Implementation of Resettlement Policy Strategies and Community Members’ Felt-Need in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria

Over decades now, development-induced displacement and resettlement have taken place in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria. To address the displacement and the resettlement problems, different resettlement policy strategies like total, partial and integration have been utilized. Yet, the resettlement policy strategies experimented with seemed to have not yielded any positive results. This paper investigates the extent to which they have affected the felt-needs of the communities and determined which is/are the most preferred among the policy strategies by the community members and the challenges affecting the strategies from realising the goal of resettlement in the FCT. To achieve the objectives, the study used quantities approach. Data were sourced from the respondents via questionnaire. Data collected were analysed descriptively and inferentially using means and t-test, respectively. Emerging findings indicate that total and partial resettlement is the most preferred by the community members because they influence their felt-needs positively. Total resettlement was found the most cherished by community members as it enables them to practice their ways of life freely without foreign cultural infiltration. Partial resettlement was also preferred because they felt that they should not be completely alienated from civilisation. However, integration was completely rejected. Among the challenges found inhibiting the effective implementation of the resettlement policy strategies in FCT include corruption, lack of funding, inadequate involvement of the community members in the implementation of resettlement policies among others. The study recommends the implementation of total and partial resettlement as policy strategies as well as mobilisation of adequate funds for resettlement exercise should be encouraged. Anti-corruption agencies should beam their search light on individuals and institutions saddled with responsibilities of implementing resettlement policy in the FCT since corruption was also found among the challenges confronting effective resettlement in the FCT.