Public Participation in Urban Governance: Case of Ibadan South-East Local Government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Involvement of the public in governance is an important factor in development of infrastructure in settlements, especially urban areas. In doing this, the scarce fund is spent on the actual and genuine infrastructural needs of the populace rather than those at the helm of affairs “imposing” infrastructure on the populace. This study investigates how much people know those at the helm of affairs which invariably indicates how much they are being contacted or consulted to know their needs and how to meet the needs. 250 respondents were sampled from the six selected wards in Ibadan South East Local Government in Oyo state to make a representation.  Findings revealed that the populace does not really know the people at the helm of affairs even the Local Government Councilors that are supposed to be the closest representative of the government to them and work with them. This implied that the developmental projects in such communities are imposed on the populace. Suggestions were made on ways of improving the situation, these include, the elected officers should plan with the people and stop planning for them in order to achieve sustainability of the developmental projects in the communities in Ibadan generally and Nigeria at large and there should be social justice in every formulated policy.

Keywords: Communities, Developmental projects, Governance, Infrastructure, Public

participation