Urban Environmental Problems in Nigeria

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Presented at the conference @ LAUTECH on 19/5/2015 Tue
URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS IN NIGERIA:
A CASE FOR SUSTAINABLE URBAN POLICY

BY

*Ibrahim, T. Akogun and **Bello, N. Akinsola.
Department of Estate Management
Faculty of Environmental Sciences
University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria

AT


THE FIRST NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING, LAUTECH, OGBOMOSO, NIGERIA


VENUE: FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES (LECTURE THEATRE)


THEME: CITIES AND INFORMAL URBANIZATION


DATE: 18th – 20th May, 2015.


* e-mail: [email protected]; Phone No: 08066082580
** e-mail: [email protected]; Phone No: 08033183613
Abstract
A highly visible dimension of urban problems in developing countries is the shortage (if not a complete absence) of basic social and infrastructural facilities. Urban services like potable water, electricity, drainage, sanitation, efficient refuse management machinery and other public utilities in the countries compare favourably with those of the surrounding rural areas because of over-population. In Nigeria, the majority of urban population wallow in abject poverty. Almost every Nigerian urban home is crowded up and characterized with high room density, poor physical quality and inadequate or total absence of basic facilities calling for some urgent action in the form of Urban Basic Service Programmes. The trend is frightening that a pragmatic and timely approach is highly necessary to curtail and ameliorate the deteriorating situation of urban environment. Relying on archival records and observations, this paper examines the problems associated with the urban areas and identifies solutions capable of enhancing a decent living environment for urban dwellers. The methodology adopted is basically a review of literature relevant to the topic whereby the problems associated with the urban areas such as slum creation, urban sprawl, traffic congestion, were clearly examined, and realistic solutions proffered. Most of the policies adopted in the past to resolve the problems seem ineffective and so it is necessary to evolve such pragmatic solutions as the ones identified in this paper. It is recommended that a strategic and pragmatic policy is instituted to comprehensively deal with the urban environmental problems to make the urban environment in Nigeria generally safe, clean, healthy and aesthetically pleasing for all urban residents in Nigeria.

Keywords: Environmental problems, urban centre, urban policy, Nigeria.
Introduction
The task of promoting urban environmental planning and management, no doubt, is a more challenging one. Over the years, urban development process which is by nature, rapid and spontaneous, could be argued to be in response to the two theories of unequal exchange and unequal development. The unequal exchange, refer to the exploitative terms of trade between these societies and the industrialised countries, which create an interesting gap in development within the under-developed societies themselves, regions are incorporated into the international economy in a different manner, and this generates the unequal development of such societies – the cause of "regional problem" (Denis, 1985). In early part of the last five decades, the developing countries felt their economic problem was purely industrialization, which they required to catch up with the advanced countries. Nigeria for instance, after gaining independence in 1960, intensified and expanded its scope of manufacturing activities in major urban centres. Consequently, the structure of unequal development took the form of first, the concentration of employment and social facilities in a few urban centres; secondly, there was a remarkable distinction between areas with marketing as well as social facilities. Since then, tremendous population pressure on the urban centres has been chaotic. Houses are built and occupied without water supply, electricity, appropriate air space, ventilation and setback, hence, the resultant slum conditions have continued to worsen (Basorun, 2005). Nigerian cities are witnessing high rate of environmental deterioration and are rated among urban areas with the lowest liveability index in the world. It is estimated that between 20 and 30 percent of the urban population enjoy decent urban life in the country (Daramola, and Ibem, 2010). The way in which settlements are arranged in different parts of the world has its origin in the middle ages. Hence the original pattern of urban centres as we have them today are influenced significantly by the increasing complexity of the conditions in which development has taken place in them and attempts to cope with the associated problems.
The aim of this paper is to explore the environmental problems and suggest remedies thereto, of our urban centres with a view to identifying in Nigeria, the emergence of urban centre which is liveable, safe and secure, and which will function efficiently as human settlements in an orderly manner, and to ensure that they serve as creative centres to further stimulate the potentials of Nigerian with a view to promoting the economic, social and cultural development of the country as a whole.
Conceptual Framework
The concept of environment (Singh, 2003) has been viewed from various perspectives and defined in different ways. The variety of definitions and conceptions of environment is closely linked to the fact that the study of environment is multi-disciplinary, and thus each discipline tends to develop and adopt definition(s) in line with its interest. This multiplicity of definitions, concepts and usage of the term in various disciplines was clearly captured by Porteous (1977:139) when he stated that:
"the multiplicity of the usage and concept of the term environment have resulted in a variety of adjectival forms which include social environment, molar environment, physical environment, home environment, psychological environment, behavioural environment, geographical environment" (Porteous, 1977)
For instance, Bain (1994), a sociologist defined environment as all the external and non personal conditions and influences that affect the welfare of a people in a given area. Hagget, a geographer, on the other hand, defined environment as "the sum total of all conditions that surround man at any point on the earth's surface" (Efobi, 1994), while the Federal Environmental Protection Agency in Nigeria (FEPA) stated that the environment includes water, air, land, plants, animals, and human beings living therein, and the inter-relationships that exist among them (FEPA, 1989). However, a more comprehensive and all embracing definition was offered by Keller who defined the environment as:

