Triggers of Informal Land Supply Dominance in Nigerian Cities

Abstract

There has been exponential increase in the demand for informal land by prospective home owners and investors especially in most Nigeria cities. This is made possible as a result of several factors; the failure of formal system to provide land that is affordable and easily accessible, administrative and bureaucratic bottlenecks in the allocation of land, as outlined in some literatures. This study therefore, identified more of these factors that triggers the dominance of the informal delivery channels in Nigeria. Quantitative approach was deployed in measuring this variable even though some other elements could also be explained qualitatively. The instrument used in acquiring data was the questionnaire, summing-up to 310 distributed amongst household owners who were approached by the researchers to document their opinions in the five districts that made up the Karu Urban Area (KUA). Purposive method was applied in the distribution of the questionnaire as earlier outlined to only those who own the houses they were occupying. Data obtained were analyzed and presented in frequency tables. Factors such as paucity of formal land, affordability, user friendliness ( flexibility of plot sizes and promptness to access land through the informal channel) and improvement in legal legitimacy/tenure security are the major determining factors that have contributed to households’ decision or preference for informal access to land. The study concludes and recommended that, the attributes of the informal land delivery system have presented better options to land accessibility than the formal market in most if not all the Nigeria urban centres, thus validating some earlier held findings in literature. However, m inimum and realistic development standards can be set to ensure effective accessibility, and sustainability of the already dual land management system in cities.