PROPERTY ARTICLES

Lagos-based estate valuer and former Secretary-General, Association of Housing Corporations of Nigeria (AHCN), Kola Akomolede, frowns at the newly created Works and Housing Ministry, stressing that the move is retrogressive on the premise that ministry officials tend to concentrate more on the works aspect to the detriment of housing development.

Whoever advised the President, Umaru Yar'Adua, to merge the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development with the Ministry of Works has taken the country several steps backward. It is, in fact, a very retrogressive step as far as housing provision is concerned. We will remember that we had over the years have this 'Ministry of Works and Housing', which never took housing very serious, but concentrated mainly on the works aspect of the ministry. This was what led to the agitation for the creation of a separate ministry for housing, which ex-President Obasanjo finally accepted by creating the ministry in 2003. Some of us have said it several times that unless housing is given a separate ministry it is not going to get the attention it deserves. Ministry of Works and Housing had always been in name only as the attention of the ministry has always been directed towards the works aspect only, which is mainly construction of roads. The trend is not new, it has always been so. This point was succinctly amplified in the third development plan where it said 'allocation for housing was not usually identifiable having been lumped with works, which usually took the lion share of such allocation'. For example, of the ministry's capital budget of N70.50 billion in the 2001 budget, N67.20 billion was for construction of highways. This is 95.30 per cent of the total budget. The balance of 4.7 per cent was not even meant for provision of housing but for sundry projects like completion and renovation of staff quarters and offices. This attitude of government to housing is not new. Throughout the more than half a century of colonial rule in Nigeria, there was no ministry established to handle housing as there were for education, health, industry, agriculture, commerce etc. The establishment of the Lagos State Executive Development Board (LEDB) in 1928 came as a result of the bubonic plague rather than for the purpose of housing provision. In 1964, general workers' strike forced Federal Government to establish a Ministry of Housing, but its life was very short as it was later merged with the Ministry of Works as it is now done. In 1975, Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Environment was created again. The ministry was merely responsible for broad policy guidelines on housing. The Shagari's administration whose campaign slogan was 'Food and Shelter' re-created the ministry and made substantial budgetary allocations to the housing sector. Unfortunately, the succeeding military administrations thereafter did not see any need for a ministry for housing - a very important need of man, next only to food and clothing. Then came the Obasanjo' administration, which recreated the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development in 2002. The ministry was yet to make any meaningful impact until its death in the hand of President Yar'Adua. Instead of providing houses for the masses, the ministry was only busy selling those houses built by previous governments to friends and cronies of the government officials under the guise of monetisation. The story of housing in the country has not been a very pleasant one and indeed in many parts of the developing world. On the individual level, everybody wants to own a house. The struggle to own a house is like a battle to live. In some parts of Nigeria, a man who dies without owning a house is regarded as a failure in life (a.k.a Okonkwo's father in 'Things Fall Apart' by Chinua Achebe). A house is not desired only for the purpose of providing shelter. It is symbol of existence and it gives a psychological sense of security to the owner. It can be used as security for raising money for business or turned to money on sale. It can also be a source of regular income if let out. Almost every human activity take place inside a house either as a residence, office, hall or theatre for recreation etc. The only time we are not inside a building is when we are on the road or on the field playing a game. All these notwithstanding, housing has never been given the importance it deserves in national affairs. It is no wonder then that President Yar'Adua did not list housing as one of his 'Seven-point Agenda'. To him housing is not important at all. And this is what he has demonstrated by abolishing the housing ministry and returning it to the small corner it deserves as an appendage to the Ministry of (road construction) Works. It is usual for our rulers to have this attitude to housing. They forgot that economic development cannot progress well in the absence of a well thought out corresponding social development. No worker can perform satisfactorily at work if he lives under sub-human conditions. The first few hours he spends at work in the mornings are always wasted thinking of the poor habitat he just left. Those hours before closing are even worse, the thought of the condition in which he is going to be for the next 12 hours or so can distract his attention from work all resulting in low productivity. A poor living environment will also make the workers less healthy, productive hours are, therefore, spent in going to the hospital, with the employer paying for the cost of treatment. Excessive spending on accommodation will also reduce the amount that is available for food. A poorly fed worker cannot give his best to his employer. He can be quite irritable and uncooperative with co-workers. This will also affect the total production capacity. A worker, who spends much of his income on housing cannot but continue to ask for wage increase and/or subsidy from his employer. This fact was particularly responsible for the general strike of the Labour Union in Nigeria in 1964, which forced the government then to set up a ministry of housing within days. Take the case of the worker, who is forced to live very far away from his work place because he cannot find or afford the houses nearby. Besides the fact that he spends much money on transport to and from work, he has to spend hours jumping from one bus to the other before getting to work every morning. He arrives at work late and exhausted, spending another hour before he really settles down to work properly. His productivity at work is greatly diminished. He is also apt to leave the office earlier so as to get home before it is dark. This situation was rightly observed by Abram Charles in his book - 'Housing in the Modern world', when he said: "Not only do thousands of workers in Lagos spend as much as two hours travelling to their jobs, but as much as 10 per cent to 15 per cent of their family budget goes to pay for commutation." Expenditure in the housing sector can generate employment opportunities, create purchasing power for the products of industry and serve as a base for industrial development if industries for the production of local building materials can be developed. President Yar'Adua must as a matter of urgency revert the decision to abolish the Ministry of Housing. Housing deserves its own ministry with adequate funding to enable it provide housing for the citizens of the country.