"total set of circumstances that surrounds an individual or a community, these circumstances are made up of physical conditions such as air, water, and climate and landforms; the social and cultural aspects such as ethics, economics, aesthetics and such circumstances which affects the behaviour of an individual or a community" (Efobi, 1994)

From these definitions, environment can be viewed as all physical, non physical, external, living and non living conditions surrounding an organism or groups of organisms that determine the existence, development and survival of organism(s) at a particular time. It encompasses constantly interacting sets of physical (natural and manmade) elements and non-physical, living and non-living (e.g. social, cultural, religious, political, economic) systems which determine the characteristic features, growth and sustainability of both the component elements of the environment and the environment itself (Johnson, 1992; Muoghalu, 2004).
In Nigeria, for instance, several studies (Rashid, 1982; NEST, 1991; Anih, 2004; Muoghalu & Okonkwo, 2004; Nduka, 2004; Mba, 2004; Ojeshina, 2005; Bashorun, 2005; Daramola and Ibem, 2010) have identified many of the environmental problems as having serious adverse socio-economic and ecological implications. A majority of these problems, it is argued are traceable to a number of factors which include the colonial antecedent of most Nigerian cities (Ogbazi, 1992: 13; Ikya, 1993), the high rate of urbanization (NEEDS, 2004), the bad psychological orientation of urban residents on the environment as well as poor environmental management practices (Meale, 1991; Agukoronye, 2004). Agbola and Agbola (1997) and Areola (2001) clearly indicated that the spatial structure of Nigerian cities evolved before, during and after the colonial rule in the country. It is also suggested by demographic experts that the high rate of urbanization put at 5.3 percent in Nigeria which is among the highest in the world has the tendency of spurring up environmental degradation (Goldstein, 1990). Closely related to this is the fact that most urban areas in Nigeria have grown beyond their environmental carrying capacities and existing infrastructure (National Population Commission, NPC, 1998). For instance, the 2006 National population census data (FRN, 2007) revealed that most of the urban areas in Nigeria with small land mass have their capacity to take further population increase already exhausted or extremely limited. With a population figure of more than 140 million and land mass of about 924,000 Km2, current estimates indicate that 10 percent of the land area accommodated 28 percent of the country's total population (Taylor, 2000). The implication here is that there is disequilibrium between the population and the environment, and this has adversely affected the carrying capacity of the urban areas in the country; hence the increasing poor quality of the living conditions and the low livability index of urban areas in Nigeria.
Generally, environmental problems are mostly due to developmental processes and are of local, regional and global effects. These effects are viewed as consequences of human activities, and are most often harmful on human beings, livelihoods, animal and plant lives presently or transferred to posterity (Simond, 1994; Acho, 1998; Danish International Development Agency, 2000; Kjellstrom and Mercado, 2008). This has far reaching implications on sustainable development, most especially in the face of declining economic fortunes. Therefore, urban environmental issues will remain dominant for sustainable development agenda in developing nations in particular and the world in general in the next few decades.
Definition and Characteristics of Urban Centre
Definition of urban centre varies somewhat between nations. European countries define urban area on the basis of urban-type land use, not allowing any gaps of typically more than 200 metres and use satellite imagery instead of census blocks to determine the boundaries of urban area. In less developed countries, in addition to land use and density requirements, a requirement that a large majority of the population typically 75% is not engaged in agriculture and fishing is sometimes used. In Australia, urban areas are referred to as "urban centres" and are defined as population clusters of 1000 or more people, with a density of at least 200 persons per square kilometre (ASGC, 2001). According to statistics in Canada, urban area is an area with a population of at least 1000 people where the density is not fewer than400 persons per square kilometre (Urban Area statistics, 2009). Whereas in china urban area also called urban district, city or towns with population density of higher than 1,500 persons per square kilometre, it is a zone (aire ubaine) encompassing an area of built up growth (called an urban unit) in France. In India, all places with municipality, corporation, cantonment board or notified town area committee, etc; all other places which satisfied the following criteria: (a) a minimum population of 5000, (b) at least 75% of male main working population engaged in non-agriculture pursuits, and (c) a density of population of at least 400 persons per square kilometre (census of India, 2011).
An urban area is characterised by a high population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations. But the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets. Urban areas are created and further developed by the process of urbanization. Unlike the urban area, a metropolitan area includes not only the urban area but also satellite cities plus intervening rural land that is socioeconomically connected to the urban core city typically by employment ties through commuting with the urban core city being the primary labour market. In fact, urbanized area agglomerate and grow as the core population/economic activity centre with a larger metropolitan area or envelop. The Nigerian Land Use Act (1978) defined urban area as the area designated as such by the respective Governor of each state.
The Urban Centre as a System
Every geographical region (continent, country, state, local government) constitutes a system characterized by a network of urban centres which are operational sub-systems in a total system. As substantial development centres, urban centres in different zones interact and operate with a high level of reciprocal interdependency. For example, cities like Lagos, Ibadan, Benin, Port-Harcourt, Onitsha, Kaduna, Kano, Sokoto, Ilorin, etc are strategic regions connected by activities that keep the total (national) system going. An urban centre as a distinctive system, consists of parts (sub-systems) which are functionally interrelated like organs of the body, which result from environmental factors such as economic, technical developments, social, demographic and political changes. They represent the urban mechanisms of mainly the public and private organizations with a framework of control which certainly determines its overall operation. In the analysis of urban system, three major structures are recognized: the economic, social and spatial structure (Basorun, 2005). These are distinct aspects of the development processes which are generally dependent upon the objective environment. An appreciation of the extremely complex nature of each aspect will make it easier to apprehend the extent of their relationship in the global system. Any meaningful urban policy must recognize all these aspects.
Informal sectorIndigenous establishmentExpatriate firmsProfessional enterpriseHawkerPetty tradersMarket sellersShop keepersWholesalersSmall scale distributionTertiary activitySecondary activityPrimary activityLarge scale companyBusiness servicePublic serviceFormal sectorURBAN SYSTEMSocial StructureSpatial StructureEconomic StructureInformal sectorFormal sector
Informal sector
Indigenous establishment
Expatriate firms
Professional enterprise
Hawker
Petty traders
Market sellers
Shop keepers
Wholesalers
Small scale distribution
Tertiary activity
Secondary activity
Primary activity
Large scale company
Business service
Public service
Formal sector

