Impact of Abandoned Structures on Residents in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria

ADIGUN F. O, *ABOLADE O, IGE J.O, ADEOSUN A. O, OLADELE J.A Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Environmental Sciences Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, PMB 4000, Ogbomoso, Oyo State Nigeria *Corresponding Author Abstract The increasing incidence of abandoned structures coupled with the associated seemly insurmountable environmental, psychosocial and economic risks in a developing country like Nigeria is a nerve racking problem of concern to the government and the communities. The study therefore, within the context of the three residential densities the study examined the incidence, causes and impacts of abandoned structures with a view to providing information on the extents and effects of abandoned structures on residents in Ilorin. The study utilized primary data obtained with the aid of questionnaire from 428 residents collected in the ratio 3:2:1 in high, medium and low density residential areas. Four indices were developed: ‘Environmental Impact of Abandonment’ (EIAI), ‘Psycho-Social Impact of Abandoned Structures’ (PSIASI), ‘Economic Impact of Abandonment’ (EcIAI) and ‘Suggested Solutions to Abandonment’ (SSA). It is observed that the incidence of abandoned structures varies significantly among the residential neighbourhoods of Ilorin metropolis (F = 9.458 and p = 0.036 at 95% confidence level). The magnitude of the six categories of abandonment in Ilorin metropolis is more in the high density area then in medium and low density. Residents of different residential densities of Ilorin do not have the same or similar views about the environmental effect of abandonment in their areas (F= 4.604 and p= 0.0160. The study recommends as suggested by respondents increase in basic salary (SSA =, 4.31) local planning authority should work on blight control (SSA = 4.29) and there should be proper site selection before commencement of building projects (SSA =.4.28). DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/9-18-08 Publication date:September 3


The Study Area
Ilorin is located in the transitional zone between the savannah zones and as a gateway linking the Northern Nigeria with the Southern part of Nigeria. It is the administrative seat of Kwara State Government. It is located on latitude 8 0 30' North of the equator and longitude 4 0 34' East of the Greenwich meridian. The region consists of three Local Government areas, which are Ilorin East, Ilorin West and Ilorin South local governments with their headquarters at Oke-Oyi, Oja -Oba and Fufu respectively. Its population is 777,667 (NPC, 2006). Over the years, the city has grown spatially and there has been influxes of people which were necessitated by spontaneous development as well as corresponding increase in commercial and industrial activities. This abandonment have diverse effects on residents' in Ilorin. Figure 1 and Figure 2 illustrates the study area and its delineation.  used to complement the primary data. The multi-stage sampling techniques were adopted. Ilorin comprises of three local government areas which are Ilorin East, Ilorin West and Ilorin South. Urban neighbourhoods in these Local Government areas were used for this study. Further clarification in identifying localities within the urban areas of Ilorin was extracted from Thomas (2013). Stratified sampling technique was used to segregate urban neighbourhood in the study area into three (3) strata, which are high, medium and low density residential respectively. From the identified localities, random sampling was used to select 6, 4, and 2 localities in the high, medium and low density of urban neighbourhood at the ratio of 3:2:1. (Adeboyejo and Onyeonoru, 2003) These constitute the sample frame. Population of buildings in each locality was documented via Google Earth and field survey. Total building population observed in the sampled localities in urban area of Ilorin was 4265. From this 0.1% of the building population was taken as the sample size. Four hundred and twenty eight questionnaires were distributed in the study. Physical counting of abandoned structures was done in the study area.
