RESETTLING THE GWOZA HILL PEOPLE OF BORNO STATE: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS AND FUTURE PROSPECTS
RESETTLING THE GWOZA HILL PEOPLE OF BORNO STATE: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS AND FUTURE PROSPECTS
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Date
1990-01
Authors
GAPCIYA, NDIRPAYA, ANGUS YANA
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Abstract
The Gwoza Hill resettlement scheme under execution is
an attempt by the Borno State Government to assist the Hill
dwellers to re-establish themselves on the plains, following
futile attempts by previous governments to resettle them
and the desire by the Hill duellers to be resettled. The
attempt in this study is to evaluate the previous attempts
and current effort at resettling the Gwoza Hill people.
This is with a view to finding out problems, future prospects
of the scheme and to suggest some proposals and recommendations
for an appropriate resettlement of the hill dwellers and
future resettlement in the State.
Data for the study was collected through field surveys
in the study area, questionnaire administration, interviews
discussions, personal observations, photographs, published
and unpublished documents from various sources.
The study first examined the physical, social and
economic conditions of the Hill people. This has shown the
trying conditions under which the people have for over a
century lived such as acute water shortage, scarcity of
form-land, and object poverty. It also showed the general
absence of government's assistance to the Hill people
in terms of basic infrastructural facilities, which was
found to be due to their inaccessible locations.
An evaluation of the previous attempts at resettling
the Hill people was made and found that the attempts
failed mainly because of inadequate and inappropriate planning
and administration of the schemes, as yell as the very attitudes
of the hill people to the plains vis-a-vis their nasty
experiences of the past. Also, some lessons were learnt from
the previous attempts such as timing, comprehensive physical and
socio-economic surveys, public enlightenment and participation,
avoidance of use of force among others as vital to the success
of not only voluntary resettlements but also compulsory ones.
An attempt was also made at assessing the current
government effort at resettling the hill dwellers. It was
therefore, found that lessons from the previous attempts were
not sufficiently learnt as to guide the planning and
implementation of the current scheme, which have led to many
lapses in the planning and implementation. Further analysis of
the current scheme revealed such problems as; insufficient water
for construction of houses and domestic needs of resettlers,
ineffective and inappropriate organisation and co-ordination
machinery, absence of proper resettlement planning schedule,
non-provision of farm-land to resettlers that are most hard hit,
among others, which are serious threatening the successful
implementation of the scheme.
On the basis of the findings of this study, some proposals
were put forward to correct the lapses identified in the
existing scheme and some recommendations made to ensure a
successful implementation of the Gwoza Hill dwellers and future
resettlements in the State.
Description
Being a thesis submitted to the Postgraduate School,
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria, in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Science, Urban and Regional Planning.
Department of Urban and Regional Planning
Faculty of Environmental Design
Ahmadu Bello University
Zaria - Nigeria.
Keywords
RESETTLING,, GWOZA HILL,, PEOPLE,, BORNO STATE,, CRITICAL REVIEW,, PREVIOUS,, ATTEMPTS,, FUTURE,, PROSPECTS