It is not yet uhuru for residents of Maiduguri, Borno State capital even though the waters from the massive flood that hit the city recently have receded. Tragedy struck in Bodum area of Maiduguri during the week when one of the buildings weakened by the flood incident that hit the Borno State capital collapsed and killed a young boy.
Many other buildings in the area have also been reduced to rubble by the flood incident, leaving numerous landlords homeless.
There are fears that more buildings already weakened by the flood may collapse and lead to more fatalities as people begin to return to their homes, reports The Nation.
Hamza Kasim, a landlord in Bodum area of Maiduguri, narrowly escaped death when his neighbourhood was submerged by the flood incident that ravaged the state capital last week. He was ecstatic that no life was lost in the catastrophic incident that attracted global attention.
But his excitement was short-lived as his building collapsed and killed a young boy thereafter. Speaking with our correspondent, Hamza said “the young boy was a stranger who went to have a look at the building. It was in the course of looking around that the building collapsed and killed him. We have since buried him.”
Since the building
collapsed, Hamza said, “I have been sleeping inside a net outside the building. I don’t have the resources to rebuild it now. My family is not here with me at this time. When they come, they will stay in someone else’s place.
The predicament of Hamza and his other kinsmen who also lost their houses to the flood has no doubt compounded the country’s staggering number of housing deficit. As at last year, Nigeria had a deficit of 28 million houses and, according to Vice President Kashim Shettima, needed a whopping N21 trillion to meet housing needs.
It has also been a harrowing experience for Umaru, a landlord whose building was destroyed by the flood. He had narrowly escaped with 10 members of his family when the calamitous flood showed no signs of abating. He fled to his brother’s house to seek refuge, hoping to return to his house later with his family.
After the flood water receded, Umaru, filled with joy that his family was not consumed by the flood, excitedly led them on a jubilant march back home. But their exhilaration soon fizzled out as all they saw of their beautiful four-bedroom apartment was a heap of wreckage.
“I inherited the building from my mother. Unfortunately, it has been destroyed by the flood incident,” Umaru said with face masked in agony.
“It feels very sad losing a property I inherited from my mother to the flood incident. I leave everything to God. If not, I don’t know what to say.”
Umaru, who looked highly despondent, would not want to dwell on his predicament, saying “for now, I am not talking about the house. I don’t have any plans regarding the house at this moment, sincerely speaking, because I don’t know where to start from.
“As a commercial tricycle operator, it was one of my brothers’ tricycles that I was using to eke out a living for my family.
“I left the tricycle in the house when the flood came. It took us four days after the flood incident to be able to remove it from the house.
“After removing it, we changed the engine oil and other things but it is still not working. So I am just sitting at home doing nothing. This is not the time to talk about the building at all.
“I am at the moment staying with my brother together with my family. Even if I want to go and manage the only room that survived the flood, there is no toilet there and we are about 11 in my house.”
Umaru feared that more buildings would collapse in the city as they have already been weakened by the flood.
He said: “As the sun continues to shine, buildings are falling down, and that could pose serious danger to people’s lives. This is especially so for people who assume their buildings are still standing and safe for them to live in.”
Another embattled landlord, who gave his name simply as Abba, said his two-bedroom building was destroyed by the flood. He has developed a migraine over how to rebuild the collapsed house he inherited.
His headache stems from the fact that he earns a miserable salary that can barely take care of his basic needs let alone those of his immediate family members.
Abba said: “I work with the local government. I am on grade level 3. My salary is too small. Local government does not pay so well.
“My salary is not up to N20,000. I do extra work to augment what I earn as salary to be able to cater for my family.
“If someone calls me to come and dig a soakaway pit, I will go and do it. If someone calls me to come and do farm work, I will go and do it just to get some money.
“I don’t know how I am going to rebuild the house. Honestly, I don’t know. I didn’t build the house by myself. I inherited it from my family. It existed before I was born, but it has been destroyed by flood. “People are saying that the government will come and help us but I honestly don’t know how true this is.”
