By Modestus Umenzekwe
In the ordering of basic human needs, after air which is the first and food which is second; shelter, most appropriately is ranked third, and this spelt out the huge weight of importance of housing in the scheme of things and why nations strive to ensure provision of shelter over the head of their citizenry.
Indeed, individuals on their own make every effort to put shelter over their heads, but this is subject to the interplay of the individuals’ financial capacity and other social-economic realities, hence not every citizen of a country is able to provide shelter for themselves, hence this is the point where the government of the nation steps in to ensure that the greater percentage of its population is provided with accommodation.
Looking at Nigeria, what is on ground shows that even though there are houses everywhere, so many houses in the villages and city areas, mansions built and put under lock and key, abandoned buildings here and there, uncountable number of people still live without shelter over their heads and some living under the bridges predominantly due to explosive population growth of the country. Of course there are so many individual and organizational efforts to shore up the housing needs of the people, they build estates, however so many of these structures are still far from the affordability of the common man, hence there is a need to make a general review of the housing situation in the country to actually discover the right direction to go in the provision of affordable and habitable accommodation to all.
Of course there have been situations where low cost houses were erected for the poor only for the rich to corner these laudable building projects and bought them through their cronies, in the end the poor continue to suffer and complain.
The issue of funds and sincerity of purpose is very key in this direction; the nature of buildings, those that should benefit from such building plans must be critically examined and evaluated and established. There is also need for some statistical data in this direction.
In any housing project the most germane is sincerity of purpose. What happens when government in its good vision maps out plans, waiting the honest execution of such vision by relevant authorities? The President and the minister will not be there to implement it, but the Housing authority must be alive to its duties to translate the vision to reality.
Of course, the housing deficit in Nigeria presents a grim picture even though the housing sector abounds with opportunities for attaining sustainable economic development.
What are the challenges to the housing sector? First is limited access to finance, the issue with finance can be traceable to underdevelopment in our mortgage industry as it reportedly generated less than 200,000 transactions between 1960 and 2014. According to the World Bank Report (2015), the contribution of mortgage financing to Nigeria’s GDP is so negligible, with real estate contributing less than 5% and mortgage loans and advances at 0.5% of GDP.
So now who are the key players in the housing sector in Nigeria? They include the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Financial Institutions and Property Developers. In terms of legislation, there are over ten (10) legislations that govern and/or provide for the administration of Mortgages in Nigeria. These include the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act, the Banks and other Financial Institutions Act, the Federal Mortgage Bank Act, the Land Use Act, the National Housing Fund Act, the Mortgage Institutions Act, the Trustee Investments Act, the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Act, the Investments and Securities Act and the Federal Housing Authority Act.
Essentially, the Land Use Act vests title to all lands in a State in the Governor of the State who holds same in trust. By this mandate, the Governor reserves the right to revoke title to any land in the State for public purpose. Since the enactment of the Land Use Act, the tussle between holders of right of occupancy (statutory or customary) over land has continually bogged down the judiciary in the construction of the Governors wide discretionary powers. It is therefore not unusual to see massive portions of land under Government acquisition whether or not already earmarked for public projects. This factor has remained a cause of concern for private and corporate investors in real estate development projects who live in constant panic over whether or not the government in power is favourably disposed to their interest.
There are bureaucracies also involved in land acquisition and perfection of title poses a considerable difficulty to effective housing delivery, especially in most urban areas, land accessibility, affordability, availability and ease in acquisition, the process of obtaining a certificate of occupancy may take up to 2–5 years while the cost of registering a mortgage is estimated at 19% of the property value.
Nigeria’s mortgage interest rates ranges between 16-24 per cent save for the Federal Mortgage Bank which lends under 10%. High rates of interest charged by financial institutions presents a major disincentive for middle and low income earners to patronise mortgage financing, and in fact low awareness about Mortgage Financing arrangements is at extremely low level. Research shows that mainly civil servants and individuals in formal employment take up mortgages as a result of the monthly contributions they make to the National Housing Trust Fund.