The Z scores of the counted abandoned structures were calculated to determine the relative significance of each category of abandonment in the area. Four indices termed 'Environmental Impact of Abandonment' (EIAI), 'Psycho-Social Impact of Abandoned Structures' (PSIASI), Economic Impact of Abandonment (EcIAI) and Suggested Solutions to Abandonment were developed. With the use of Likhert scale, impacts of abandoned structures were measured via, very high very low in the study area and it was thus rated as: very high (5); high (4); moderate (3); low (2) and very low (1). Fourteen, ten and three variables were used the environmental, psycho-social and economic impacts of abandonment on residents of Ilorin while seven variables were used rate the suggested solution to abandonment in the study area. SSA was measured via, on a Likhert scale of five as: Strongly Agreed (5); Agreed (4); Indifferent (3); Disagreed (2) and Strongly Disagreed (1). ANOVA was used to test the intra urban variation in the causes and impacts of abandoned structures.  2015 Documented in Table 1 is the respondents' awareness of incidence of abandoned structures in the study area. Within Ilorin metropolis, majority of respondents acknowledged the presence of abandoned structures in high (49.8%), medium (29.4%) and low (14.7%) residential densities while only few noted otherwise in high (3.3%), medium (1.2%) and in low (1.6%) densities respectively. With these, it can therefore be deduced that the incidence of abandoned structures is almost found everywhere across the residential densities of Ilorin. There is no significant intra-urban variation in residents' awareness of incidence of abandonment in the study area (X 2 = 1.63, df = 2, p = 0.442).  Table 2 indicated the number of abandoned structures in the study area as reported by the respondents. In Ilorin, significant proportion of respondents (59.4%) observed that 1 -3 buildings were abandoned in their area. Next to this is 4 -6 abandoned buildings with 37.6%. Only proportion of 1.7% and 1.3% reported that 7 -9 buildings and 10-12 buildings respectively were abandoned in their area. It can therefore be deduced that there is high incidence of abandoned structures in the study area as noted by residents (Table 1) and as equally observed by past authors such as Setterfield, (1997); Cohen, (2001); Mallach, (2004); Adedibu and Akindele, (2007) in their various research work. In high residential area of Ilorin, significant proportion of respondents (27.9%) observed that 1-3 buildings were abandoned. Next to this category are 4 -6 abandoned buildings with 22.7% and 7 -9 abandoned structures with 1.7%. The observed pattern is similar in medium and low density areas where bulk of respondents reported that 1 -3 buildings were abandoned in their areas with 15.7% each. This shows that there is high incidence of abandonment in the study area. The result of Chi-square on spatial variation in the number of abandoned structures among three residential densities of Ilorin implies that there is significant difference in the number of abandoned structures among the three residential areas (X 2 = 33.626, df = 6, p = 0.000). Table 3 indicated the z-score result in urban area. Among the residential densities, there is high incidence of dilapidated abandoned structures ZA with positive values in Oja-oba (0.30943), Saw mill (0.52365), Itamerin (0.09521), Ajikobi (0.30943), which are predominantly high density residential area. These may be due to the fact that high density area are regarded as the core area of the city where development began and buildings in these area have served considerable number of generations coupled with poor maintenance culture. In medium density area there is occurrence of uncompleted abandoned structures ZB with positive values in Olunlade (2.30884) and Odota (2.30884) (see plate 1 and 2). In low density, the category of abandoned structure found is majorly sound and completed abandoned structures ZC in GRA (1.42345) and LES (2.74874). This may be due to the fact that low density area are inhabited by high income earners and affluent group, in which they build and even go on vacation for couples of year, leaving such structures abandoned. In some cases where they have rented out such structures, if not properly maintained by the tenant; they prefer leaving the structures unoccupied than letting it out.  Within Ilorin metropolis, the result of ANOVA established the variation in the incidence of abandoned structures among the residential neighbourhoods of Ilorin (Table 4). It is observed that the incidence of abandoned structures varies significantly among the residential neighbourhoods of Ilorin metropolis i.e. residents of different residential densities of Ilorin metropolis do not have the same or similar views about the incidence of abandonment in their area with (F = 9.458 and p = 0.036 at 95% confidence level). This implies that there is significant variation in the presence of abandoned structures among the residential densities of Ilorin metropolis. It can however be inferred that categories of abandoned structures is not the same across the residential neighborhoods of Ilorin metropolis. The magnitude of the six categories of abandonment in Ilorin metropolis is more in the high density area then in medium and low density as detailed in Figure 3. The highest occurring categories of abandoned structures in the high density is 'dilapidated abandoned buildings' (13.3%), 'old but habitable abandoned buildings' (10.9%) and 'old but unoccupied abandoned building (10.6%), this is probably because the sampled localities are core areas of the study area therefore dilapidated, deteriorated and old abandoned buildings is common in the area. The highest occurring categories of abandoned structures in low density area is 'sound and completed abandoned buildings' (7.3%) followed by 'uncompleted abandoned buildings' (2.8%). This is probably because they are financially buoyant to build structures without being occupied by any one. Also, they may go for vacation for couple of years leaving the structures unoccupied. In the medium density, the highest occurring categories of abandoned structures are 'uncompleted abandoned buildings' (11.7%) followed by 'old but habitable abandoned buildings' with 6.5%. This may be associated to current global economic crisis in the world. This notwithstanding, the relative incidence of each category of abandoned structure among the residential area differs.