Should the government fail to help him to rebuild the house, Abba said, “I will probably go and get a tent and manage my life in it together with my family before I get money to rebuild the house.
“I am currently living with my brother, but my wife is still in the IDP camp. If the government comes to help us, we will be grateful. But if they don’t, like I said before, I will get a tent and use it as a house pending when I have money to rebuild.”
More landlords lament ordeal
Findings showed that the number of landlords who have been rendered homeless is massive.
While some of them are still seeking refuge in the IDP camps, some others are squatting with their friends and relations.
Usman Kadai is one of the homeless landlords who is currently in an IDP camp.
Aside from losing his building, Usman also lost his business worth N6 million to the flood.
His words: “My building, a three-bedroom, is down. I am in the IDP camp. I inherited the building from my parents. I don’t know where I am going to get money to reconstruct it.
“Like I told you last week, I lost my business and cash too to the flood incident. The goods and cash I lost were worth N6 million.”
Speaking about life in the IDP camp, he said: “Life has not been easy in the camp. I go out to buy what we would cook, and it costs N600 to go out. How will someone in the camp have the money to pay for transport?
“The government gave us 25kg of rice and a pack of spaghetti but we don’t have money to buy the ingredients to cook them with.
“Even getting charcoal to cook the food is not easy. We are cooking by ourselves.
“The government said it cannot feed anybody again. They told us that anyone whose house is in order can go and anyone whose building is not okay should stay back in the camp and manage whatever they provide.
“My family has not cooked anything today because we don’t have charcoal. I don’t know where I will get money to buy charcoal and, unfortunately, the sellers will not give it to you on credit.
“The camp is in the town, so there is no way for us to go and cut firewood for cooking.”
Also sharing his experience, Mustapha Mohammed said: “My main house was destroyed by the flood. I am now staying behind the graveyard. The place is an IDP.
“I inherited the building from my father. It is a four-bedroom flat. Everything in the house was destroyed.
“I am just seeking assistance from family members to rebuild part of the building because there is no government intervention in this regard for now.
“All that I am trying to do for now is to see how I can raise two rooms for us to have somewhere to stay after we leave the IDP camp.
“I am at the moment fixing the soakaway because we can’t stay in a place without a toilet.”
Continuing, he said: “The house was more than 30 years old. When the flood incident occurred, we never knew it would affect the building.
“It was around 2am that we noticed the flood and the alarm was raised that flood water had come to the main road, so we went there to check.
“We tried to put sand at the police station junction but before we knew it, the water came through the graveyard.
“I have not calculated what it would cost to build a new house. What we are just concerned about at the moment is how we can put up a temporary building.
“My children are in the IDP camp.”
Also speaking on the situation in the IDP camp, he said: “The camp is not very comfortable because there is no assistance for food. We are just managing.
“I go out to hustle after school hours. It is whatever I get from my hustling that I use to support the family in the camp.
“I am a volunteer teacher. I earn about N19,000 a month.”
It was also a tale of woes for Mustapha Atiku, a fish seller in the Baga area of the state.
He told our correspondent that the flood destroyed “my whole building, a two-bedroom flat. I don’t know how I will rebuild the house. I built it in 2007.
“Where will I get money to rebuild the house, going by the present cost of building materials? Building materials’ prices have doubled.
“I am currently in an IDP camp but I don’t know where I will go with my family when we leave here.”
Nigeria needs N21 trillion to address housing deficit – VP Shettima
The vice president, Sen. Kashim Shettima, said late last year that despite efforts by governments at different levels, Nigeria’s housing deficit remains huge as N21 trillion will be required to effectively bridge the gap.
The vice president stated this in Sokoto at the ground breaking for the construction of a 500-unit Housing Estate by the state government.
Senator Shettima noted that the housing deficit in Nigeria remained a huge challenge.
According to the VP, “Nigeria has a deficit of 28 million houses and we will need N21 trillion to meet our housing needs.
How to reduce housing deficit in Nigeria
Writing on how to reduce housing deficit in Nigeria Bayo Lawal, Co-Founder of Dukiya Limited, said: ”In developed countries in the world, the housing sector is a viable tool for enhancing economic growth.
