PROPERTY ‘Low-income earners should avoid unnecessary luxury’
In this interview, the Managing Director of Tetekole Interlock, Malam Basheer Arowojobe, speaks about incessant building collapse in the country, high cost of building materials etcetera
What do you think the government can do to solve the problem of housing deficit in the country?
I think the government can solve the problem of housing deficit by making lands affordable to obtain. The cost of procuring land is excessively costly in Nigeria, particularly in cities. Government should map out lands in which citizens can buy at subsidized rates. Also, the issue of land grabbers is worth taking care of, especially in the south west.
Besides that, by removing bottlenecks and bureaucracy when procuring land documentation, housing deficit problem can also be resolved. Sometimes you spent two to three years in trying to get title for your land; I think government should devise a smart approach towards processing land document. Government should also build more affordable, reasonable and inhabitable government estates because most estates built by government are out of reach of the common man. A situation whereby a government-built 3 bedroom flat sells for 20 million naira is not fair at all to the average Nigerian.
Likewise in some situations, those estates are only made available to the cronies of the government at the end of the day nothing gets to the poor masses.
Another solution to the problem of housing deficit is decongestion of major urban areas. Places like Lagos, Abuja and Port harcourt ought to be made less attractive by creating new urban areas where house lease is less expensive.
In the last few months, the country has recorded more than five building collapses, what do you think is responsible for the increasing rate of building collapse in the country?
I think there are many things responsible for them; among them is weak foundation. Sometimes making solid foundation can be costly; they can cost up to half the price of a building. But that is the best for anyone wishing to have a good and lasting building.
You see two important things needed to be considered when you are building a foundation- the solidity of the soil and the heaviness of the building and its content. But some developers and contractors save money that should be spent on foundations and many buildings have collapsed as a result of this.
Another factor responsible for building collapse is using inferior building materials. Findings have revealed that poor quality of materials has accounted for more than 28% of causes of building collapse in the country. Some contractors knowingly use the inferior materials to cut costs, like using concrete intended to bear the load of one-storey building for a four-storey building.
To curb this problem, I think the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) needs to put in more in their responsibility to checking building materials that are offered for sale in Nigeria market.
Also material engineers should also be attached to large building projects by their developers. Apart from materials, workers make mistakes, even when workers are given the right materials to make concrete, they mix them incorrectly. This is owing to the fact that some developers like to maximize profit at the expense of standard by employing unskilled workers who are cheaper than trained builders, that’s why you find bricklayers calling themselves engineers. To avoid building collapse workmen with the appropriate training should be employed for building works especially those working on the structural part of the building.
Also various means of motivation should be adopted, like giving of incentives, good sick pay, and better salary should be in place by the management of any building work as these will increase the will of workmen thereby enhancing excellent quality of workmanship.
With cost of building materials skyrocketing every day, is there any hope for an average Nigerian who aspires to build his own house?
Yes, there is hope for an average Nigerian as long as we are willing to build our desired houses within our means. Building materials vary; we have locally made and imported, also, we have luxury and basic materials. From experience majority of Nigerians do not want anything that is local. Look, if this trend is not checked, the prices and cost of building will continue to rise until we are ready to use local materials.
A low-income earner should be able to prioritize and plan according to his/her means by avoiding unnecessary luxury, by securing land in a less competitive environment. Also there is alternative building technology such as the use of laterite, which is readily available, cheap and durable.
Laterite, otherwise called ‘red sand’ in local parlance, is the residual soil formed by the leaching or discharge of silica and is said to be enriched with aluminum and iron oxides, especially in humid climates.
Building mass houses not as individual income earners but as groups, is also way poor Nigerian can have a home. Joining a cooperative society is one of the surest ways to owning a personal house in an affordable way. As member of Building Cooperative Society you enjoy what you cannot get as an individual. A low income earner buys in units, making the process cumbersome and expensive. But as a group you can buy in dozens. Whether it is cement, granite or other building materials, working in group reduces prices. Low and medium income earners should come together in a cooperative society. It is done all over the world, so it is not peculiar to Nigeria. In UK, it is called building society and in the US, mutual group. It costs so much to build a house as an individual sometimes.