CORRELATION OF THE PERCEIVED BENEFITS AND RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH HIGH WALL-FENCE AND IRON BURGLAR-PROOFING OF DWELLING HOUSES IN AGEGE AND ABULE-EGBA, LAGOS, NIGERIA
Ashaolu Thomas A., Volume 7 Issue 1, 2025 Pages 34-43, Published: 2025-10-27
Abstract
The primary functions of housing are to provide shelter from adverse weather and as an enclosure for privacy. In contemporary times however, housing is required as a means for accessing all facilities and amenities that make a complete living. Unfortunately, efforts at securing some conveniences of living often trigger new sets of dangers or risks, especially those that bothers on security of lives and properties. The dilemma is often exacerbated in developing economies where the liveable environment that should ordinarily, be guaranteed by the State on neighbourhood basis, must be provided by individual dwellers. This paper examines the aspect of privacy and security concerns that often lead to high boundary wall-fences and iron burglar-proofing of windows and doors in most of Nigerian urban dwellings. Questionnaires were administered to medium-density residents of Agege and Abule-Egba axis of Lagos Metropolis using random sampling, comprising 145 in Agege and 123 at Abule-Egba, cutting across both tenants and owner-occupiers. Their perception of exposure to risks to lives and properties by these two safety measures was gauged on a 5-point Likert-type scaling and the outcome analysed via Spearman’s rho correlation. Findings revealed that Agege residents attached higher importance to iron reinforcement of window openings than their counterparts in Abule-Egba indicating higher sense of insecurity from mixed-class environment. Respondents from both places had very high positive correlation (rho = 0.8857) on their perceived benefits of high wall-fence and another positive correlation, though not as high (rho = 0.4857) on the benefits of iron grille reinforcement to windows. On the other hand, their perception of risks had comparatively, lower RII scores. The Spearman correlation for risks associated with high wall-fence was negative (-0.2857) while in respect of reinforcement iron grilles to windows, there was a low, positive correlation (0.2857). Good governance that ensures neighbourhood approach to and State provision of vital security infrastructure coupled with the use of contemporary technological gadgets, including burglar-alarms, surveillance cameras, are germane to reducing the spate of insecurity without endangering lives and properties in our living environments.