Slums and squatter settlements in Abuja, the federal capital city of Nigeria: a rereading
Keywords:
capital, city, urbanization, squalor, slumsAbstract
Abuja the administrative and political capital of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (since 1991) is one of the few purpose-built capital cities in Africa. The city patterned after Washington DC was planned to be a piece of paradise. But today, it is a city in slums, resting on incredible squalor, and typhus atmosphere. This loss of the city to slums has provoked writings with varied misconceptions as to the causes of the slums growth and consolidation. Relying on survey and ethnographic research methodologies conducted in Abuja between January and December 2021, official reports, gazettes, private papers, memoirs, newspapers, articles, and different genres of secondary sources of evidence this study seeks to clear the misconceptions and misinterpretations surrounding the taking over of the new capital city of Nigeria by slums.
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