The utilization of social and political strategies of the urban poor in coping with the impact of forced evictions

Cities in the 21st century are fast developing with rapid increase in urbanization. The implication of this is the rapid deterioration of housing conditions, as there is more demand for housing than supply. As a result of lack of adequate housing alternatives for the urban poor it has led to large numbers of slums and informal settlements. This is a settlement with little or no basic services and infrastructures like good roads, sewage facilities, drainage system, water etc. People tend to live in illegal settlement which are mostly slum areas when the option of settlement in a legal settlement is unavailable and also due to their inadequate livelihood assets. The main reasons for forced evictions in most developing countries is due to the beautification of cities, large developmental project and mega events which have been a challenge for the government to manage urban development project without having a negative impact on the lives of citizens. This development often time result to displacement of millions of people. Forced eviction in itself is not the solution for having cities without slums, but it has helped to fuel the growth of a new slums and the increase of people living in existing slums. Due to unplanned evictions and without proper relocation plan for the evictees, evictees are again forced to move to another neighbouring slums leading to great increase in the number of slum dwellers. The enormous population in Lagos state has posed a challenge to the state government as there are increase in rural-urban growth due to its being a commercial capital of the country. This has resulted to acute shortage of standard housing which has led to the development of prolific growth of slums, the deterioration of the existing houses, as a result of lack of consistent maintenance. People live in slums and squatter settlements scattered around the city. This also resulted to frequent forced evictions in the city, this has accelerated the displacement of thousands of people from their homes every year. In 2013 over 9,000 persons were rendered homeless without any appropriate form of alternative relocation. This research centres on the utilization of social and political strategies adopted by urban poor in coping with the impact of forced evictions. More concentration was based on the strategies evictees adopted in coping with evictions impacts. The study debate on the livelihood framework, livelihood assets, vulnerability context, forced evictions and its impacts, social capital as a coping strategy, political capital as a coping strategy and right to the city was all used in analysing theories and having a broader knowledge on the study. The study is based on contributing to the understanding of forced evictions and the impact of unplanned actions by the government in removing evictees from their communities without adequate provision of alternative relocation which have a huge effects on their livelihoods. The research also explained the strategies adopted by evictees for surviving after encountering an adverse form of forced eviction. The research was qualitative in nature and as a result of that case study as a research strategy was used. As it enables research to be studied in depth and closely examine a study within a specific context. This was also supported with the administration of questionnaires. The study reveals the impact of forced evictions on the livelihood of the evictees. Most of the evictees suffers from different forms of diseases and sickness due to the unhealthy environment they find themselves after evictions, evictees children could no longer continue with their education after the evictions because they have to assist in meeting the needs of the family so reliance on child labour was encouraged. Most of the evictees lost their home-based business, their houses and personal belongings was also lost due to the eviction. However, they were able to use their social and political capital to cope with the impact of forced eviction. In regards to their social strategies, family and friendship ties were mostly adopted by evictees and this The utilization of social and political strategies of the urban poor in coping with the impact of forced evictions iv enable them to be relieved from their losses. Finally, their political strategies was in great advantage to them also, with the help of their NGOs and Community leaders, they were able to access compensation from the government. They have been more enlightened on their right as a citizen of Nigeria and are now more forcefully organized in fighting for their rights due to programs organized concerning forced eviction featuring educational talk, health and housing right.