Stakeholders Roles And Perception In The Implementation Of Greater Port Harcourt City Master Plan, Rivers State, Nigeria.

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume V, Issue III, March 2021 | ISSN 2454–6186

Stakeholders Roles And Perception In The Implementation Of Greater Port Harcourt City Master Plan, Rivers State, Nigeria.

Johnbull, Simeipiri Wenike¹, Ikiriko, Opiriba Karibi^2
1Department of Urban and Regional Planning
Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
²Department of Urban and Regional Planning
Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

ABSTRACT
The study evaluated the process of implementation of the Greater Port Harcourt City Development Master Plan in Rivers State, Nigeria from its inception in 2009 to 2019. The study embarks on the role of stakeholders and their perceptions on the implementation of the Greater Port Harcourt City Master Plan. Survey questionnaires were administered to a total of 332 respondents in the study location. The study adopted passive-observational analysis style and thus utilised both primary and secondarydata. The latter included face-to-face administration of a mostly pre-coded survey questionnaires drawn from the 3 study communities. The checklist of stakeholders in connection with the implementation of the Greater Port Harcourt City Master Plan includes: Government, Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority, community and civil society representatives, contractors, other government development agencies, the Press and Arcus Gibb. Community stakeholders who were the respondents were asked to rate (using the 5-point Likert scale ranging from “very successful” to “very unsuccessful”) the success of implementation of the Greater Port Harcourt City Development Master Plan. The modal rating at Omagwa, Igwurutali, and Aluu communities were:“Uncertain”, “Unsuccessful” and “Uncertain. The study concludes that, proper stakeholder engagement (Citizen Participation) is important; as stakeholder engagement in the plan implementation process is very fundamental in achieving a successful planning process and therefore should be encouraged. Some avenues through which GPHCDA could involve citizen in plan implementation include community fora, neighborhood meetings, FGDs, and others.

KEY WORDS- STAKEHOLDERS ENGAGEMENT, MASTER PLAN, IMPLEMENTATION

INTRODUCTION
Plans are the synthesis of the gamut of the aspirations and visions of stakeholders made into strategic policies, programs and projects documented (in text and graphics) for implementation by a government statutory agency(s) within a timeframe which is evaluated periodically. Plans are of different layers including but not limited to Master Plans. The tripod of planning is all important part of the actualization of the goal(s) of any plan, however, one of the fundamental aspects of achieving the goals as set out in a Master Plan for a specific spatial space is the implementation of such a plan by the established implementation agency.The implementation of a Master Plan which is the document (that contains public policy(s), programs and projects) is a major determinant of urban development and the government of the day has a major role to play. According to Keunta, (2010), Politics and public policy are the major factors that determine urban development.

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