4.2: Intra-Urban Variations in Causes of Abandoned Structures in Study Area
The study used ANOVA tool to establish the result of statistical variation. Some of the causes of abandoned structures are lack of fund/financial constraint, dilapidation, disaster, migration, death of owners among several others. The result is presented in Table 5. The result revealed that residents of different residential densities of Ilorin do have the same or similar views about the causes of abandonment in their areas. The probability value suggests that there are no significant differences in the perceived causes of abandonment among residential areas of Ilorin metropolis at 95% confidence level. The causes of abandonment concerned include death of building owners, dilapidation, lack of fund, litigation, extended family conflict, government policy, spiritualism, disaster, robbery and discomfort. This result indicated that residents have similar beliefs about what actually cause abandonment in their areas.

Impacts of Abandoned Structures on Resident's
Every individual is bond to experience or respond to external stimuli whether palatable or not. The impact of abandonment experienced may be environmental, social, psychological and even economical. In the same vein, residents experience various impacts of abandonment at different degrees. In this study, the impacts that were examined include the psycho-social impact of abandonment and the variables used to measure it include theft, rape, stress, fear of robbery, staying in door, avoid walking at night, afraid of building collapse, poor aesthetic look, ghost zone among several others. The environmental impact of abandonment include criminals' hideout, criminals' meeting center, smokers' site, vagrants' settlement, defecation venue, reptiles' lodge, temporal store of stolen good, lunatics' residence, pollution, arson, refuse dump site, odours and smell from refuse dump, disfigure neighbourhood landscape among several others. The economic impacts of abandonment assessed include property vandalization, property value decline and communal development levy decline among several others. Three indices were developed to measure the impacts of abandonment in the study area. Environmental Impact of Abandonment Index (EIAI) was employed to rate environmental impact experiences that are associated with the incidence of abandonment in Ilorin. Psycho-Social Impact of Abandoned Structures Index (PSIASI) was used in measuring the psycho-social effect of abandonment on residents in the study area. Economic impact of abandonment index (EcIAI) was used in measuring the economic effect of abandonment on residents in Ilorin.

4.3.1: Environmental Impacts of Abandonment Experienced in Ilorin metropolis.
Fourteen variables were used in determining the level of environmental impact observed as a result of incidence of abandoned structures in the study area. The extent of EIAI variables associated with incidence of abandonment was measured among the three residential densities of Ilorin metropolis. The mean EIAI for the whole study area and each of the residential areas was computed. For each residential density, the mean of EIAI was calculated and compared with EIAI of each abandonment variable for the whole Ilorin metropolis. The EIAI variables were differentiated into two groups. First are variables with positive deviation that is above the mean EIAI value while the second group includes those with negative deviation that is below the mean EIAI value. This implies that residents perceived more of EIAI variable with positive deviation than EIAI variable with negative deviation.
