Urban housing quality and its health implications in Nigeria: an example of Lokoja, Kogi State, Nigeria

Abstract

Developing countries are faced with qualitative and quantitative housing inadequacies. Living conditions in many urban areas are squalid and pose serious health challenges on the inhabitants. This study examines the housing quality and its health implications in Lokoja metropolis. Both primary and secondary data were employed. A structured questionnaire was designed. An average of forty questionnaires was distributed across each of the three residential areas identified in the city to elicit information about the types of residential units occupied by the residents of the city and the facilities available in their houses such as toilets, electricity, and drainage. Secondary data was obtained from documentary sources. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to analyze the data. The findings reveal that more than 60% of the inhabitants live in indecent houses. The cost of housing is exorbitant to an average household in the city. This may advance the reasons substantial numbers of urban residents live in slum areas which are affordable to them. Further analysis reveals that the quality of housing varies across the residential areas identified in the city. Similarly, environmental health challenges vary across the three residential areas in Lokoja. The study recommends that low cost housing scheme should be established in Lokoja as this may reduce housing problems in the city. Also, this will enable the urban residents to live in a healthy environment and consequently improve the standard of living of urban dwellers in Lokoja.

Housing Quality and Perceived Health Effects in Ijebu Ode, Nigeria

“…Regarding the availability of sanitary latrines, 6% of residences had no sanitary toilets (see Figure 7), and this has serious implications for open defecation with its attendant environmental and health consequences, especially the spread of faeco-oral infections. A comparable but much higher result was also well documented by Adetunji and Isah [24], who found that 82.8% of those surveyed have a toilet at their residences in a recently published study on quality of housing and the implications in Lokoja. Approximately 17.2 percent of the remaining respondents claimed that toilet facilities were inaccessible.…”

“…In agreement with the current outcome, Udoh and Uyanga [7] reported that 78% of households in rural Akwa Ibom fell quite below the minimum requirement for water access. Similarly, a recent published work in Lokoja indicated that tap water was available to 59.2% of the city's residents [24]. The paper went further to show that 11.2% of the residents in Lokoja rely on well water for their domestic uses, which is subject to contamination if the sanitary conditions are not met.…”

Examining liveability in the informal community of Kabawa, Nigeria

“…For instance, over the past few decades, the city of Lokoja (administrative capital of Kogi State at the confluence of the Niger and Benue rivers) has experienced high and rapid rates of urbanisation, characterised by unplanned city expansion along with the suburbs and periphery (Alabi, 2009;Ukoje, 2016). Studies on the urbanisation and expansion feature of the city report that Lokoja is currently facing significant challenges in its quality of life and the range of opportunities it can offer its residents (Fatiregun, Mofolorunsho & Osagbemi, 2009;Adetunji & Isah, 2015). Overcrowding, slum development, flooding, noise pollution, poor air quality, traffic congestion, poor waste-management systems, and industrial emissions are the current liveability challenges associated with Lokoja.…”

“…However, there is a lack of research on the liveability experience in informal spaces such as Kabawa community of Lokoja, because informal spaces, as sub-city fragments of urban space, remain excluded in scientific investigations (Samper et al, 2020: 1;Maemeko, Mukwambo & Nkengbeza, 2021: 39). Kabawa is one of the informal districts in Lokoja which exhibits a high degree of slum characteristics, including overcrowding, poor and inadequate sanitation facilities, flooding, noise pollution, poor air quality, and unhealthy waste-management systems (Fatiregun et al, 2009;Adetunji & Isah, 2015;Ukoje, 2016).…”