UN-Habitat warns of expanding slums in Nigeria
The United Nations’ agency in charge of housing, UN-Habitat, has warned that the growth rate of slums in the country, in particular, and the continent at large, poses serious threats of diseases and environmental degradation.
The UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director, UN-Habitat, Dr. Anna Tibaijuka, noted this in a document, which was obtained by our correspondent in Abuja on Friday.
She noted that the agency’s estimates showed that sub-Saharan African countries, including Nigeria, had the highest urban slum households in the world with figures varying between 60 and 70 per cent.
She said, “Contrary to conventional wisdom, we now know that slum dwellers are just as vulnerable as their rural counterparts to the incidence of hunger and diseases and have less education and high unemployment rates.”
