A Critical Evaluation of the Ogui Slum in Enugu, Nigeria

Abstract

The high rental value of core city areas has always influenced the formation of slums at the peripheries or outskirts of towns and cities of the developing world. However, a peculiar inner-city slum that has persisted over the years is the Ogui slum in Enugu, Nigeria. This paper tried to identify the factors that has made this inner-city slum to persist. One factor that has acted as a boost for others to thrive is the indigenous dwellers’ hold on land. The other factors include the centrality of the slum in the town and its close proximity to various schools, markets and places of work. However, the unprecedented influx of people into Enugu in the early 1970’s overstretched the existing facilities in the city and turned the indigenous land of Ogui into a slum. The paper went on to give recommendations on how to effect renewal schemes for the study area. Critical to this effort is the employment of public participation in the process as being emphasized by the Urban Management Programmes (UMP) of the UN – Habitat projects. More critical to the renewal effort will be the prompt payment of adequate compensation to indigenes for lands acquired for the programme.

Keywords: Inner–City Squatting, Peri-Urban Squatting, Slum