In the Ilorin metropolis, the mean EIAI value for the three residential areas is 3.60 (Table 6.). The high density has the high mean EIAI value (EIAI = 3.69) compared to medium density (EIAI = 3.55) then the low density with the lowest mean EIAI value (EIAI = 3.54). On the aggregate level, environmental impact of abandonment highly experienced by residents include 'smoker site' (EIAI = 3.97), 'disfigure neighbourhood landscape'(EIAI = 3.92), 'fueling of bush burning' (EIAI = 3.73)'defecation venue and refuse dumpsites' each with EIAI value of 3.70, 'arson' (EIAI = 3.61) and 'vagrant settlement' (EIAI = 3.55).The environmental impact that residents perceived less include 'lunatic residence' (EIAI = 3.40), 'pollution' (EIAI = 3.42), 'temporal store for stolen goods' (EIAI = 3.44), 'criminals hideout' and criminals meeting center each with EIAI value of 3.45, and 'reptiles lodge' (EIAI = 3.49). It can therefore be inferred that the more the incidence of abandoned structures, the more its environmental effects perceived by residents across the density residential area. Within the high density neighbourhood, environmental impact of abandonment variables that has much effects on residents (above the mean EIAI value of Ilorin metropolis) include 'fueling of bush burning' (EIAI = 4.33), 'arson' (EIAI = 4.27) 'disfiguration of neighbourhood landscape' (EIAI = 4.05), 'smoker site' (EIAI = 4.03), 'refuse dumpsite and defecation venue' each with EIAI value of 3.86,'odour/smell from waste dump' (EIAI = 3.69) and 'reptile lodge' (EIAI = 3.61). Observed environmental impacts of abandonment that residents experienced less include 'lunatic residence' (EIAI = 3.42), 'criminal hideout' (EIAI = 3.43), 'criminal meeting center' (EIAI = 3.44) and 'temporal store for stolen goods' and 'pollution' each with EIAI value of 3.45, 'vagrant settlement' (EIAI = 3.59). It can therefore be inferred that the EIAI impacts perceived by residents in high density area include 'fueling of bush burning' while the least is 'lunatic residence'. Virtually all environmental variables are perceived more in high density than other residential densities probably because the area sampled are regarded as core areas of the cities and building are clustered together and there is poor aesthetic of the environment, smokers then have their place in available dilapidated abandoned buildings for smoking. Defecation in abandoned buildings is pronounced in high density due to the fact that most buildings in such area lack toilet facilities. The alternative available is 'shot-put' in abandoned structures probably because the abandoned structures have no specific guardian. Also, because of the squalid environment characterized by high density area featuring uncontrolled/unmanaged waste water channels, inadequate drainage facilities, dangerous reptiles such as snake and scorpion have a place in the core areas than other residential areas.
In the medium density, environmental impacts of abandonment that residents experienced more include 'disfiguration of neighbourhood landscape' (EIAI = 4.06); 'smokers site' (4.01) 'refuse dump on abandoned building' (EIAI = 3.64), 'defecation venue' (EIAI = 3.63), 'vagrant settlement' (EIAI = 3.57). Observed environmental impacts of abandonment that residents experienced less in medium density include 'Arson' (EIAI = 3.30), 'lunatic residence' (EIAI = 3.39), 'odours/smells from waste' (EIAI = 3.43); 'pollution' (EIAI = 3.44) 'criminals meeting center' and 'temporal store of stolen goods' (EIAI = 3.44) each. It can therefore be inferred that the most and least EIAI impacts perceived by residents in medium density area include 'disfiguration of neighbourhood landscape' and 'arson' respectively. Environmental impact variables that medium density dwellers perceived more than other residential densities include disfiguration of neighbourhood landscape as a result of their level of education and presence of abandoned structures. Criminal hideout and criminal meeting centers have a higher index value in medium than other residential density probably because the dweller goes to work early and daily making the environment less crowded, thereby making the environment favorable for criminals such as thief to plan, carry out operation as well as kept stolen goods temporarily in abandoned buildings before evacuating such goods. In the low density area, impacts of abandonment that residents experienced that is above the average value of EIAI include 'smokers site' (EIAI = 3.86), 'disfiguration of neighbourhood landscape' (EIAI = 3.64), refuse dump in abandoned building and defecation venue' (EIAI = 3.62) each, 'vagrant settlement' (EIAI = 3.50). The environmental impacts that residents experienced less in low density include, 'arson' (EIAI = 3.26), 'pollution' (EIAI = 3.36),'lunatic residence'(EIAI = 3.38), 'odour/smell from waste' and 'reptiles lodge' (EIAI = 3.39).It can therefore be deduced that the most and least EIAI impacts perceived by residents in low density area include 'smokers' site' and 'arson'. In low density area, virtually all the environmental effect variables are perceived less in their neighbourhood probably because all facilities are put in place such as refuse collection center, availability of toilet facilities and proper landscape of the neighbourhood.
It was observed that some environmental impacts of abandonment variables experienced among the three residential areas have EIAI value either above or below the mean EIAI of Ilorin metropolis. On a general note, it therefore be concluded that the more the incidence of abandoned structures, the more its environmental effects perceived by residents across the density residential areas.

4.3.2: Intra-Urban variation on Environmental Impacts of Abandonment Observed/Experienced in the Study Area.
