17 Million Nigerians Have No houses To Live In

An Uyo-based Estate Surveyor and Valuer, Mr John Isangedighi, has decried the inadequacy of shelter in the country, saying that 17 million Nigerians had no houses to live in.

Isangedighi, who expressed the concern in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Uyo, however, ruled out the possibility of all Nigerians having their own houses.

He said that with the formulation and proper implementation of housing policies, 70 per cent of Nigerians could own houses.

Isangedighi said that it had become very difficult for most Nigerians to have decent shelter because of high cost of building, adding that government should urgently address the ugly situation.

“The government has fallen short of expectation in the provision of houses for citizens in Nigeria in general and Akwa Ibom in particular.

“We know that government has challenges like land administration, finances, legal and regulatory framework, but it is its responsibility to make it possible for citizens to have homes,” he said.

Isangedighi said that there had been appreciable efforts by individuals to provide houses for themselves in the country.

According to him, the government had not done much in terms of housing development.

“By now, I expect the Akwa Ibom State Government, for instance, to have a minimum of seven sites and service schemes within Uyo metropolis,” Isangedigi said.

The estate surveyor and valuer called on the state government to map out sites for high, medium and low density housing estates in the state capital.

He also observed that mortgage institutions in the country had not done much in real estate development, adding that it was their primary responsibilities to intervene in the sector.

On the collapse of buildings, Isangedighi advised government to strengthen the capacity of its regulatory agencies to enable them to reduce the incidents.

“People with the right competence should handle building projects; the practice needs compliance with architectural designs and specifications,” Isangedighi said.