Home Editorial EDITORIAL: Nigeria at 59: Mass housing still a mirage

EDITORIAL: Nigeria at 59: Mass housing still a mirage

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From our housing stand (20)

After 59 years, the mass of Nigerians cannot afford functional houses. As Nigeria marked its independence on Tuesday, discussions about the country’s housing sector were rife. Many commentators expressed dissatisfaction, saying the country’s housing sector is far below what it should be.

Failure to decently house majority of the people might be quite troubling. The picture of 80 percent of Nigerians crawling out of slums in the 21st century is horrifying. The problem might be compounded by rising unemployment and general insecurity which result in mass atrocities and uprooting of people from their localities.

Housing development initiatives, apart from being only perfunctory, they end up serving only the high-end. Nigeria now has a medley of very exquisite houses and shacks in the midst of scarcity.

Yet government’s initiatives have not been really helpful. Housing was an appendix of the the Federal Ministry of Works. After prolonged talk about housing deficit, it was made a stand-alone ministry. The Muhammadu Buhari government it merged with two other gigantic ministries, Power and Works in 2015. This year, Buhari dropped Power from the amalgam, leaving Housing with Works.

On the housing finance side, the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) was established in 1956. FMBN was provide long-term credit facilities to mortgage institutions in Nigeria and promote the growth of viable primary and secondary mortgage institutions to service the need of housing delivery in Nigeria.

Different policies have been promulgated by different governments. The Shehu Shagari-led administration did Low-cost Housing across the federation. Olusegun Obasanjo stepped up involvement of private hands in building of houses in what was tagged mass housing.

Few years ago, a committee of experts reviewed the housing policy of urban planning and produced the draft of the National Land Policy after meticulous work. That document has yet to be published.

All this has not achieved the much needed result because the basis for housing a large part of the population was faulty. For instance, cost of building materials remained high. And building materials were imported at high cost or transported across long distances.

There is equally no proper planning and opening up of layouts. Efforts to construct houses are therefore, thwarted by lack of infrastructure like access roads, drainage, potable water and electricity. There are no true developers. Many who were allotted land by government for mass housing ended up selling plots rather than building houses. They want quick return on investment so cannot allow a mortgage that can take up to 30 years to work.

Housing targets have always not met in Nigeria. After mouthing off “Housing for all by the year 2000”, the sorry state of housing in Nigeria from precolonial time has continued to be, in the third millennium. Even with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there is no clear indication that decent housing for the mass of Nigerians is achievable.

SDGs with target of 2030 took off at the terminal date of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000. Goals one, three, six and 11 of SDGs have a direct relationship with housing. Failure to achieve them means poor housing.

In its electioneering in 2014, the current government promised to construct a million housing units a year as a way of closing the country’s yawning housing gap. After four years, not even a 100,000 housing units can be counted.

Construction is cost involving. No magic can work in a society where a greater portion of the working population lives on a paltry $1,000 a year. Where payment of a minimum wage of less than $100 (N30,000) is contentious, home-ownership is a mirage.

Unless one saves N30,000-N40,000 per month, one cannot get a mortgage. Nowhere does it work where more than 30 percent of net income is spent on home.

Worst of it all, Nigeria is a country of very complex mortgage system. Mortgage institutions lend at about 20 percent with countless hidden charges. Nigerians are therefore, not interested in mortgage.

Workers have always resorted to personal initiatives to acquire home. Many indulge in construction activities by themselves. They either resort to underhand ways to raise funds or take loans from cooperative societies and from friends/relations to build their houses. But not many can get these cooperative loans so many more continue to live in substandard houses – some to their retirement age. A number of them have been duped in their bid to buy land, leading them to needless litigation or very sorrowful life.

Poor and inadequate housing, no doubt is terribly affecting the security, physical health and privacy of the Nigerian people.

Time is now to empower the middle class through home-ownership. Government should strengthen institutions for delivery of assist-funding and collaboration among relevant stakeholders. The process of getting the Foreclosure Law should be fastracked and it should be done in all the states.

Viewpoint Housing News wants government to endeavour, not only to develop technological solutions. Solutions should be relevant and embraced by all and put to practical task. Research institutions like the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) and Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI) as well as universities and polytechnics should not exist only in name but live up to their mandates.

Above all, mortgage should be less than 10 percent and housing should move from the realm of business to the realm of social security. 

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