By NWACHUKWU OBIECHINA

IN the advanced western economies, housing development is used as a good indicator of the state of health of the economy. It is also used to create employment and generate wealth because of the multiplier effect it has on the economy as a whole.

Housing can only be developed when land is available, it cannot be done in the air, and it is key to any housing development. Major concerns will be the availability, accessibility, suitability and affordability. Some issues have been militating against the full realisation of the potential of the housing sub-sector contributing to the massive growth of the economy, wealth and job creation.

Finance is needed for both funding the housing development and for empowering the intending beneficiaries to be able to purchase them. The procurement of funding at reasonable interest rate for both will dictate the delivery and affordability.

The availability, suitability, affordability and durability of the construction materials will influence the cost of construction and therefore the overall cost. The construction technology and techniques in use affect the affordability and the quality of housing to be delivered.

The most known and widely discussed is the Land Use Law/Act, promulgated by the military, incorporated into the 1979 constitution and brought forward in the 1999 constitution. This was intended to make acquisition of land both easy and affordable but presently it has become a cog in the wheel of progress.

In the law, the governor of the state holds land in trust for the people. No transaction can be valid unless he issues a C of O or his consent is required. This is not only true for individuals and body corporate but also for agencies of Federal Government, with the exception of land for prospecting for oil and gas and those with well spelt out areas, like Inland Waterways Authority.

These requirements of governor’s consent and C of O have made it very cumbersome for owners of land to use their assets in transactions. This has affected negatively individuals, corporate bodies and even agencies of Federal Government.

State governments in different political parties from the government at the centre (federal) have used the Land Use Act to deprive her citizens from benefitting maximally from projects of the federal government. A case in point is the action of the then Oyo State Governor, late Bola Ige of the UPN against the FG of NPN in 1980.

There are many cases of such, most recently, FHA called for partnership bids for the development of 2nd Phase of Festac Town in a national newspaper on Monday, April 3rd, 2012, only for an agency of Lagos State Government to publish a caveat emptor in another national newspaper on Wednesday, May 9th, 2012 telling the public to beware.

These anomalies can be corrected through constitutional amendment. The second issue has to do with the provisions of Fourth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution. It vested the maintenance of municipal services in the Local Government Council (LGC).

On the face of it, it appears okay, but when and where a private organisation develops an estate, conflict arises as to who is to maintain these services, bearing in mind that in some cases the LGC may not have the expertise and manpower to carry out these functions.

This section of the constitution should be amended to accommodate and recognise the role private estate developers’ play in maintaining estates they developed. In this era of globalisation, there is the urgent need to de-regulate the maintenance of municipal services, so that the expertise and prudence of the private sector can be utilised to provide well-managed environment through the application of best practices.

The third issue has to do with the Supreme Court Judgment of 2003; the highlight of the judgment is that it buried the Town and Regional Planning Act by vesting Development Control functions on the state government.

The judgment did not take into consideration the present threat of climate change as a result of global warming, which can best be addressed through bilateral agreements not only between nations but regions, like the ECOWAS community. Development control is a major tool for addressing climate change.

Some state governments are using this judgment to stifle the activities of agencies of FG within their jurisdiction in many ways. A case in point is Lagos State Government agencies that opine that land is their oil and should do what they deem necessary to maximise returns from land transactions.

If development is looked at from the broader sense as defined by estate surveyors, there will be total chaos in the country as indigenes of the oil-producing areas can stop oil companies from operating in their territory until they obtain their approvals.

The Federal Government should request for further clarification and interpretation of the judgment from the Supreme Court. If the present impasse still subsists, she should move for constitutional amendment to save the country from chaos.

Finally, the discussions above reveal that there are provisions in different parts of the constitution that militate against the provision of affordable housing, in order to overcome them, there is need to reform, harmonise them and bring all of them under a single bill.

*OBIECHINA is an engineer with the Federal Housing Authority (FHA).