Informality is primarily an issue of governance, and economic inefficiency prevails where there is an absence of labour regulation. In Nigeria, the regulation of the informal sector is long overdue and is important to promote productivity. It has been mentioned in literature that there are critical problems relating to the management and regulation of urban informal sector, however it has not been sufficiently investigated. This study examined the problems of managing and regulating informal enterprises (IEs) in selected Nigerian cities. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 1,002 operators of IEs and 40 government officials and analyzed. Constraints identified were poor funding, inadequate manpower, insufficient monitoring and regulatory tools, lack of political will to enforce regulations and operators’ ignorance of regulatory laws and edicts. Most respondents opined that enforcement of laws would be enhanced if operators of IEs are invited to work with government. About one – quarter of the respondents preferred to have state government planning and development authority as the main agency for regulating IEs. The study concludes that all urban authorities that offer services connected with managing the informal sector need to work in a coordinated manner. In so doing they should cooperate with and carry along the operators of IEs. Without such liaison, widespread conformity with regulations affecting the IEs is likely to fall far short of expectation. Studying the future of the urban informal economy and the governance of urban spaces is vital in anthropological sciences. The informal sector remain for a long time a very critical and functional component of the African economy, a veritable labour sponge, a livelihood safety net and the only survival option for a very significant proportion of human beings inhabiting the cities of Africa in general and the cities of Nigeria in particular.
