In the hierarchy of needs, housing comes second after food. Given the prominence of housing, most Nigerians are of the opinion that it is yet to be given serious thought by government in all tiers. This is against the background of statistics that indicate that Nigeria has a housing deficit of 16 million units for a population of 150 million; a staggering number by all indications. LEADERSHIP’s Chizoba Ogbeche examines the role of social housing in providing affordable shelter for Nigerians.
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Paucity of housing in Nigeria is certainly worrisome in view of the United Nations human development index which revealed that 86 percent of Nigerians live below the $2 a day mark; it is instructive to note that more than 70 percent of Nigerians are unable to afford decent housing.
The most interesting thing about Housing is that everyone recognises its importance. Article 25 (C) of the United Nations Human Rights Charter recognizes housing as a basic need which a citizen must have as a right.
The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria affirms this right in Section 16.2.d.
This is further clarified in the National Housing Policy where Housing is recognized as the second most important need of man, next only to food. Sadly, in spite of all these weighty pronouncements, housing has not enjoyed the level of attention it deserves in Nigeria.
Besides the above, it is curious that housing being about the largest employer of labour both in numbers and in quality, with the consequent positive effects on employment, wealth creation, poverty alleviation and social security, is yet to be accorded its rightful place in our national scale of priorities.
According to a housing expert Arc. Ezekiel Nya-Etok, the prevailing scenario means that hardworking Nigerians cannot repay N1.5m mortgage in 10 years even if they invest 100% of their earnings in it. Nya-Etok who is the chairman, Special Committee on National Social Housing Scheme, argues that unless government demonstrates a concerted effort in providing social housing as different from mass housing, most Nigerians would be incapable of owning their own homes or living in standard accommodation.
He makes the point that, “for any meaningful stride to be made in the housing sector, a legal foundation must be laid. It is only an act of the Parliament that can provide a long term solution to this challenge.”
The social housing crusader who spoke to our correspondent ahead of the of the Social Housing conference with the theme: Job Creation and Stimulating the Economy Through Social Housing Delivery, in Abuja on November 1 in Abuja on November, argues that the country last made any meaningful bold stride in social housing in 1983 and advocates that it was time government provides the initiative by taking steps to build 500 units of housing in every state of the country.
He said such a step was “a critical first step in the long hard journey to address the age old imbalance in the housing sector,” stressing that “there is an overarching need for the establishment of an intervention Social Housing delivery organ or agency as an emergency (as in NACA for HIV/AIDS, or UBE for education).
“This organ or agency will act as dedicated and credible intermediary that will harness national efforts in the Social Housing sector as different from the existing structures that were set up with commercial responsibilities and intents. For any meaningful impact to be made, the establishment of this intermediary must be an Act of the Parliament.
“Key players in the private sector and external development partners who may be willing to explore possibilities of partnership with government agencies and intermediaries will be better emboldened if they know that they are dealing with properly established bodies that are in place for the long haul and not make shift, and often whimsical structures that came into existence by Presidential fiat.”
He argues that social housing as distinct from mass housing strives to: Significantly improve the well-being of the poor, the needy and other?? vulnerable groups in the society, such as women, single mothers, the elderly, widows and widowers, the physically challenged, the homeless, and a critical mass of the citizens who fall into this group.
The housing expert who has over two decades in housing related issues disclosed that a draft policy on social housing was ready and would form part of the stakeholders’ forum in November.
Highlights of the draft include: provide a sustainable way of reducing the housing deficit in the country, estimated? at about 16-17 million units nationwide, as at 2011; provide a window of opportunity for governments at all levels to demonstrate their commitment to the provision of social housing as a social responsibility to the citizenry, thereby institutionalising an efficient, responsive and sustainable mechanism for housing delivery; facilitate socio-economic development and unlock other complementary benefits to the economy? in the realm of wealth creation, employment generation, stimulation of investment flows and? value-addition arising from the use of alternative building materials and adoption of home-grown technologies.
Other significant areas of the draft policy are: promote the delivery of housing with secure tenure and facilitate access to funding of social housing from a variety of sources, including social housing financiers, philanthropists and other interested parties; facilitate the redevelopment and upgrading of urban slums for sustainable? urban renewal and regeneration as well as reduce rural-urban migration, and stem the consequential loss of precious rural assets and human capital, such as farmers and the youth,? towards optimising the contribution of the rural areas to national development; and foster peace and stability and promote human dignity, social cohesion and environmental sustainability.
For Nya-Etok, a re-invigoration of the housing sector would have a healthy effect on the economy as it would provide thousands of jobs for the army of unemployed youths and reduce incidence of crime.
Reeling statistics off the cuff, he points out that “With the global population at about 6.7Billion, and that of Nigeria being estimated at about 150million, Nigeria has roughly 2% of the world population. However, with the global unemployment population estimated to be 212million and that of Nigeria at 40million, Nigeria has a staggering 19% of the world unemployed population.
“By extension, it means in simple terms that 1 in every 5 unemployed persons in the world is a Nigerian. Given the above scenario, job creation being taken up almost as an emergency from the Presidency is one step that has brought unimaginable hope to Nigerians.
“Housing is not only the 2nd most important need of man but the largest employer of labour on the globe through its construction sub-unit. It also ranks among the top priorities of conscionable governments across the world.?
“Housing holds the obvious key to creating jobs for the teeming unemployed youths of Nigeria as housing is one of, if not the largest employer of labour. The following scenarios practically demonstrate what has been achieved through housing projects:
“Statistics from “National Association of Home Builders, NAHB 2004 Facts, Figures & Trends” reveals that their housing sector employs over 8 million Americans and engages over 150 careers and has direct effect on 122 downstream industries.
The most exciting relevance of the above is that most of their housing construction is systems construction. By this, a factory that engages less than 50 people can produce the dry walls and other systems that will build hundreds, if not thousands of homes. On the contrary, virtually every house in Nigeria is built with blocks.
“Our block moulders depend on suppliers of sand, cement and water.
After the block moulding process, comes the masons, each with his team of labourers as well as carpenters that must provide the form work and support to stand and lay their blocks. And so the list of individuals and craftsmen involved in just one building grows.
“By simple quantification therefore, what a single factory in America accomplishes with less than 50 workers to construct say, 500 housing units, a minimum of 20, 000 skilled and unskilled labour will be needed to accomplish same in Nigeria.”
Bringing his example down home, he informed that Akwa Ibom state was currently building 500 units of houses, with as many as 450 contractors engaged, stressing that “if this model is adopted in the three senatorial districts of the state, the government by this singular project would have provided employment for almost 1, 300 employers of labour in the state.
“In the 500 units at Uyo, each of the resource persons is engaging as many as 20-50 workers on a daily basis. The government can therefore boast of creating direct employment for as many as 10,000-15,000 of its indigenes at a singular location.”
Nya-Etok’s proposal is that if the government, not private developers, takes to building of 1,000 unit estates in each of the states of the federation including the FCT, the project would create an additional 1,000 jobs per estate. The job creation potentials will extend to the pre-construction professionals and on-site infrastructure undertakings. This should create yet another 50,000 jobs.
“In essence therefore, an estate of 1,000 housing units should provide a minimum of 5,000 jobs again. The above should therefore create a minimum of 2,000,000 jobs on a very conservative note.”
While praising President Goodluck Jonathan in creating the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, and having a seasoned administrator, Ms. Ama Pepple, as minister he is confident that the agitation for social housing might not be far-fetched in actualizing this vision.
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