“In a country like Nigeria, however, the reverse is the case since affordable housing is a mirage for middle and lower class citizens in society.
“Despite the government’s effort to nip this anomaly, and bridge the gaping housing deficit, the growing population especially in urban areas thwarts the government’s efforts as well as that of private-owned companies.”
In 1991, he said, “Nigeria’s housing deficit was at 7 million and rose to 12 million in 2007, 14 million in 2010, and 20 million units in 2018, and in 2023, Nigeria has an estimated 28 million housing deficit.
“Some of the critical factors affecting the supply of housing units in Nigeria include the epileptic financial system, slow administrative procedures, high cost of land registration and land titles, housing policies, high cost of building materials, high cost of land acquisition, and a ton of other factors.
“According to a study conducted by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, the formal housing production is at approximately 100,000 units per year and this is highly inadequate because at least 1,000,000 units are needed yearly to bridge the 18 to 22 million housing deficits by government’s target date of 2033 (if the population continues at its annual growth rate of 3.5 per cent).”
Continuing, he said: “Experts posit that the real estate sector will need an investment of over N21 trillion as well as a partnership with the government to build sufficient housing for the entire population, so as to provide affordable housing units for the populace in the wake of escalating rents in megacities like Lagos.
“In order to bridge the housing gap and provide sustainable housing in Nigeria, there are certain areas that the government, stakeholders, financial systems, and building and construction companies need to look into: National housing policy review and implementation.
“The sole purpose that the national housing policy is meant to serve is to solve housing problems and meet the housing needs of low-income earners.
“A good percentage of Nigerian citizens fall into the middle and lower class category, therefore they are not financially capable of owning a home.
“The national housing policy should be reviewed taking into consideration the financial and cultural factors inhibiting the average Nigerian’s ability to afford a home.”
Restructuring the Mortgage system
The mortgage system in Nigeria needs to be restructured to really meet the needs of those who cannot afford a home, that is, low-income earners. Many Nigerians who are low-salary earners, cannot afford the short-term financing provided by mortgage banks, hence the housing deficit in the country.
According to experts, mortgage banks are not to blame for the chronic lapses in their financial system, because virtually every mortgage bank in Nigeria depends on funding from the Federal Mortgage Bank, and the funds they receive cannot go around to everybody, thus mortgage banks need serious funding in the mortgage market to make it more vibrant, serve its purposes adequately, and be able to reduce its high-interest rates.
Property registration process
Land registration in Nigeria is shackled with a myriad of challenges which has impeded the operational flow of several real estate companies. It is also a contributing factor to the housing deficit in Nigeria. The property registration process in Nigeria needs to be simplified and digitalised, thereby reducing human participation to the barest minimum so as to eliminate corrupt practices, enhance the government’s credibility, and make it easier for realtors and property owners to do the right thing without cutting corners.
The review of the property registration process and introduction of simplified means of registration would make the acquisition of land titles, deeds, and approvals less cumbersome, and contribute to the growth of the housing sector in Nigeria.
Establishment of locally manufactured building materials
The percentage of people who are unable to build a home or stop their construction project halfway due to the high cost of building materials is on a constant increase. The production of building materials locally should be encouraged, under the supervision of expert engineers who will ensure that only high-quality materials are used alongside the latest building techniques, to ensure the safety, longevity, and quality of the finished product.
Mass production of locally manufactured building materials under expert guidance would reduce construction costs, and housing costs, and ultimately ease the operation of building and construction companies in building more homes thereby contributing to bridging the housing deficit in Nigeria.
Private sector participation in provision of loans, subsidies to potential builders
If there are multiple credit systems that are more flexible than the traditional banks, offering incentives, loans and subsidies, loans can be accessed easily with a convenient repayment structure. If multinational companies and medium-scale industries, other private enterprises in the country can make provisions for long-term loans for building and construction companies with a flexible structure and interest rate, it would bode well for improving the housing deficit.
