PROPERTY ARTICLES

The year 2011 was a year many Nigerians will never forget in a hurry. It was a year that brought to the fore,various challenges and achievements of many sectors of the economy, housing and environment inclusive.

Not a few Nigerians were bewildered when a revelation was made that the nation had a daunting housing shortage of about 16 million, a situation experts believe has led to the increase in the number of people living in slums under subhuman conditions.

This was well described in an interview Property and Environment had with the President of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), Mr Bode Adediji, who posited that "in a situation where you are faced with a daunting challenge of about 16 million housing shortage, and the bulk of building materials in the country are still about 70 per cent imported, and when there are serious infrastructural and accessibility challenges, I don’t think any professional within the built environment will want to invest in housing."

The year also saw the passing into law of the Lagos Tenancy Bill, which, drew a mixture of praise, indifference and criticisms from various quarters. For instance, many professionals within the built environment, especially estate surveyors and valuers, opined that the law would do more evil than good, therefore calling on the state government to have a rethink about it.

This claim, expectedly, was rebuffed by some, who believed that the law would help in solving many of the crisis often witnessed between landlords and tenants, as it would, among other things, help to curb the susceptibility of landlords to take advantage of tenants, as well as protecting the interest of landlords from some ‘powerful’ tenants.

Many strides were however recorded in the quest for housing units to be provided for Nigerians, especially middle and low income earners. One of such strides saw to the birth of the cooperative housing scheme - a vision conceived by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), which is expected to give economic operators in the informal sector of the economy the opportunity to become house owners.

When speaking on the development, the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Ms Ama Pepple, disclosed that the scheme marked another significant step towards improving access to affordable housing to a considerable number of Nigerians who might never have the opportunity of owning a home in their lifetime. She added that unless such people were assisted through such an innovative scheme, the category of people who belonged to the informal sector might never become house owners.

There were numerous cases of building collapse in the country in the outgone year, with Lagos State accounting for a substantive share of this unwholesome development. There was a fatal collapse at Idumota area of the state where it was reported that no fewer than 12 people died.

Within the space of four months there were cases of building collapse at other parts of the state such as Ketu, Ikorodu, Maryland, as well as Alahusa, which, incidentally, is the seat of power for the state.

Experts in the construction sector of the country had on numerous occasions denounced and lamented what was considered government’s carefree attitude to the menace of building collapse and the influx of quacks or poorly trained construction workers.

The Chairman of the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON), Professor Akin Akindoyeni, insisted that if past recommendations made by experts were not attended to by the relevant arms of the government, the menace of building collapse would still continue.

One of the things that could be done, according to the CORBON chairman, was the speedy passage of the National Building Code, which he claimed would help to legally deal with any engineer (including expatriates) who were involved in the construction of a building that eventually collapsed.

On the environment part, there were quite a number of downpours in different part of the country, which resulted in flooding that brought about loss of lives and property. The floods, especially those recorded in Lagos (widely believed as the worst in the history of the state) and Ibadan left irrepressible tales of woes and death in their trail.

The rains which eventually led to those floods were attributed to the climate change phenomenon by experts, but the massive destruction the flood waters left in their wake was pinned on poor waste management, which saw many residents dumping refuse in drainages, canals and other waterways.