By Kingsley Adegboye

…As Lagos Fair to focuses on climate change, housing delivery
Apparently worried by the effect of climate change on housing development, this year’s edition of Lagos Housing Fair  slated for  April 29 to May 4 will “direct the nation’s attention to the debilitating effects that climate change could have on all aspects of housing delivery”.

The chairman of the fair organising committee, Mr. Moses Ogunleye said the fair will beam its searchlight on the implication of the climate change phenomenon on housing development.

“Specifically, we intend to direct the nation’s attention to the debilitating effects that climate change could have on all aspects of housing delivery. These include design, land use management, material usage/specification, construction methodology, infrastructure, as well as finance. Besides, the theme is to refocus on the issue of mitigation plans for housing management in view of the continuous likely negative impact of climate change on the housing sector,” he said.

Continuing, he said: “From available records, the climate change phenomenon will impact heavily on the building construction sector. For example, the increased intensity of rainfall could weaken the soil structure of communities in the mangrove swamp and fresh water vegetation areas or along the coast. This could threaten foundation of buildings in Lagos State and the remaining seven other states along the coast. There may be increase in the incidences of collapse of building during raining season, when the soil is made to absorb more water. Nigeria as a country should be able to curtail this in order to avert loses”.

The Beachland Resources boss regretted that more spaces are being covered with concrete instead of greens. “Now that governments in Nigeria – Federal and State levels – like other governments in the world have accepted the reality of climate change, then adaptation should be promoted as a good way out. It means that buildings must be designed to more than ever withstand the vagaries of climate change. Design must enhance ventilation and natural lightening in order to reduce energy consumption and so on. It should also follow that material for construction should not only be durable and cost effect but must also be climate proven,” he said.

On how to achieve this in a developing country with a a greater number of the people living below the poverty line, Ogunleye said: “The first attempt is to educate the public on the reality and likely impacts of climate change. In addition, we are of the opinion that we should use the Fair to propagate mitigation strategies from likely damage to housing facilities as a result of climate change. Since the exhibition usually have a cross section of participants, we believe it remains a good platform to highlight issues of mitigation strategies for climate change for developers, manufacturers, researchers, as well as policy makers.

As a way of revitalizing the Nigerian Housing Sector,  he assured that the Lagos Housing Fair will continue to focus on contemporary issues in the housing development. The Fair which holds at the  premises of Radio Lagos/Eko FM, Agidingbi, Ikeja is  organised by Radio Lagos / EKO FM and Beachland Resources Limited. Former Head of State, Gen. Abubakar Adulsalami (rtd), is expected to declare the exhibitions open.