Community Building as a Response to Insecurity; an Overview of Non- state Security Initiatives in Ibadan Residential Neighbourhoods

Abstract

The paper presents an overview of the nature, types and modalities of the private security arrangements in Ibadan residential neighbourhoods. It examines the structure of sub local level governance and the implications on urban management. Using the Neighbourhood association as the platform for evaluation, the study used structured questionnaire, in-depth interview and participant observation methods to elicit information from the neighbourhood association executives. The questions asked include, the nature of activities engaged in and the security initiatives adopted by the resident, the methods used to secure participation and compliance in the neighbourhoods. Neighbourhood associations are becoming strong sub local administration with separate regulation and different forms of social cohesion. The nature of jurisdiction boundary demarcation is such that it excludes the unwanted and the objectors. The administrative boundaries are large at inception and later fragment into more homogenous groups. Different approaches were adopted for neighbourhood protection including patrol, road closure, vigilante and alarm systems. The paper concludes that socio-spatial partitioning of urban area reflects the way people want to be govemed in a country like Nigeria that is still locking for ways of resolving logjam in sociopolitical re-grouping and democratic practice.