Responsiveness to Housing and Urban Development Policy Decisions in Nigeria’s Federation: the Case of Jos City

Abstract

In the Federal Republic of Nigeria, national housing and urban development policy decisions are most often made by the federal government authorities for onward transmission to the state and local government authorities for action. In the city of Jos, this approach is evidently not working and this is aggravating housing and urban problems. It is within the context of this problem that this paper examines the responsiveness to housing and urban development policy decisions in the city of Jos. The study employs qualitative methods for the purpose of an in-depth investigation. Interviews were conducted with seven officers from the agencies responsible for the implementation of housing and urban development policies. This was combined with documentary evidence for the analysis. The findings suggest that where the federal government seems to push for policy uniformity at the state and local government levels—so that national strategies will be implemented across all three tiers of government—the autonomy of federalism pushes activity divergence in Jos, the response to national decisions was found to be lower among local government councils than at the state and federal agency levels, and the awareness of policy decisions was likewise lower among the local government councils. The study concludes that responsiveness to national policy decision is weaker in a federalised state, and it is difficult to attain a uniform operational strategy for housing and urban development in such a state. Recommendations are proffered on the basis of the study’s findings.