Urban Growth In Relation To Absorption of Rural Settlements in Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

Abstract

This research work examines the increase in urban expansion of Ado-Ekiti which started in 1955. When self-Government started in the then western Nigeria, Ado-Ekiti became the administrative headquarter of the then Ekiti division. Since the creation of the then Old Ondo-State in 1976, Ado-Ekiti has continued to witness steady growth. The rate of growth doubled when the city was pronounced the capital of Ekiti state in 1996. This growth has caused absorption of rural settlements, particularly those inhabited by the migrant tenant farmers. The aim of this work is to identify the settlements that have been absorbed or relocated from 1956 to 2006. This will help to know which rural settlements are enclosed in the sprawling area of the city and proffer solution to the encroachment. Using an Ordinance Survey Map that indicates the settlements, a total of 53 settlements within Ado-Ekiti metropolis were discovered. These maps were converted to the same scale and overlaid on the Ordinance Survey Map that indicates the rural settlements. The settlements that have been absorbed are then identified, in relation to the one enclosed in the city. It was discovered that from the findings that the percentage of the settlements absorbed was not limited to a sector, but increased in proportion to the expansion.