Residents of Imo and Abia, two states of the South-East, have expressed deep concern over the worsening housing deficit in different parts of the country and advocated serious state and Federal Governments’ commitment toward tackling the national challenge.
A cross-section of the people, including civil servants, housing agents, consultants as well as public affairs analysts, blamed the unhealthy and embarrassing situation on the lack of continuity in the implementation of housing programmes by successive administrations in different states of the federation.
In Imo, respondents in a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) survey on the problem of housing crisis in parts of the country said the solution to the problem lay with successive governments sustaining and building on inherited housing programmes initiated by their predecessors.
Although, there are no unoccupied federal housing in the state, NAN gathered that an abandoned federal housing project exists in Okigwe area of the state.
Rep. Miriam Onuoha, representing Okigwe North Federal Constituency, said she recently moved a motion calling for the completion of the abandoned Federal Low-Cost Housing Estate situated at Eziama in Isiala Mbano Local Government Area (LGA).
Onuoha further called for the rehabilitation of the existing infrastructure at the Federal Low-Cost Housing Estate at Ubaha in Okigwe and Umuelemai also in the same LGA.
Also contributing, a political analyst, Mr Chukwudi Ihemefule, lamented that housing projects initiated by the government in power often ended up abandoned by successive governments, resulting in empty, unoccupied buildings, hence aggravating the already bad housing deficit.
Ihemefule said the failure by successive governments to continue with the housing programmes of their predecessors eventually leave more persons without homes and erode public trust in government.
He called on political office holders to see government as a continuum, and politics as a game, which ends when a winner has emerged.
Another respondent, who identified himself simply as Mr Nnaemeka, expressed regrets that many gigantic structures built by past governments have been abandoned, making Nigeria look like a country with unserious and uncommitted leaders.
Nnaemeka said that such structures had been unwittingly converted to criminal hideouts, where kidnapped victims are held captive or dastardly operations launched by hoodlums.
He queried: “What happened to the gigantic structures built by former Gov. Rochas Okorocha’s government, which are lying fallow in most secondary schools in the state, such as the one located at Central School, Umuohiagu?
“The gigantic hospital built at former New Market on Douglas Road, which was never inaugurated for public use to date, what is the current government saying about it and many more in different local government areas?”
A student, Miss Ify Anyanwu, however, attributed the high cost of house rents in the country to the many abandoned housing projects, adding that many state and Federal Governments no longer accord priority to mass housing programmes.
Anyanwu said: “The cost of renting or buying apartments has skyrocketed, leaving many residents, especially students, squatting and managing small apartments, while the big houses continue to lie unoccupied as the owners await for money-bags, who hardly come.
An Architect, Mr Francis Ofor, said that some public buildings might not have been constructed by experts, hence cannot be inhabited by people, owing to reports by regulatory agencies about their substandardness and poor quality.
Ofor underscored the need for property developers to engage professionals, such as architects and engineers, to ensure that buildings are designed and constructed with safety and durability in mind.
He cautioned against the cost-cutting measures by some unscrupulous property developers, adding that the unwholesome practice has the tendency of compromising the integrity of structures, ultimately leading to housing deficit.
On his part, the State Commissioner for Urban Development and Housing, Mr Bede Eke, reiterated Gov. Hope Uzodimma’s determination to provide housing for the people of the state.
According to Eke, the governor has already finalised plans to build affordable housing estates to alleviate housing concerns for residents, particularly those in the middle-income bracket.
“The housing ministry will be extremely busy this year.
“Gov. Uzodimma has made it clear in his budget speech that he is focused on providing affordable housing for the people of Imo.
“We are set to begin large-scale housing projects, which will focus on making homes accessible for middle-income earners,” Eke said.
In Abia, the case of unoccupied public building reared its heard during and after the government of Sen. Theodore Orji.
NAN reports that most of the buildings erected in government-owned lands, including the Old Timber Market, Afara Umuahia, former Ministry of Lands premises, and former Ogwumabiri Market at the popular Isigate, remained unoccupied throughout the eight years of Okezie Ikpeazu’s administration to date.
The buildings, which have begun to deteriorate, at a point before the emergence of the present administration became hideouts for street urchins, layabouts and criminal elements.
Also, some residents blame the problem of accommodation on shylock labdlords and corporate property developers, who “over-price” their property beyond the reach of low and middle-income earners.
