The State of Osun, located in Nigeria’s South West geopolitical zone, ranks among the most urbanized of the country’s 36 states, with towns and cities in the state experiencing unprecedented population and spatial growth over the past half Century. This phenomenon, unfortunately, has occurred alongside several undesired consequences, notable among which are haphazard and uncoordinated physical development, overcrowding and congestion within inner city neighbourhoods, inadequate provision of infrastructure and services, as well as deteriorating social and environmental conditions, which make the cities generally unsustainable and unable to fulfill their potentials as engines of growth. In order to effectively address the challenges of unsustainable urbanisation and adequately position the State of Osun to actualize the objectives of its Six-Point Integral Action Plan, the State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, through a technical cooperation agreement with the United Nations Human Settle-ments Programme (UNHABITAT), initiated a project on the preparation of Structure Plans for nine of the largest cities in the State. The cities are Osogbo, Ede, Ikire, Ikirun, Ila-Orangun, Ile-Ife, Ilesa, Iwo and Ejigbo.

This initiative, which would guide the development of participating cities over the next 20 years, was also tofollow through on the state’s O-Renewal programme designed to regenerate a one-kilometre radius of the core, inner city, areas in these cities. The Structure Plans therefore proposes to integrate elements of the regeneration strategy with proposals for an overall framework to guide their sustainable growth over the period 2014 to 2033.

Secure land and property rights for all are essential to reducing poverty because they underpin economic development and social inclusion. Secure land tenure and property rights enable people in urban and rural areas to invest in improved homes and livelihoods. Although many countries have completely restructured their legal and regulatory framework related to land and they have tried to harmonize modern statutory law with customary ones, millions of people around the world still have insecure land tenure and property rights.

This report addresses and assesses the issue of tenure security  in several countries where government, civil society, the private sector and development cooperation initiatives have been implemented for decades. The selected case studies from fifteen (15) countries (Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, The Philippines, Thailand, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala) ensure not only ageographic balance but they also represent countries with different socio-economic and land-related histories and that have followed different pathways. The studies’ key findings underline the still precariousstate of tenure security in many countries.

Anambra, with its population of over 4 million people in 2006, is the second most urbanized states in the country, having 62% of its total population living in urban areas. Unfortunately, past Governments since creation of the State in 1991 have failed to adopt city development strategies for the many fast growing cities in the State to cope with rapid urbanization.

Following decades of neglect and poor urban governance, the profiles of these cities indicate that they are characterized by decayed inner and suburban sprawling slums, inadequate sanitation, uncontrolled street trading, mountains of uncollected wastes, overcrowded and congested transport systems and roads with poor drainages, noise and air pollution.

It was for the purpose of reversing this ugly and undesirable trend that His Excellency Government of Peter Obi forged a viable technical cooperation agreement with the UN-HABITAT in 2007 to provide technical assistance in the preparation of structure plans for three cities, namely Awka Capital Territory, Nnewi and Onitsha.

The goals of the structure plans are towards achieving environmental sustainability in the context of achieving State and Local Economic Development Strategies, Millennium Development Goals and Habitat Agenda, orderly and healthy development, the contributions of cities to sustained economic growth, poverty reduction, sustainable livelihoods, good governance and gender empowerment.

This Report, which is the structure plan for Awka, is a tangible outcome of this cooperative effort. For the next 20 years, the Structure Plan envisions that Awka Capital will be planned and developed to greatly enhance its ‘administrative, industrial, commercial and educational roles and its rapid contributions to poverty reduction, employment generation, participatory development, good governance, tourism development and environmental sustainability.

The Habitat Country Programme Document for Nigeria outlines the main objectives and priorities for UN-HABITAT. In collaboration with the government and other United Nations Agencies, the overall aim of this UN-HABITAT Country Programme Document is to promote the Habitat Agenda. UN-HABITAT plays an active role in urban development and urban policy.

Through partnerships with the Federal Ministry of Environment, Housing and Urban Development, UN-HABITAT has assisted in identifying key urban issues, and areas needing support to improve the urban situation in Nigeria. Analysis of seven key sectors include: governance, land and housing, shelter and basic services, urban planning and management, housing/urban development and the environment, vulnerability reduction and capacity development.

The Nigeria UN-HABITAT Country Programme Document provides an overview of the national policy and the areas of intervention that Government must address in meeting its urban development challenges.

The development of realistic structure plans for Awka, Onitsha, Nnewi, and the surrounding towns. This cooperation was borne out of the need to adopt development strategies for the provision of basic socio-economic and physical infrastructure in fast-growing, unplanned cities to attain sustainable human settlement development. Onitsha, the focus of the structure plan, is the most populous and rapidly expanding commercial and educational centre in Anambra State.

In recent decades, Onitsha has had more than its fair share of the problems that accompany unplanned urban growth. These problems have attracted the attention of many scholars of repute who acknowledged Onitsha's enviable heritage, which makes it an important religious, commercial, and educational centre, while bemoaning its decline due to ongoing bad governance and the consequent failure of land use planning, management, and security systems.