By Kingsley Adegboye

The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria and the International Human Rights Commission estimate that Nigeria now has a serious housing deficit of approximately 28 million housing units.

Nigeria’s current population is approximately 218 million, with a ten-year average population growth of about 2.6 percent, according to Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) figures.

The rapid growth of the country’s population has resulted in significant migration of rural people to urban regions, as the country’s urbanization rate stands at 4.95 percent, putting a strain on available housing and other facilities in metropolitan areas.

A lot of discussions have been held with regards to the increasing housing deficit in the country, which have left an iota of doubt as to whether the government is thinking and passionate about moving a larger chunk of the population out of the poverty line.

In view of the above, the president of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, Mr Toyin Ayinde, has said that the persistent predicament of affordable housing in Nigeria is as a result of the “conspiracy of the rich’.

Ayinde, who was represented by the first National Vice President of the institute, Mr Nathaniel Atebije, disclosed this during a panel session anchored by the Family Homes Funds FHF at the 16th Africa International Housing Show AIHS, with the theme: “Housing For All: The Role of Government in Creating an Effective Enabling Environment”.

According to him, “If the political elites in Nigeria think that the only way to develop is do it haphazardly, then, there is no hope for the poor”.

He said one of the cardinal issues that hinders the low-income earners in the country from enjoying affordable housing is connected to location, adding that rural settlements which obviously house the greater number of the nation’s population are not given proper attention as it pertains to planning and development.

“There is no concept for how land uses in the city or in the rural area of human settlements should be organized. And where there is no organization, I think the only thing you can expect is disaster”, he said.

Ayinde noted that location, which is a function of planning, must be put into consideration, saying the bedrock of any sustainable housing development is planning.

“When we come to terms with the realities that we find on ground, it is important that we make plans for such places for where the low-income will stay. The rich need the poor and the poor also need the rich. Late Chief Awolowo said; the children of the poor that you are refusing to train today, will constitute a great challenge to you tomorrow.

“If we refuse to plan for the low-income, we are not going to sleep in our bedroom tomorrow with our two eyes closed. We must integrate them into our communities. We can’t go into another phase of colonization by separating the poor from the rich, and so the plans should be channelled to places that are safe”, he urged.

Also speaking during the session, the Director of Research and Innovations Office, University of Lagos and Founder of Ideal Habitat Initiative, Professor Timothy Nubi, who noted that affordability is addressed by the income of the people, cost, and payment scheme, revealed that the cost of construction is high because most construction materials are imported.

While urging the government to provide the needed infrastructure that will better drive home delivery in the country, he advised that the FHF should not only focus on building new homes but also engage in renovating existing structures.

“Everyone comes with their different figures of housing deficit and we even find it difficult to believe any of them because they are not grounded in research. We must understand that there are categories of structures that the UN does not include in its statistics while talking about affordable housing. Houses without basic amenities and the ones located in an environment with no basic infrastructure belong to this category. Yet, we keep saying we have housing shortages when many of our structures do not meet international standards.

“Resources should not only be channelled on building new houses. FHF should also provide funds to citizens in putting existing or dilapidated homes into good shape. More importantly, the concept of infrastructural development must be prioritized.

“The FHF must spend on research. We can not continue to do things on assumptions. If you want to go far, walk alone; but if you want to walk further, carry everyone along”, Nubi stated.