They allege that most landlords hike the rent for their buildings out of their desperate bid to recoup their investment in a short period of time.
An Umuahia-based legal practitioner, Mr Okey Kanu, expressed concern over the unoccupied houses found in some parts of Umuahia, the state capital.
Kanu, a land consultant and former Director, Ministry of Justice, regretably cited some unoccupied houses in Umuahia built by a previous administration in the state.
He alleged that some politicians and political office holders under the guise of government’s intervention in housing erected the buildings through mortgage facilities.
He said: “Part of our problem in this country is the political system we are operating, which makes people’s investments unsafe.
“People are not willing to make long-term investments because they are afraid of sudden change in government policies, which may ruin their businesses.”
The legal practitioner urged government at all levels to come up with good housing policies, saying that accommodation in the country was seriously in short supply.
“In this state, for instance, if you bring a good mortgage and schedule it, people will pay,” he said.
A real estate agent, Mr Ifeanyi Uchendu, said that many unoccupied houses had become den of robbers, constituting security problem for the state.
“I think Gov. Alex Otti should look into this issue by making sure that those unoccupied houses in Umuahia, Aba, Ohafia and other places are renovated and leased to people at affordable prices,” Uchendu said.
A businessman and landlord, Mr Smart Ndukwe, said that successive governments were not sincere in the implementation of their housing policy.
Ndukwe said that government had the resources to build low income housing estates that carter for the country’s teeming population.
He regretted that government had “failed woefully to meet the housing needs of its citizenry”, in spite of the housing fund tax deductions from the civil servants.
He said that annual rent for a new two-bedroom apartment in Umuahia was going for between N500,000 and N800,000, and wondered how many people could afford it.
He advised the Federal Government to subsidise the cost of building materials to checkmate the increasing hike in rent.
“In the last administration, the Abia State House of Assembly looked into this matter of unoccupied houses littered across the state, through a motion, which did not sail through.
“Most of those houses belong to politicians, who looted the government treasury, but are unwilling to claim ownership for fear of being probed by the anti-graft agencies,” Ndukwe said.
A lecturer, Dr Steve Unegbu, said that shelter as a fundamental need and an important instrument for the security of man from harsh elements should be treated with seriousness.
Unegbu said that the shortfall in the housing sector had become a big challenge in the country, pointing out that a large percentage of Nigerians lacked shelter over their heads.
He also said that the issue of poor budgetary allocation for housing by government at all levels remained a major challenge.
He further said that the decline in the incomes of many Nigerians had further compounded their desire to own or rent recent accommodations.
He urged government at all levels to evolve policies that would check the rising cost of land and building materials in the country.
Unegbu urged the government to provide basic infrastructure to enable developers to access unbuilt areas for development.
He also called on the government to provide housing loans, grants and other financial assistance to Nigerians to enable them to build or buy their houses.
Unegbu recommended increased budgetary allocations for housing schemes and mortgage facilities by government at all levels.
A statistician, Mr Chijioke Chukwuebuka, said that the high cost of building materials contributed immensely to the lack of affordable housing.
Chukwuebuka called on the Federal Government to reduce import duties on building materials and also encourage local production to effectively address the challenge of housing deficit.
He also urged the government to make land ownership “simplified and affordable” to enable an average Nigerian to buy land and build his own house.
He said, “if the government takes these steps, the problem of housing deficit would be greatly reduced.”
Another statistician, Mr Chukwuemeka Elekwachi, said that housing problem required concerted governments’ efforts.
Elekwachi said that different administrations had pontificated about addressing the problem of accommodation for Nigerians in the past but regretted that they remained empty campaign promises and unfulfilled governments’ programmes.
He urged government at all levels to evolve programmes and policies that would help low-income earners to afford decent housing.
A real estate agent, Mr Obinna Isabor, appealed to the government to encourage local production of building materials, saying that about 80 per cent of the building materials used in the country were imported.
Isabor said that increasing local production would drastically bring down the cost of building materials and significantly address the people’s housing needs.
He also said that meeting the housing needs required collaborative efforts from the public and private sectors.
Isabor also called for government’s policies and programmes that would encourage private investors to invest massively in housing to make housing affordable and accessible to Nigerians.
The respondents were unanimous that housing for all Nigerians would continue to be a mirage until the country’s political leaders at all levels showed genuine and patriotic commitment in building low-cost houses to accommodate the larger interest of low-income earners, who are overtly in the majority.