DEVELOPING THE INFORMAL SECTOR AND UNVEILING ITS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Informal economic activities can include doing unregulated jobs or providing services for which one is paid. This study is aimed at exploring the informal sector for industrialization in Nigeria and its economic consequences. The objectives are to; identify the roles of informal sector, identify the drivers of informal sector economy, describe its effects on livelihoods, categorize the informal sector, examine core informal sector parameters and identify its effects on the environment. A survey design was adopted for this study. Nature of data included those on roles, drivers, livelihoods, categories, core parameters and effects of informal sectors on the environment. Data sources included the primary and secondary sources.  Questionnaire administration was the research instrument. Descriptive statistics was used for data analysis. The results revealed that 9(7.45) in Lagos, 5(4.1%), in Kano, 6(4.9%) in Edo and 2(1.6%) in Enugu reported that informal sectors are important to industrialization. Reported drivers of informal sector Lagos 10 (8.2%, Kano 8 (6.6%) was raw materials availability. On effects on livelihood, 72(59.5%) had improved livelihood. On categories of informal economies, Services 46(30.0%) and trade 34(26.4%) were most reported. On contribution to business, 42(34.7%) reported job creation, 34(28.1%) was cheap labour. On obstacles 13(10.7%), 11(9.0%), 10(8.2%) and 6(4.9%) observed office space. In Lagos, 11(9.1%, Kano 7(5.8%), Edo 3(2.5%) reported exposure of land surface for construction as environmental effect of informal sector activities. The result of cross tabulation shows that P> .05. It was recommended that informal sector should be encouraged for higher productivity, an open playing ground should be given to the players, aside services sector, other categories should also be encouraged to grow.