URBAN SYSTEM
Social Structure
Spatial Structure
Economic Structure
Informal sector
Formal sector














Fig.1: The Urban System
Source: BASHORUN (2005)

Methodological Approach
The bulk of the data used in this paper was derived from archival sources and content analysis of different research findings in relation to environmental problems in major urban centres in Nigeria. Also a good proportion of the data were those compiled through observations.
The Environmental Problems of Urban Centres
The environmental problems associated with urban areas can be varied. Attempt is made here to identify and discuss the main problems which are urban sprawl, slum creation, inadequacy of infrastructures and social services, poor sanitary environment, traffic congestion, security challenges, weak administrative structures for physical planning and management, multiplicity of planning agencies, uncontrolled intensification of land use at city core, unplanned suburbs and pollution.
Urban Sprawl
The impression has been formed of the city or urban centre as a growth centre of intense social and economic activities. The oil boom of 1970s tremendously escalated the economic and living condition of the people, hence, the natural increase in population and the steady rural – urban drift culminated to bring about acute housing problem. Abiodun (1985) observed that, housing problem in Nigerian urban centres is exacerbated by a combination of factors. First, there is the fact that the bulk of the traditional housing available in our urban centre is mainly in a dilapidated condition and unsuitable for habitation. Secondly, more houses are needed to relieve existing over-crowding in many of the Nigerian urban centres. Thirdly, natural increase within the urban centre themselves demand additional dwelling units to house the increasing population. Fourthly, rural migration which has assumed greater proportions during the last few decades, has aggravated the housing needs of urban centres in Nigeria. In response to the great demand for houses, unplanned and substandard private housing districts continue to emerge in many towns. This explains why our cities are characterised by shanty dwellings, squatter settlements or homes, too small to allow for a decent family life. The tragedy of the situation is that the majority suffer inadequate water and power supply, waste disposal arrangement and yet, over-crowded by poor unemployed peasants. Persistent spread of these structures, therefore, over a relatively large area in an untidy manner is termed urban sprawl. "The growth of slum in developing countries is an indication of rapid but unplanned urbanization, misallocation of resources and poor urban management" (Olokesusi, 1987).

