Contributions of Urban Informal Enterprises to the Economy of Ibadan, Nigeria
Against the backdrop and inability of formal sector to providing adequate employment to job seekers, the paper seeks to examine the role of urban informal enterprises as an alternative to job provision in Ibadan cosmopolitan region. It employed use of structured questionnaire to analyse the perception of residents and operators to contribution of UIEs on urban economy. Using systematic sampling technique, a total number of three thousand, four hundred and forty four (3444) questionnaires were administered to the operators and residents around areas where informal enterprises are carried out. An interval of 2 was used to select operators of UIEs in shops sited on both sides of the streets and residential unit that falls within low medium and high residential quarters. The result of analysis among others reveals that a larger proportion of respondents agree it provides job for people. This recorded the highest RAI index of 4.34. It is equally perceived it increases income of operators most especially those that engage in it to sustain their livelihood. It also prevents youth from indulging in criminal activities (RAI 4.04). The government should formalize UIEs by institutionalizing it through proper registration, easy access to loans and other available financial assistance. This will serve as a tool to further solve the problem of unemployment in Nigeria since formal sector cannot absorb the larger share of the unemployed. This will consequently boost the economy of the nation, reduce poverty and consequently improve the standard of living of the populace.