Following last year’s National Economic Council (NEC) approval of the construction of 300,000 mass housing units in all the states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a good omen for realization of the nation’s housing need. The scheme is part of the Nigeria Economic Sustainability Plan by the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo-led Economic Sustainability Committee, estimated to cost N317 billion and create 1.8 million jobs as well as provide at least 1.5 million homes for Nigerian families.
The project, involves building 10,840 units of low, medium and high income units across the six geopolitical zones, backed by mortgage and another 12,008 houses under the public building and housing development Programme. The Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, will implement it, with Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) and Federal Housing Authority (FHA).
Indeed the Federal Housing Authority created under the Second National Development Plan in 1973 to coordinate, drive and execute Government Housing Agenda to the low, medium and high income groups has over years pursued this mandate despite huge challenges and the wide gap that still exists between housing needs and supply. According to report, over 37,000 housing units have been delivered cutting across every state of the federation.
There is indeed light at the end of the tunnel, with the recent inauguration of the new Board of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) by President Muhammadu Buhari, for another period of three years; that is a good omen for the realization of the housing plans of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
For apart from my humble self, representing Anambra State on the board, there are other well meaning Nigerians on the board. Reappointed to the Board is Sen. Lawal Shuaibu, Zamfara State, as Chairman.
Other members of the Board are Mumini I. Hanafi, Kwara State; Adamu Maina Dadi, Yobe State; Eng. Adamu Ismaila, Adamawa State; Barr. Zubairu S.N, Nasarawa State; Chinyere Anokwuru, Abia State; Yinka Ogunsulire, Ondo State: Veronica N. Shinnaan, Plateau State; Aleruchi Cookey-Gam, Rivers State and Olajumoke O. Akinwunmi, Ogun State.
Of course, President Buhari’s approval of the appointment into the Board of FHA takes into cognizance requisite competence, experience and network in the housing industry to actualize the Administration’s vision of providing decent and affordable housing for Nigerians.
The workaholic Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), saddled with this enormous responsibility of housing in this country, is doing great job, the Managing Director FHA, Senator Gbenga Ashafa, the man that is daily on the job, helping to actualize the housing plans of the minister, Senator Lawal Shuaibu, Chairman, is also doing great, not forgetting the role of the Minister of State for Works and Housing, Abubakar Aliyu Buhari.
Indeed the Housing Authority must swing into action immediately by looking at the activities of their predecessors, what they have done right or wrong and apply a better option for the realization of the federal government housing agenda.
Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN), once at a media briefing in Abuja, while delivering visible and qualitative achievements to Nigerians since his appointment in November, 2015, said the ministry had in a statement titled “Setting the Agenda for Delivering Change” set out what it inherited, plan to do and what Nigerians should expect from it.
According to him, as at May 2015, many contractors have stopped work because of payment and many fathers and wives employed by them have been laid off.
He said the possibility to return those who had lost their jobs back to work was the kind of change the ministry promised Nigerians.
He said that the ministry had recovered the thousands of jobs that were lost as a result of an expansive infrastructure spending on works from N18.132 billion in 2015 to N394 billion in 2018.
“The outcome is that there is not one state in Nigeria today where the Federal Government is not executing at least one road project with construction workers engaged on the sites.
“Difficult or abandoned projects like the Second Niger Bridge, Lagos Ibadan Expressway and the Bodo-Bonny Bridge have been brought back to life.
“Sections of Ilorin-Jebba, Sokoto to Jeba, Sokoto-Ilela have been completed, while progress of work continues nationwide.
“Apart from recovered construction jobs and growth in construction sector of the economy, the feedback from road users is that the journey times are reducing on the completed roads,” he said.
We sincerely believe that the great speed and effort which is witnessed in road projects will be doubled in the area of housing to ensure housing for all Nigerians in the nearest future.
Umenzekwe (Onwa Achina) wrote from Lagos via modestusokechukwu661@yahoo.com