Slum Creation
The problems of urban renewal and slum upgrading have their origin in colonial urban planning which was based on the principles of segregation and which separated Nigerian cities into "European" and "African" areas. The former was fairly protected because of its layouts and substantial buildings; the latter was left in its pre-industrial and pre-colonial traditional condition. Colonial rural-urban migration which brought Nigerian from other parts of the country to particular cities was also subjected to the principle of segregation (Presidential Committee on Urban Development and Housing, 2002). Thus Nigerian cities developed to have two types of slum areas: the inner city traditional centres and the centres of migrants.
Urban sprawl could be likened to slum creation which is a problematic phenomenon associated with urbanization in continents of high poverty. Today, the problem is peculiar to cities in sub-Sahara Africa, where the rural areas are becoming depopulated day-in-out. The most worrisome aspect of this circumstance is that, the rural population who troop into the city search for job which do not exist, and for post which in actual sense, they may not be found worthy to hold. Eventually, they remain unemployed for so long, and in a desperate move to find shelter at the least possible cost, greater proportion of the population live in the deplorable and unsanitary residential environment. However, there is enough evidence to conclude that slum creation remains a major feature of the inner city. The situation is compounded because many of these cities from time lacked master plans, in the form of policy guide decisions about their physical or land use development.
Inadequacy of Infrastructures and Social Services
This, in fact, represents the unsatisfactory state of affairs in many urban centres. Larger parts of the housing environment has been rendered unattractive for lack of basic infrastructures like roads, electricity, water supply, parks and playgrounds, health facilities, schools and open spaces. Shortage of these facilities on one hand, discourage liveability, and on the other hand, hamper the operation of government agency responsible for housing of the private individuals who wish to invest in housing. There is hardly a single dwelling unit in the urban centre that enjoys regular supply of electricity and potable water. Even, newly developed neighbourhoods at the periphery exist without roads to service them; let alone the social amenities. Recreational and health needs of urban citizens are met with difficulties. Yet, environmental researches provide clear signals that the urban residents perceives these elements as positive features of the environment; and indices used in accessing the functional efficiency as well as socio-economic development of human settlement.
Poor Sanitary Environment
Sanitation continues to be a central institution in contemporary societies. The environment in which people live, and how it is organised has profound consequences, both for the society and individuals. Previous discussions about the urban area have continually justified its existence through conglomeration of heterogeneous individuals, and generated perspectives that can enhance our understanding of it as an industrial society. In functionalist accounts and explanations, the city could be seen as an interrelated entity, analogous to a biological system, where each part (i.e. residential, commercial, industrial, educational and transportation) is viewed in terms of impact on the rest of the system. A lot of problems have been identified in the system, especially concerning sanitation. In Nigeria, high house occupancy ratio ranging from 4 to 6 persons per room can be recorded for cities like Lagos, Ibadan, Sokoto, Ondo, Onitsha, Enugu, Port-Harcourt. In these areas households depend on the crude traditional means of heating such as the use of saw dust and firewood. Majority of the houses lack toilet facilities, while a substantial proportion make do with pit latrine. Most of the bathrooms are located outside the main building without drainages; likewise the roads, and where drainages are provided, they are constantly blocked by garbage thereby creating swimming ponds for pigs and ducks, and harbour for mosquitoes, if not flooding. Poor arrangements for refuse and sewage disposal systems compound the situation as dunghills tend to be used as conveniences, thus polluting the neighbourhoods. The problem is great in places like Lagos, Ibadan and Onitsha where uncollected refuse heaps overflow unto several major roads. Again, the persistent air pollution in terms of vehicular and industrial noise, and large quantity of smoke and gaseous fumes that are generated (e.g. sulphur fumes) poses great danger to health.
Traffic Congestion
The city as an engine of economic development, and centre of industry, commerce and administration, functions only with an efficient transportation system. It would be useful at this stage to establish that a reciprocal relationship exists between transportation systems and urban land use, as the former determines the intensity and pattern of activities within the city. The concentration of people and activities in the centres, the rapidly increasing number and complexity of functions they perform, and the resulting competition for space, have brought about ever increasing separation between work places and residential areas (Filani, 1987). Improvement in income of Nigerians, especially in wages of civil servants has led to increase in car ownership and automobile transportation in recent time. The Federal, State and Private Urban Mass Transit Programmes have joined to increase the fleet of vehicles on Nigerian roads. Added to this is the increasing number of motorcycles and tricycles. As all these help to reduce the problem of transportation, the concomitant results of traffic congestion become visible in the urban centres.
Traffic congestion is one of the most predominant problems encountered in most cities of the world. Nigerian cities are no exception (Ogbazi, 1992). Admittedly, people live at some distances from their respective places of employment and usually make trips on roads within the city. The schedule of working hours in the country is such that allows for simultaneous movement around the specific hours. In effect, peak periods are created by traffic between 7:30am and 9:00am and 4:00pm and 6;00pm during which long queues of vehicles are found on major corridors of most cities of Nigeria. This suggested that the coincidence of traffic at these periods is necessitated by the desire of civil servants, traders and other categories of workers to reach their places of work at the appropriate time and return home early. Very few urban centres have efficient and reliable public transport system; the narrowness of the road in most cases limits their capacity and constitutes constraints on accessibility. With the number of vehicles as well as trips demand from the central business districts, it is observed that the existing road tend to carry excessive traffic burden. It is apparent that majority of roads in the cities are in a severe state of disrepair, as a result of which there is concentration of urban traffic on the main corridors, which sometimes may be of longer distance to individual destinations. On-street parking and activities of street traders or hawkers make the situation worst most often. Progressive delay in movement in the cities therefore does not only reduce efficiency at work but increases boredom in transportation and environmental pollution.
