Stakeholders Roles and Perception in the Implementation of Greater Port Harcourt City Master Plan, Rivers State, Nigeria

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.