in this paper is: why do people encroach on public land? A contextual investigation approach was embraced for this study and residents of Ajoda New Town (ANT) - a scheme of Oyo State Government, Nigeria were involved as respondents to a structured questionnaire prepared on a five-point Likert scale format. Respondents were randomly selected, and, a total of 322 completed copies of the questionnaire were found valid for data analysis. The study employed Weighted Mean Score and Principal Component Analysis in determining the factors that led to the land encroachment in the community. Results indicate that faulty administrative/implementation, the hostile attitude of original settlers, and excessive land acquisition by the government are the major factors responsible for land encroachment in the study area. It was recommended that during the acquisition process, the government should imbibe the culture of acquiring a reasonable portion of land which will not be far more than what is required to avoid encroachment, and adequate compensation paid to the affected persons.