Security Challenges
Urban security is the quality or condition of being free from danger, damage or injury. It is a state of protection against debilitating life-threatening events. In urban centres, such threats can come from four main sources – environmental hazards or disasters, interpersonal violence and social delinquency. All these take place in the context in which the local government and other government agencies seem to have abdicated their responsibility to make our cities safe and secure (Presidential Committee on Urban Development and Housing, 2002). Perhaps the most distressing feature of life in the present day Nigerian cities is the feeling of helplessness with which most residents approach problems of their safety and security that needs to be resolved at the level of their local government.
It used to be Odua Peoples' Congress (OPC) in the South-western states, Movement for Actualization of Sovereign States of Biafara (MASSOB), Movement for Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOG) in Niger Delta, and presently, the Boko Haram in the North and Federal Capital City, killing hundreds of people, destroying expensive properties belonging to the public and private individuals and organizations on daily basis. Aside these, we also have other militants, armed robbers and burglars that inflict all sorts of threat on residents at home, place of work, religious sites, markets, motor parks, on the road and other places within the urban centres. It is very difficult to track down the elements behind the insurgency.
Weak Administrative structures for physical Planning and Management
The most fundamental problem which had badly affected the administration of physical planning in Nigeria is lack of acceptance of the role of the physical planning in the way that economic planning has been accepted as a paramount government function (Onibokun, 1981). Basically, master plans have been identified as means through which significant improvement could be realized in the land administration and management. The idea is based on a proposal of mixture of factual circumstances and value statements, which attempts to capture the key features of appropriate physical development planning. It initiates what to be planned, developed, administered and managed, while also articulating and coordinating all major proposals at different points in time and space, so as to achieve the self-same purpose of the community on her geographical space (Ilesanmi, 1998). In his view, master plan is a long-range plan, general in nature, and dealing comprehensively with all significant aspects of the development of the territories of a city. It is also seen as one of the foremost instruments through which the city council considers debates and finally agrees upon a coherent, unified set of general, long-range policies for physical development of a community (Black, 1975; Roberts, 1982 and Ogbazi, 1992).
In Nigeria, as in many other developing nations, physical planning is restricted to town planning activities such as preparation of housing scheme, or layouts; arrangement of roads, building and structures, recreational areas, a few public utilities and community facilities, only to achieve a visually attractive environment. In totality, this conception fails to accord a holistic emphasis to the major factors associated with physical planning in the urban areas. There is no specific ministry for this activity at the federal level. The Ministry of Environment is only a multi-function organ of the government. The Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the state and local levels are not encouraged to carry out this statutory function (i.e. master plan preparation) as evidenced by the meagre capital or recurrent allocations to the sector by successive governments. The situation becomes worse as these centres are still demarcated into two or more local government areas with different administration structures. For example, the cities of Ibadan, Oyo and Ilorin are divided into eleven, four and five local government areas respectively.
Multiplicity of Planning Agencies
A lot of diversity has been noticed in the attitude of government towards planning in recent years. For the mere fact that it is faced with so many commitments in the environment the issue of planning has not been perceived as an isolated phenomenon, but something that cut across every aspect that affects the entire population at each point in their life. Since there is no clear-cut demarcation as to who is to do what in terms of planning, so many ministries are unnecessarily involved in the execution of the same function in a conflicting manner. It is common to find many physical development agencies in Nigeria, some of these are PHCN, Water Corporation, local Planning Authority, Capital Urban Development Authority, Local Government Authority, Federal and State Environmental protection Agencies, etc. Each of these is established for particular development activity within the jurisdiction of Local Government Authority in which the urban centre locates. In serious struggle and competition for power, the agencies introduced different development plans that intersect the concept of the other. A typical example is the area earmarked for industrial neighbourhood by the Urban and Regional Planning Department but later converted to housing estates by the Ministry of Lands and Housing; part of which may still be required by the Capital Urban Development authority for market establishment. The planning authority on its own, reserves the ultimate responsibility of influencing actions taken upon the environment. It happens most times that another agent of government presents to it a scheme for approval on land, for which a different scheme had already been prepared. It is therefore common to find overlapping functions in land administration by various agencies in the urban centres. The problem is in part, a result of multiplicity of planning agencies, and on the other hand, a product of poor coordination of planning activities among the bodies. The factors hampering the effectiveness of these agencies include inadequate enforcement, institutional problems, inadequate funding, uncoordinated legislation, mismanagement of resources, inadequate trained man-power, inadequate public awareness and involvement as well as political interference which distort environmental programmes (Presidential Committee on Urban Development and Housing, 2002) Generally, there is a lack of coherent administration in the form of a central committee to harmonize and integrate the various plans of the agencies involved in urban physical development.
