BY FRANCIS KADIRI
For over a six years, the United Nations Habitat consistently put Nigeria’s housing deficit at 17 million, meaning that Nigeria needs at least seventeen million new homes to address the problem of inadequate shelter for the public. Apart from this very important need, the United Nations also advocated for slums upgrading, a strategy which if executed, could have significantly reduced the number of homeless or poorly sheltered Nigerians.
The point is that if governments are to be commended for seminars and policy making, successive federal and state governments in Nigeria could have earned a pass mark in the area of housing, rather they did well in policy making and listening to advocacy while they failed woefully in the effective implementation of very sound policies tailored to address the crucial challenge of inadequate shelter for the public.
Any keen observer of various federal government policies in the housing sector would readily agree that policy making has hardly been the problem, rather, problem has been the inability of successive governments to execute well laid out plans for provision of homes.
More than ever before, governments; federal and state levels must exercise the political will needed to address the challenge of housing provision for the public, especially for low income earners. Government must be sincere in its claims that all Nigerians are eligible to housing finance by the National Housing Fund, a vehicle provided by the government to give funding support to people who have made some effort at home ownership.
At the state level, it is very important that governors take a clue from the political will exercised by a former governor of Lagos State, Alh Lateef Jakande, who is a shining example of how political leaders can exercise the requisite political will needed to provide shelter for Nigerians.
As Executive Governor, Jakande could have argued unchallenged that there is insufficient funding for capital projects such as mass housing, but he chose the path of duty and decided to raise funds for housing provision.
The exploits of Jakande in the housing sector is instructional for governors of states of the federation. They must study the models and try to replicate or improve on them.
Of course it is true that mass housing is capital intensive and requires a lot of funds. However, the paucity of funds should not be an excuse for governments of states who owe it a duty to the people of their states to cushion the economic challenges associated with home ownership.
Aside from the apparent governments’ failures in providing houses for the middle-class Nigerians, there are other challenges low income earners constantly face in their efforts to shelter themselves by building houses, no matter how small. Fraud in the real estate business is on the rise as some estate developers have been found wanting in living up to expectations. Many fraudulent estate developers are on the prowl, ripping average income earners of their hard earned money by selling a piece of land to more than one buyer.
The delay in the adjudication processes in the country over land matters is not helping low income earners in becoming landlords and landladies. In the case where an average Nigerian who struggled to save money and buy land ends up discovering that he needs triple the amount of the land he bought in dragging land matter in court, then scores of low income earners would continue to wallow in poor and inadequate shelter. Therefore, there is a need for governments and security agencies to tame these ugly developments.
While pro-bono legal aids should be provided for Nigerians that are financially incapacitated in pursuing land matters in court, security agencies should ensure that fraudulent estate industry operators are flushed out.
In most states of Nigeria, land grabbing menace in traditional institutions and among thugs is another challenge mitigating against efforts by low income earners to own their houses. There are cases of attacks and killings by land grabbers on developing sites following inability of potential land owners to part with extra huge amounts of money before their housing projects could be developed seamlessly. These land grabbers, popularly known as ‘Omo Onile {Children of land owners} in the Southwestern part of the country, terrorise innocent citizens striving to have a roof over their heads whenever they default in bribing them with money close to the amount the taxed land was bought.
Many Nigerians have turned to street beggars owing to lack of homes while privileged rich house owners and feeding fat on low income earners through payment of house rents even when many state governors have refused to pay the newly approved N30,000 minimum wage. It’s high time this challenge was addressed by relevant stakeholders.
Kadiri, a communication expert, writes from Abuja and can be reached through: francisadinoyikadiri@gmail.com
