SECURITY FACTORS AND HOUSING NEEDS MANAGEMENT IN DEVELOPING COMMUNITIES IN OYO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study explores Nigeria's housing trends, focusing on individuals' shelter needs and management. This study finds it interesting that despite widespread insecurity, people were residing in partially constructed buildings in relatively new neighborhoods. This therefore reflects poverty and inadequacies in housing policy, as it falls below the World Health Organization's standard for healthful living. This study therefore interrogates the life among these people and the emerging challenges being experienced in the areas. Security and associated matters as well as respondents’ coping mechanisms were explored. The study utilized a mixed-methods approach, incorporating quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews, and based its arguments on Berger and Luckmann's theory of the Social Construction of Reality. The study revealed that inflation and rising house rents led respondents to opt for partially completed houses due to economic insolvency. In anticipation of security challenges, they moved in without valuable property to curb such trends and kept a low social profile to prevent undue attention to the bad elements. The commonly identified challenges experienced included health matters, the absence of potable water, and occasional fear of the antics of the men of the underworld. This position informs the recommendations for healthy and sustainable development in this work.