Uncontrolled Intensification of Land Use at City Core
It is axiomatic to say that the urban centre represents the hub of economic activities. The central business district is a major commercial axis incorporating the main market, wholesales or ware house, banking institutions and professional chambers. It is a designated business core of high intensity where pressure from interest groups prompts many more development projects. On accounts of the fact that most of the urban centres were initially pre-colonial cities which did not undergo proper physical planning from onset, all new developments or extensions within the core area now constitute intensification of land use, which indeed, is a major environmental degradation problem in our cities today. Until after independence, little or no attention was paid to effects of environment on health by colonial masters. They looked at all aspects of social conditions, work, housing, health, recreation and sanitation as irrelevant to their colonial objectives. So, no effort was made on the organization of settlement. All available spaces were covered with buildings without adequate setbacks to roads, airspace and siting of essential community services. What was peculiar to the city centres then was arbitrary demarcation of family lands, while houses and compounds were built without reference to any specific system of layout. Even with the advent of modern techniques, it is absolutely difficult to normalize this wrong. People have taken the advantage to complicate the physical landscape of the central area. Even though the majority of the buildings in the area are meant for residential, many are multi-purposely used especially for residential and commercial activities (Bashorun, 2005). The phenomenon of illegal rebuilding, partitioning, attachments or building extensions and new constructions are pervasive throughout the city centres. In addition to these are some minor structures like kiosks or temporary sheds, all jam-packed along major roads. The consequence of this is the disorder and spurious development, as well as creation of extensive high-density growth, which make accessibility and habitation in greater parts of the central business district difficult.
Unplanned Suburbs
No urban area is independent of its suburbs in any part of the world. Both have complementary functions to perform in the development of the entire region. A review of the current urban situation in Nigeria indicates that little priority is attached to the implications of its spatial distribution to the rural hinterlands. When cities fail to give adequate support to the suburbs, it becomes strangled and reflects a kind of disequilibria in urban management. The growing failure of these centres usually, is the unfulfilment of the expectations both of those who live in them, and those who have to depend on them for services (Mabogunje, 1985). Planning of the suburbs encircles a number of activities ranging from provision of welfare facilities such as educational, health and social amenities, to stimulating the productive capacity of rural populace in terms of expansion of their agricultural and economic base. Politically, every sphere of human endeavour is dealt with in the plan, in a way to generate overall solution to perceived problems in the city and the surroundings. This in itself is a strong potentially beneficial force for the development of the rural hinterland.
Metropolitan centres of developed nations are considered to include the suburban fringes or rather the non urban territories. These areas often encompass substantial amount of rural land. For example, in Japan, a large number of people who live in rural areas are included within the boundaries of urban areas (Brockerhoff, 2000). The perception of urban administration in Nigeria for instance is quite different; there is rural-urban dichotomy. The focus of urban development is purely within the limit of urban coverage, which in effect increases the wave of rural-urban migration. Consequent upon high demand for housing in the cities by the low income migrants, the unplanned temporary residential units at the suburbs are first inhabited. Closely associated with the congestion of these districts are other environmental problems such as waste disposal, poor sanitation, shortage of facilities as well as slum creation.
Pollution
Environmental pollution can be categorized into three groups. These are air or atmospheric pollution, aquatic or water pollution and land or surface area pollution. The World Health Organization (WHO) (1990) defined air pollution as "limited to situation in which the outer ambient atmosphere contains materials in concentrations which are harmful to man and his environment". Man's activities on the earth surface have largely degraded the quality of the lower atmosphere. The growth and development of industries and Urbanization has contributed greatly to the excess carbon monoxide produced by combustion and other human activities. Carbon monoxide reacts with the blood vessel and prevent it from taking up oxygen and the people are suffocated. In Nigeria, several rural towns that had in the past enjoyed fresh and dry air are currently experiencing air pollution problems (Obajimi, 1998). This is due to industrialization process and expansion in human activities. Aquatic or water pollution is the discharge of unwanted biological, chemical and physical materials into water bodies from man's environment. The pollutants are usually chemical, physical and biological substances that affect the natural condition of water. This incidence is responsible for the wide spread water contamination in most Nigeria cities. Also solid wastes have equally flooded the water ways in these urban centres. Land surface pollution is the occurrence of unwanted materials or waste on land. The commonest pollutant on land is the waste products that are often scattered on land area in the cities. According to Onwioduokit (1998), most environmental problems are due to the production or consumption of goods whose waste products translate easily into pollutants. Ayeni (1978) and Sada et al (1988) believed that the emergence of urbanization is responsible for the rapid accumulation of solid waste. Generally, it would appear that the growth of urbanization and industrial development coupled with improper wastes management control have added a great dimension to land area pollution in Nigeria (Omofonmwan and Osa-Edoh, 2008).

