By Jude Njoku & Kingsley Adegboye

Barely 45 days to the inauguration of Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) as Nigeria’s next President, built environment experts have called on the incoming administration to give urgent attention to the provision of infrastructure and housing development.

A Housing Estates in Lagos

The experts who set the agenda for the incoming government, in separate interviews with Vanguard Homes & Property, said Gen. Buhari should focus on rebuilding the nation’s ailing infrastructure and reducing the housing deficit currently put at a staggering 17 million housing units.

In a congratulatory message to the President-elect, the President of the Commonwealth Association of Surveying and Land Economy, CASLE, Mr Segun Ajanlekoko enjoined him to provide the enabling environment that will attract foreign investors into the country.

“Based on your antecedents, we have no doubt in your ability to lead the country aright on the path of sanity, probity and accountability and the general well-being of the entire citizenry. One area that needs urgent and immediate attention is our infrastructure and housing.

As professionals in the built environment whose expertise is in the sustainability of the environment, we would urge you to place this on high priority and deploy the much needed resources to accomplish this which will no doubt give confidence to foreign investors and guarantee investment flow into the country,”Ajanlekoko said.

A Lagos-based private estate developer, Mr. Adetokunbo Ajayi, called for land reforms to enable private investors to come in to provide shelter for the millions of homeless Nigerians. Ajayi who is the Managing Director of Propertygate Development and Investment Plc, noted that housing is heavily dependent on land, but regretted that land ownership is vested in various state governments, except the Federal Capital Territory where the Federal government has control.

Noting that planning determines land use, Ajayi further regretted that planning rests exclusively in the hands of state governments, hence the registration of title which is vital in the housing delivery chain is seldom given. In addition to housing reforms, Ajayi posited that roads are supremely important in acceleration of housing delivery. He however observed that vast developable land remain virtually inaccessible due to acute deficit in road infrastructure.

“Notwithstanding these observations, the Federal government can indeed play a significant role in shaping the emergence of a sustainable housing delivery system for Nigeria. While recognising the huge expectations of the Nigerian people in the area of housing, the government must admit to itself that it cannot solve housing problem overnight. It will take time. This will be an honest and humble stand to take.

“Descending into the arena to quench an inferno without proper planning may be grand standing, but it hardly secures real success. The government must therefore come up with its vision for housing. This should be accompanied by clearly articulated and measurable goals. This will give the administration focus, ability to effectively allocate resources and gain credible followership. The clarity of vision and goals will also provide a reference for the assessment of the administration’s performance,” he said.

Mortgagefinance

Continuing, the Propertygate boss said: “Recognising the crucial position of state governments, it must devise ways to successfully sell its vision and goals to this important stakeholders. It must then proceed to lead, while prepared to accommodate the individual differences of the various states.

It must truly believe that mortgage finance is the life wire of massive housing initiative no matter how much you attempt to make houses “affordable”. Therefore sustainable mortgage finance system must be built with readiness to make a break with currently unhelpful policies and approaches”.

“It should embark on deliberate infrastructure, especially major transportation-infrastructure to stimulate massive housing projects. Deliberate policies and incentives to drive investment into, and strengthen the sub-sector. Avoid the temptation of getting the government to go into housing construction in its zeal to accelerate housing delivery. It will lead to regression and breed corruption.

The government should rather focus on helping to build a strong housing and mortgage systems with the private sector serving as the engine of execution. Genuinely drive the industrialization of Nigeria, with the attendant benefit of reversing the dependence of the sub-sector on imported building materials.

Position the country and the economy to attract foreign investment into the housing sub-sector with right policies, transparent administration and sound management”, Propertygate boss advised.

Transparentadministration

Also advising the incoming administration on how to ensure a sustainable housing delivery in the country, a former chairman of the Lagos state branch of the Nigerian Institute of Building, NIOBMr. Kunle Awobodu posited that the housing sector which has been in crisis for a very long time, needs to be addressed by the incoming government.

Awobodu who is the National Chairman of Building Collapse Prevention Guild, BCPG also wants the incoming administration to tackle corruption in the housing industry. He called on the new government at the centre to improve on the established due process to guarantee sustainability in the housing sub-sector.

While calling on the government to address the issue of high cost of cement in the country, Awobodu equally called on the government to ensure that cement is readily available in the country at affordable price to encourage individuals’ efforts towards building their own houses.

He further called on the government to place priority on the training of artisans as a way of addressing the dearth of artisans in the nation’s building industry, a situation he described as disturbing.