'Housing would have fared better with professionals'

• Published date: 10 January 2023
• Publication title: Nigeria - The Nation

Professionals in the built environment believe the sector would have been better if it had any of them at the helm, writes Asst. Editor OKWY IROEGBUCHIKEZIE.

The housing and construction sector has a myriad of problems. Though the issue didn't start today, it became tougher when the government refused to prioritise housing.

For example, professionals are lamenting that after almost two decades after the National Building Code (NBC) was introduced after it was worked on by their representatives to move the nation forward as far as rules of engagement, home ownership, mortgage, quality of materials, standardisation, penalties for offenders were concerned, the document has been tampered with.

Now there are several codes, though some professionals still claim to be in possession of the original document. But, the Bill sent to the National Assembly is yet to be passed.

There are several variants of the code. But this would not have been so, if their colleagues were to be in the saddle.

The National Building Code laid down the minimum provisions buildings needed to ensure public safety on structural sufficiency, fire hazard and health aspects. It contains administrative provisions, development control rules and building requirements. It also serves as a mode code (MC) for the adoption by anybody involved in construction in the public or private domain.

Earlier, while assessing the sector, Fellow of the Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), Asiwaju Kola Akomolede, lamented that the government had not been fair to the sector. He frowned that the Ministry of Housing and Works that is expected to be a stand alone as a result of its growth potential, which used for measuring the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of developed economies, is relegated to the background in the country.

Akomolede, also a member of the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI), also lamented that housing has never been given its due because professionals are not manning the ministry. 'After appointing a non-professional outside the built environment, they will appoint a professional as a Director in the ministry, how much influence will a Director have in decision making in a ministry?' he asked.

He advised that successive governments should be measured by the number of houses they built, the number of home-owners and those who moved up, from say a room apartment to two-bedrooms. He stressed that unless the sector is given its due relevance by the government, economic growth would be...