In the next section, the paper discuss the way forward and suggest some basic points which will assist the government as well as private individuals and organizations in providing lasting solutions to the problems. A pragmatic urban policy should incorporate the remedies in such a way as to derive the maximum benefits through efficient application and implementation of the measures.

Remedies to the Urban Problems
In the face of various legislations and interventions by government at all levels in the country, Nigeria's urban problems still appear intractable. The CIA World Fact book gives the estimate of Nigerian population as 155,215,573 as at July 2011at a growth rate of 2.75% while about 50% lives in urban centres (Daramola and Ibem, 2010). It was also estimated that in 25 years, the population will rise to 300 million (UPI, 2012). The effective management of Nigerian urban environment becomes imperative. There is a great challenge of restructuring the existing institutional arrangements for urban environmental management. The following strategies and technologies, which represent new measures and policy interventions, will enable the entire nation to achieve sustainable growth and development.

1. Sustainable City Programme
The sustainable city programme is an approach, which seeks to impose some order of development on Nigerian cities in the 21st century, drawing on the concept of sustainability. Sustainable development is defined as a "programme to change the process of economic development so that it ensures a basic quality of life for all people and protect the ecosystem and community systems that make life possible and worthwhile" (Okunfulure, 1997). The people or citizens, the civil society organizations, the government and the private sectors are crucial stakeholders, which could possibly be brought together to harness the innate resources of the people for sustainable urban growth. The partnership approach to urban development and management is seen as the most effective way of harmonizing views and evolving lasting solution to urban problems.
2. Environmental Planning and Management
This project is an environmental strategic exercise, which is driven and carried through the stakeholders themselves, leading to agreed and implementable strategies, action plans and projects (Busari, 1997and Abumere, 2002). It is a new approach to urban development and management, still anchored on the concept of partnership, especially between technocrats (Estate Surveyors, Urban Planners, Architects, Land surveyors, Quantity Surveyors, Builders, etc) and the inhabitants of a particular environment or city. Under the process, all the stakeholders in the city must be involved in problem identification, priority setting, project implementation, fund sourcing and project maintenance and monitoring (Onibokun, 1997). It is important to note that the functions of the working group include sensitization, development of demonstration projects, development of strategies and action plan.
3. Urban Basic Services
The urban basic service is a mechanism adopted by UNICEF for upgrading and expanding facilities for health and education services as well as alleviating poverty in the targeted poor communities in the urban areas. The hallmark of the concept is the integration of infrastructure provision with human settlement development with a view to reduce the level of urban poverty and entrenching a healthy living environment (Okoko and Omole, 2002). As a community targeted strategy, it attempts to develop autonomous urban communities and make services available especially to the disadvantaged through integrated efforts and resources of both government and non- government organizations. The UNICEF and Federal Government of Nigeria entered into partnership to provide Urban Basic Services in six Nigerian urban communities – Lagos, Ibadan, Onitsha, Port-Harcourt, Kano and Kaduna. These are cities where growth has accentuated environmental difficulties, especially for the poor at the inner core.
4. Geographic / land information System
The 21st century is the information age. The overriding priority of the government of most poor countries is gaining access to accurate or up-to-date data for sustainable improvement of health, income and living conditions of the poor majority. With GIS, information about the geography, social and economic conditions, policies and institutions is readily accessible and planners are able to take sound decisions that will have lasting positive impact on people's lives. The development of GIS is vital for optimising the productive use of a country's human and natural resources. It improves governance and empowers the people to participate in the provision, analysis and presentation of information for the enhancement of sustainable development.
5. Good Urban Governance
World Bank (1995) defines good governance as "the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country's economic and social resources for development" (Kinuthia-Njega, 1999). Good Urban Governance according to UN-Habitat (2000) is characterised by the following:
Sustainability in all dimensions of urban development,
Decentralization of authority and resources,
Equity of access to decision-making process by equal representation of men, women and the poor, especially reflecting their needs and priorities,
Efficiency in the administration and delivery of public services and in promoting economic development through sound financial and cost effective management of revenue sources and expenditure,
Transparency and accountability of decision makers and all stakeholders, providing universal access to and ensuring free flow of information,
- Applying laws in a transparent and predictable manner and ensuring high standards of professional and personal integrity,
- Empowering the citizens to participate effectively in decision making, and
- Ensuring security of individuals and their living environment.
6. Enabling Approach
The enabling approach required for sustainability varies between projects. It depends upon the nature of the projects, its environmental context and the consequent arrangement of strategies adopted. The approach represents a realistic coordinated plan for good urban governance, emerging as a result for strong demand for representative democracy. The enabling approach is characterised by several strategies:
Decentralization of responsibilities and resources to local authorities based on the principle of transparency, inclusion, subsidiary, partnership and accountability,
Encouraging and participation of civil society particularly women in the design, implementation and monitoring of local priorities using a wide variety of partnership including the private sector to achieve common objectives,
Building capacities of all actors to contribute fully to decision making and urban development process, and
- Facilitating networking at all levels and taking full advantage of modern information and telecommunication technologies to support good urban governance and sustainable urban development (Adebayo, 2002)
7. Advocacy Planning
The interest in the role of advocacy in planning has been generated by the current efforts of planners to reduce barriers of politics in the development of regions, cities and neighbourhoods. The human community, by nature, comprises different groups of ethnic, religious, social and economic and each constituting a political or interest group whose views are of great importance in planning. The approach sees the planner as a pluralistic. That is, one who must act closely to that which is desired by the government and the concerned groups in quest of lasting solution to environmental problems. It maintains that the sustainable development programme should represent the positions and interests of the multiple segments of the society in a democratic setting. The planner as an advocate of the interest of the government and the public therefore, should initiate as many alternative plans as would accommodate the views of both parties and present to the public for a logical conclusion.
8. Urban Renewal and Slum Upgrading
The problems of urban renewal and slum upgrading have their origin in colonial urban planning which was based on the principles of segregation and which separated Nigerian cities into "European" and "African" areas. The former was fairly protected because of its layouts and substantial buildings; the latter was left in its pre-industrial and pre-colonial traditional condition. Colonial rural-urban migration which brought Nigerian from other parts of the country to particular cities was also subjected to the principle of segregation. Thus Nigerian cities developed to have two types of slum areas: the inner city traditional centres and the centres of migrants. To date, government response to problem of urban renewal and slum upgrading has been minimal. The goal of urban renewal is to renew the slum areas of the cities such that the standards of housing and urban infrastructural services are brought to an acceptable level. It is aimed to pursue programmes of upgrading shanty towns and squatter settlements and also integrate the activities of settlement upgrading with the overall development strategy of individual cities through inclusive programme with a view to enhancing employment opportunities and the income of the urban poor.
9. Security
The goal and objective of urban security should be to make Nigerian cities a safe and secure place for all residents; and to make security issues less a matter of law enforcement agencies of the central government. It should be of more concern and the responsibility of accountable local government, the private sector and civil society in each urban centre. The provision of safety and security services can be professionalised through emphasizing the aspects in training of doctors, and paramedics for both curative and preventive health care, environmental scientists and engineers as well as personnel engaged in law and order in our cities and the country at large. The number, quality and equipment standards of the Nigerian Police should be increased significantly to meet the international standard of one policeman per thousand inhabitants.
10. Institutional Framework
It is observed that urban development is a multi-faceted process involving the combined activities of many institutions and agencies, and what many of the institutions deed for orderly and progressive development of urban centres in Nigeria are still not yet in place. The participation of all stakeholders must be ensured. They include all tiers of government, organized private sector, individual, community, security agencies and non-governmental organizations in urban development. The other institutions like capital market as instrument for financing urban development is hardly in place. Similarly, real estate developing companies are few and far behind because of lack of access to large tract of land for sizeable and profitable estate development.