This section attempts to establish the intra-urban variations in the environmental impacts of abandoned structures in the study area by employing ANOVA tool. Some of the environmental impacts include pollution, vagrant settlement, refuse dump, criminals' hideout among several others. The result is presented in Table 8.
The ANOVA result revealed that residents of different residential densities of Ilorin do not have the same or similar views about the environmental effect of abandonment in their areas. The probability value suggests that there is significant differences in the environmental effect of abandonment among residential areas of Ilorin metropolis at 95% confidence level with F= 4.604 and P= 0.016. The effects of abandonment concerned include arson, refuse dump, vagrant settlement and fueling of bush burning. This result indicated that residents have similar observation about the effects of abandonment in their residential areas.
As a matter of fact, it was observed that variables used in measuring environmental effect do not have statistical significant variations at p<0.05 confidence level as earlier noted. However, it can be observed from reconnaissance survey carried out in the study area and it can therefore be rightly said that there are variations intuitively in the environmental effect variables across the area. This intuitive variation may however be due to chance

.3.3: Psycho-Social Impacts of Abandoned Structure Index (PSIASI)
In measuring Psycho-Social Impact of Abandoned Structures Index PSIASI, ten variables associated with the incidence of abandonment were rated by respondents. The extent of the ten (psycho-social) variables associated with incidence of abandonment was measured between urban and rural area of Ilorin and among the three residential densities of Ilorin metropolis. The PSIASI mean for the study area was computed and compared with abandonment PSIASI value for the two areas. For each density residential, the mean of PSIASI was calculated and compared with PSIASI of each abandonment variable for the whole of Ilorin metropolis. The psycho-social impact variables were differentiated into two groups. First are variables with positive deviation above the mean PSIASI value while the second group includes those with negative deviation below the mean PSIASI value. This implies that residents experienced more effect of PSIASI variable with positive deviation than PSIASI variable with negative deviation.
In the high density, some of the psycho-social effect variables considered to have high impacts on the residents. This include 'poor aesthetic look of environment' (PSIASI = 4.47); 'theft' (PSIASI = 4.32); 'avoid walking at night' (PSIASI = 3.77); 'staying indoor' (PSIASI = 3.72); 'rape' (PSIASI = 3.71). The psycho-social effects that residents experienced less in the high density include 'ghost zone' (PSIASI = 3.39), 'drug abuse' (PSIASI = 3.49), 'stress' (PSIASI = 3.57) and 'fear of building collapse' (PSIASI = 3.64). This implies that the incidence of abandoned structures is evident in poor aesthetic look of the environment in high density area and ghost zone is least in high density probably because they have a compact or dense environment and development. It can therefore be inferred that the most and least psycho-social effects perceived by residents in high density area include 'poor aesthetic look' and 'ghost zone'.
In the medium density, some variables have high effects on residents' average of level for all the variables. These include 'theft' (PSIASI = 4.35); 'poor aesthetic look of environment' (PSIASI = 4.42); 'fear of robbery' (PSIASI = 3.99) and 'rape' (PSIASI = 3.74). The psycho-social variables of which residents experienced less in medium density include 'ghost zone '(PSIASI = 3.39), 'drug abuse' (PSIASI = 3.48);'stress' (PSIASI = 3.57);'fear of building collapse'(PSIASI = 3.65); 'avoid walking at night' and 'staying in door'(PSIASI = 3.72) each. This implies that presence of abandoned buildings connote poor aesthetic look of the environment in medium density probably because of their level of education and exposure. It can therefore be inferred that the most and least psycho-social effects perceived by residents in medium density area include 'poor aesthetic look' and 'ghost zone'.
On a general note, considering the variables index value across the densities, it can be deduced that low density dwellers perceived more act of theft than other densities probably because the thieves focus more on the affluent groups than others. As a result to this they are vulnerable to 'fear of robbery' in the low density than other densities. Also, low density have a higher index value of 'rape' than other residential area probably because of the nature of their environment, that it is usually fenced up and mind your business. As a result of this even if the victims cry for help, it is possible that no one respond in low density residential area. Reverse is the case in high density, the victims can easily be rescued due to the nature of their compact nature of their environment because it is highly populated as well as availability of most residents in front of their house. This implies that the pattern observed for the whole urban area is similar as explained earlier. High mean value of PSIASI in the medium and low densities attests to the fact that residents experience some psycho-social effect variables more than the remaining densities. This may be due to their level of exposure and education attained. Psycho-social effects of incidence of abandonment in urban area increase from the medium density to the low density and the high density areas.

