The African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC) is spearheading transformative action research in Lagos’ informal settlements, as part of its wider mission to reshape urban systems through locally informed and politically grounded interventions.
One of its flagship projects is currently underway in Okerube, a densely populated settlement in Alimosho Local Government Area. Plagued by chronic water shortages, poor drainage, and inadequate sanitation, Okerube is a symbol of the infrastructural challenges facing many informal communities across Nigeria’s commercial capital.
Led by Rasheed Shittu and Oluwaseun Muraina of Shantytown Empowerment Foundation, the implementing NGO, under the Centre for Housing and Sustainable Development (CHSD), University of Lagos, the initiative adopts a model of community-led, gender-responsive WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) infrastructure. CHSD is the lead agency implementing the programme in Lagos. ACRC, a multi-stakeholder coalition, is funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and led by the University of Manchester.
The project titled: ‘Informal Settlements as Spaces of Transformative Agency: A Community-Based Approach to WASH Infrastructure in Okerube, Lagos’, focuses on developing effective, context-specific solutions to water and sanitation access. It aims not only to provide practical and sustainable solutions but also to empower residents, especially women, to advocate for improved services and governance.
A key feature is the formation and capacity-building of women-led Water and Sanitation Committees, enabling women to play a leading role in managing communal resources and participating in governance processes.
Policy engagement is a central pillar of the initiative. It seeks to influence urban water and sanitation policies by embedding gendered perspectives and prioritising women’s needs through collaboration with policymakers, regulators, and governance actors.
Among the infrastructure planned are communal boreholes paired with public toilets, coupled with participatory mapping and training programmes. The model envisions a community-run social enterprise where user fees fund ongoing maintenance, providing a locally sustainable alternative to failed donor-driven infrastructure.
The initiative is being piloted in four Community Development Associations (CDAs) within Okerube, namely, Iranlowo-Oluwa, Ifesowapo, Ona-Ara, and Ogo Oluwa, which collectively host an estimated 600,000 residents. These areas represent both the most densely populated and economically active parts of the settlement.
The Lagos-based ACRC team is collaborating closely with agencies such as the Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development and the Water Regulatory Commission. Their goal is to push for policies that support community-managed infrastructure, improved service delivery, and secure land tenure in informal settlements.
“This is not just an academic exercise. Our goal is to generate evidence that can inform the development of low-income communities across the city,” said ACRC Lagos City Manager, Dr Temilade Sesan. “By working with both residents and policy actors, we ensure our research translates into real action.”
Rather than impose top-down solutions, the team is co-designing interventions in collaboration with residents. “It’s about capacity-building, not just construction,” Sesan added.
The initiative’s political lens recognises that water and sanitation challenges are tightly linked to power structures, resource distribution, and policymaking. By leveraging advocacy, stakeholder engagement, and policy dialogues, the project aims to enhance accountability, transparency, and participatory governance.
The Okerube project envisions a shift away from the traditional benevolence-based WASH approach to a more durable, social enterprise-driven model. It builds on local agency and existing community structures, especially women-led groups, to explore the viability of community-managed infrastructure in other informal contexts.