Concluding Remarks
The discussion so far has been on the complex environmental / socio-economic problems of our cities in Nigeria. The paper also presents some important policies which are useful for achieving sustainability and assures promise for future development of the cities. The challenges of a resource oriented environmental planning and management of the cities at this critical economic period and in the years ahead, present a need for consensus building of partnership between stakeholders on the provision of public services. The complexity of various economic, social, political and other factors that influence growth in the urban environment often call for the formulation of comprehensive development policies capable of coordinating land use proposals. It is imperative that a comprehensive planning and management strategy is adopted to ensure that the inadequacies in the areas of provision and maintenance of urban infrastructures are corrected. Urgent and comprehensive redress is required to transform Nigerian cities from the present chaos to functional representation of all groups, with accountability, integrity and transparency of government action in pursuit of shared goals. Our local governments should have the capacity to fulfil public responsibilities based on knowledge, skills, resources and procedures that draw on effective partnership. It is therefore recommended that a strategic and pragmatic policy is instituted to comprehensively deal with the urban environmental problems in Nigeria. The policy in this regard should consist of measures capable of making the urban environment in Nigeria generally safe, clean, healthy and aesthetically pleasing for all urban residents. All the three tiers of government – local, state and federal as well as Non – governmental organizations and civil societies should be mobilized and involved in the task of taking responsibility for improving and sustaining high standard of environmental quality in Nigerian urban centres.















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