Urban Infrastructure and Transit-Oriented Development in Osogbo, Nigeria

Although cities are places of opportunities and benefits, they are faced with multi-plethora problems, such as those posed by the phenomenon of urbanisation and those heightened by actions of city dwellers. At the heart of any city supply chain is transportation, which is usually fraught with imperfection in many African cities. In this study, we provide the profile of Osogbo – the capital of Osun State, in Southwestern geopolitical zone of Nigeria, and functionally a mono-modal city, with respect to its broad infrastructure challenges and specifically its transportation infrastructure. Among others, the governance framework, investment and funding mechanism of the Osogbo transport sector, and actions taken in the last 20 years were provided. Multi-layered research approach involving desk review/literature search, observation and key informant interviews were employed for this study. It was noted, among others, that existing infrastructure that supports affordable housing for different groups of citizens was inadequate. Most of the roads within the city and those connecting neighbouring settlements were in deplorable conditions; lacking in adequate and well maintained drainage system, walkway, streetlight, road furniture and appropriate calming devices. Indiscriminate blocking of roads within the core residential areas for social functions also contributed immensely to transportation challenges. We reasoned that government’s efforts at improving road infrastructure and transport facilities in Osogbo have not yielded significant success, due largely to the impulsiveness and arbitrariness of policy and decision making on transit oriented development. Drawing from our study, we concluded that cities require the provision of sustainable, resilient and efficient transportation infrastructure and facilities to function effectively. More importantly, African countries are encouraged to establish visible commitments to the development of travel infrastructure financed and delivered through public private partnership arrangements.