President Muhammadu Buhari’s public lamentation of the problems that beset the country’s housing sector should pass for official admission of the failure of the government to meet its  basic obligations to the people.

At a two-day retreat held by the National Economic Council in Abuja recently, the president  listed three factors  namely, severe shortage of housing, high rents and unaffordable prices of houses for potential buyers as impediments to the successful delivery of housing infrastructure to the country’s growing population. He also frowned at the role of relevant government agencies and departments in creating the bottlenecks in the sector and identified official red tapism, corruption and inefficiency in the public service as contributory factors to what has become an intractable problem.

The president’s public concern about the country’s estimated housing deficit, which he put at 15 million, has come at the right time. It has come at a time when the private sector, having realized government’s inability to single handedly meet the challenge of providing decent shelter for the country’s teeming population, has stepped in to take a substantial part of the burden off the shoulders of government. This, they have been doing, through building and delivery of modern and affordable houses to Nigerians in all cadres, thereby raising the standard of living of many.

The president was reported as having expressed concern that his party, All Progressive Congress (APC), might not be able to fulfill its promise of building one million housing units every year. He reportedly said as a first step, the Federal Government would build 250,000 housing units, while governments in the 22 states controlled by APC would build 250,000. The ambiguity in this statement lies in the fact that the president wasn’t clear on whether or not the 22 APC state governments would collectively deliver 250,000 units or the figure is what each would be expected to build.

Buhari gave assurance that foreign investors and major construction companies operating in the country would be encouraged to go into commercial housing projects, with the objective of providing the shortfall in the target of eliminating the housing deficit..

Without doubt, major players in the real estate sector have redefined the concept of housing delivery, bringing within the reach of Nigerians opportunities to own houses in decent environments. They have, through their combined efforts, contributed in no small measure to the effort to reduce the housing deficit in the country.

For instance, Lekki Worldwide Estates Limited, a foremost housing provider, is said to have delivered, through the popular Lekki Gardens brand, about seven thousand housing units to more than four thousand people in the four years it has been in existence. The company is said to have built 57 estates in three states, namely, Lagos, Ogun and Rivers, as well as the federal capital territory. Its strategy of delivering affordable houses complete with the most modern facilities to all classes of Nigerians, ranging from low income earners to those at the top of the socio-economic ladder, endeared it to both occupants of its properties and prospective house owners.

It is a welcome idea to invite foreign investors and major construction companies in the country to participate in the real estate sector that is largely unexplored. It is equally important to create the enabling environment that would allow the small and mostly privately owned housing entities to thrive, as a way of encouraging greater local participation in the sector. One way to do this, as the president rightly identified, is a review of relevant laws to make the process of acquiring land less cumbersome and less expensive. Also, competent people with proven integrity should be appointed to head the relevant agencies that are charged with the responsibility to ensure standards on every component of the housing delivery chain.

• Kelechi Ikeagwu is based in Lagos.