4.3.5: Intra-Urban variation on Psycho-social Impacts of Abandonment Observed/Experienced in the Study Area.
This section attempts to establish the intra-urban variations in the psycho-social impacts of abandoned structures in the study area. The study therefore uses ANOVA tools to establish the result if there is intra -urban variation in the impacts perceived by respondents in the study area. Some of the psycho-social impacts include theft, rape, fear of robbery, drug abuse, ghost zone among several others. The results is presented in Table 10.
Similar pattern is observed (Table 10) in the intra-urban variation in the psycho-social effect of abandoned structures among the residential densities of Ilorin metropolis using one way ANOVA. The ANOVA result revealed that residents of different residential densities of Ilorin do have the same or similar views about the psycho-social effect of abandonment in their areas. The probability value suggests that there are significant differences in the psycho-social effect of abandonment among residential areas of Ilorin metropolis at 95% confidence level with F= 0.249 and P= 0.782. The effects of abandonment concerned include theft, rape, afraid of building collapse among several others. This result indicated that residents have similar observation about the effects of abandonment in their residential areas.
As a matter of fact, it was observed that psycho-social effect variables do not have statistical significant variations at p<0.05 confidence level as earlier noted. However, it can be rightly said that there are variations intuitively in the environmental effect variables across the area. This intuitive variation may however be due to chance. For Economic Impact of Abandoned Structures Index EcIAI, three variables associated with the incidence of abandonment were rated by respondents. The extent of effect of the three (economic) variables associated with incidence of abandonment were measured among the three residential densities of Ilorin metropolis. For each residential density, the mean of EcIAI was calculated and compared with EcIAI of each abandonment variable for the whole urban area. Variables of economic impact of abandonment were differentiated into two groups. First are variables with positive deviation above the mean EcIAI value while the second group includes those with negative deviation below the mean EcIAI value. This implies that residents experienced more economic effect of abandonment variable with positive deviation than EcIAI variable with negative deviation.

4.3.7: Economic Impact of Abandonment (EcIAI) in Ilorin Metropolis
The previous section provided a comparison of economic effect of likelihood of occurrence of abandonment between the two areas of the study area. This section however documents the intra-urban variation in the economic effect of abandonment among the three residential densities. The mean EcIAI value for Ilorin metropolis is 3.68, a value less than the mean EcIAI of the low density (EcIAI = 3.72) and medium density (EcIAI = 3.69), but greater than the mean EcIAI in high density (EcIAI =3.62) ( Table 11). In Ilorin metropolis, economic effects of abandonment that residents experienced more include 'affecting communal development' (EcIAI = 3.81) and 'property value decline' (EcIAI =3.61). The economic variables of which residents' experienced less include 'property vandalization' (EcIAI =3.60). It can therefore be concluded that the most and least economic effects perceived by residents in Ilorin metropolis include 'affecting communal development levy' and 'property vandalization'. On a general note, abandoned structures have economic effects on residents either to increase the communal development levy of every available dwellers or decrease the communal development income tag to a specific project within the neighbourhood. In high density areas, residents experienced less economic impact than average of level for the metropolis except 'affecting communal development levy' (EcIAI =3.79). The economic variables of which residents experienced less include 'property vandalization' (EcIAI = 3.49) and 'property value decline' (EcIAI =3.59). It can therefore be deduced that the most and least economic effects perceived by residents in high density area include 'affecting communal development levy' and 'property vandalization'.
