Effects of Forced Eviction on Residents in Nigerian Cities: Issues, Perspectives and Policy Implications

摘要: This study analyses the links between cities and forced eviction and its implication on the urban poor with a view to proposing measures targeted at reducing its prevalence. City has been described by Fika (2008) as a magnet that pulls millions of underprivileged rural dwellers in search of improved livelihood. Cities are centers of innovation, knowledge, and culture and are delightful places to live, they are though, not without challenges and bottlenecks (UN Habitat, 2009). This is apparent from the unprecedented rate at which the global population is increasing in many of the world cities with its attendant discomfort on humanity particularly in Africa (Bafana, 2016).According to the United Nations Population Fund (2007), more than half of the world’s population is now hosted by cities and as such, there is rapid change in land use. In Nigeria, urbanization rate is 5.5%(Agbola and Agunbiade, 2007). Forty-eight per cent of the world‘s population currently lives in cities and it is estimated that over 4.6 billion people will live in the world’s cities by 2030 (Ashiru, 2010). Un-Habitat (2011a) projected that, by 2050, 60% of Africa’s population will live and work in towns and cities. In response to the ever-increasing urbanization, the demand for various land activities increases. Consequent upon this, land value continues to rise and it becomes expensive for the urban poor to acquire land for housing. Yet, land is the foundation of all forms of human activity as access to safe land and housing is a prerequisite to reducing poverty. Several millions of people are equally living under the regular risk of eviction and lacking adequate security to put in what they have in …