In the medium density, residents experienced more economic impact than average of level for the metropolis. 'Affecting communal development levy' (EcIAI = 4.01) is considered to the greatest in the medium density area. The economic variables of which residents experienced less include 'property vandalization' (EcIAI = 3.50) and 'property value decline' (EcIAI =3.58). It can therefore be deduced that the most and least economic effects perceived by residents in medium density area include 'affecting communal development levy' and 'property vandalization'. In the low density area, residents experienced more economic impact than average of level for the metropolis including 'property vandalization' ((EcIAI =3.81)), 'property value decline' (3.72). The economic variables of which residents experienced less include 'affecting communal development levy' (EcIAI =3.64). It can therefore be deduced that the most and least economic effects perceived by residents in low density area include 'property vandalization' and 'affecting communal development levy'. This implies that the pattern observed for Ilorin metropolis is similar as explained earlier. Higher EcIAI value in the low density attests to the fact that residents in low residential areas felt more economic effect of abandonment than other residential densities. This may be due to the fact that land value and rent in low density is high than other residential areas. For such structures to sit unused is a great loss instead such structures should be used to generate income or help others. Effects of incidence of abandonment in urban area increases from the low density to the medium to the high density areas. Similar pattern is observed (Table 12) in the intra-urban variation in the economic effect of abandoned structures among the residential densities of Ilorin metropolis using one way ANOVA. The ANOVA result revealed that residents of different residential densities of Ilorin do have the same or similar views about the economic effect of abandonment in their areas. The probability value suggests that there are no significant differences in the environmental effect of abandonment among residential areas of Ilorin metropolis at 95% confidence level. The effects of abandonment concerned include property vandalization and property value decline. This result indicated that residents have similar observation about the effects of abandonment in their residential areas. As a matter of fact, it was observed that economic effect variables do not have statistical significant variations at p<0.05 confidence level as earlier noted. However, it can be rightly said that there are variations intuitively in the environmental effect variables across the area. This intuitive variation may however be due to chance.

4.3.8: Intra -Urban Variation in the suggested solutions to Abandonment in Ilorin Metropolis
In this section however, the intra-urban variation in level of agreement on possible suggestion on how to reduce the incidence of abandoned structures among the three residential densities is documented in (Table 13). The mean SSA value for Ilorin metropolis is 4.04, a value greater than the mean SSA of the low density (SSA = 3.82), but higher than SSA value of high density (SSA = 4.14) and medium density (SSA = 416). In Ilorin metropolis, the level of agreement to the possible suggestions made by respondents include 'increase in basic salary' (SSA = 4.31), 'local planning authority should be charged with blight control' (SSA = 4.29), 'proper consideration of site before commencement of building projects' (SSA = 4.28), 'maintenance culture should be enforced among citizens' (SSA = 4.21) and 'improvement in nation's economy' (SSA = 4.07).Suggestions with high level of disagreement among the urban dwellers include abandoned structures should be sold out (SSA = 3.37)and 'government should acquire all abandoned structures'(SSA = 3.77).Across the residential densities, similar pattern is observed in all densities except in low density area where charging of local planning authority to blight control has a greater index value, next to this is proper site selection before commencement of building projects with an index value of 4.08. Increase in basic salary has an index value of 3.81 in low density. It can be deduced that lack of fund is not the major issue of concern to incidence of abandoned structures in low density, probably because they are financially buoyant. That is why increase in basic salary do not have high index value in low density compared to other residential densities (see Table 13).
It can therefore be concluded that most of the residents in Ilorin metropolis strongly agreed that there should be increase in the basic salary, the local planning authority should also control blight as well as proper consideration of site before commencement of building project, enforcement of maintenance culture among citizens and general improvement in nation's economy. On a general note, it was observed that some of the sampled respondents have one abandoned structure or the other in some areas that is why the some respondent strongly disagreed that government should acquire abandoned structures in the study area. same degree. This therefore suggests the enforcement of periodic maintenance of structures among citizens.It is further recommended that there should be adequate access to wealth through improvement of nation's economy, increment in salary of government workers, establishment of community corporative societies supported by the federal government in provision of soft loan for low income earners with affordable interest and collateral. Adequate and proper site selection should be given due consideration before commencement of building projects by all developer. Government should enforce law that all planning provision relevant to development control becomes imperative in order to discourage urban dwellers from digging their graves at their door steps. Also, all abandoned property owners/relatives should be contacted periodically for bush clearance around the abandoned properties either by the landlord association or through their leader (bale or obas) and consistent visits to such sites should be encouraged among developers to avoid harboring of criminals, vagrant and the lunatics around such structures. Furthermore, it was recommended that some of the government owned abandoned structures should be lease out at a reduced cost. It can also be added that such abandoned structures can be auction or better still donated to the respective community for better usage.