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- “We are now simply a collection of things. Things we acquire. Our car, our laptop, our phone, our home, if we’re lucky enough to be a homeowner.”
Phil Loder’s (Peter Dinklage) opening monologue in American Dreamer notes how humans have evolved when it comes to measuring their worth. In a world where building a fortune is not an attainable feat for everyone, building asanctuary one can call home has become the ultimate dream for everyone.
“These things are how we now assess value. Success. Prosperity. But are they?”
Phil’s life as an economics professor who had been divorced twice, underpaid at his job and frustrated about his future cut parallel with most Nigerians living in the current harsh economic conditions.
Like Phil, most Nigerians will bite at a deal with a desolate, childless, near-death widow, Astrid Finnelli (Shirley MacLaine), who offers her huge estate for pennies in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that proved too good to be true.
CHALLENGES FACED BY NIGERIANS
“Our things. Our value. What do we need to be happy? What do we want? And how far are we willing to go to get it? This is the human being’s daily dilemma. Your daily dilemma.”
Likewise, and perhaps even more so, owning a home is regarded as a badge of success in Nigeria—the subtle announcement to your peers that life is on an upward trajectory. The weight of this expectation is such that young men in their twenties have openly expressed disappointment at not being able to build or purchase a home before tying the knot.
Unfortunately, the weight of this goal is equally met with a difficult economic situation and how much of a mess the housing situation is in the country.
This article will examine the different barriers that Nigerians face when attempting to build for themselves or purchase a house and the viability of house ownership in the country.
While Nigeria faces many issues, housing sticks out. A CBN report from 2019 notes that only a mere 10% of Nigerians who aspire to own a home can finance it, in contrast to 72% in the US and 78% in the UK. This estimate, which shows that only 200,000 out of the over two hundred million people in our population can afford a house, is insufficient given the size of our economy.
Haliya Umara describes the chance of home ownership as “winning the lottery” in an interview with the News Digest: “The cost of living is extremely high, the economy is not doing well, paying rent is difficult, and building materials and cement are very expensive.”
In the candid words of Abubakar Saqid: “The major obstacles a lot of us face include the scarcity of financing for affordable housing, the high cost of urban land and its unstable tenure, the rise in construction costs, and the prevalence of slums. The cost of living is very high. It’s only the wealthiest people that have a standard house in Nigeria.”
Abubakar Saqid’s observation that only the wealthiest own standard houses highlights the stark wealth disparity in Nigeria. The country also grapples with a high prevalence of slums lacking basic amenities. These substandard living conditions attest to the urgency of affordable housing solutions and the financial means to access them.
Perhaps more pressing is the candid assessment highlighting the scarcity of financing options for housing. Compared to more established climes, traditional mortgage systems are often inaccessible to many Nigerians due to the requirements, interest rates and limited availability.
EFFORTS BY THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT TO PROVIDE AFFORDABLE HOUSING
“Our government prints money like the newspapers of old. What is it all based on? What is its value?”
The government is finding it hard to make housing affordable. The problem is made worse because the government isn’t helping the public sector get involved in the housing market.
In the past, cheap homes were built with a lot of enthusiasm. This hasn’t been matched by governments since. Nigeria needs more homes that people can afford, not grand housing projects for the wealthy in society and the government needs to work towards this.
Instead of using the usual cement and sand, we could try different materials in dry building construction. This could include things like cement fibre boards, galvanized profiles, wood, particle boards, and other less expensive building materials.
It’s worth mentioning that both the federal and state governments have sometimes projected to provide affordable housing but have ended on multiple occasions constructing houses beyond the purchasing power of most Nigerians.
WHAT ARE THE EXPERTS SAYING ON ACHIEVING HOMEOWNWESHIP?
According to building industry experts, Nigeria’s homeownership rate has fallen to 20%.
They connected rising mortgage rates, building collapse, flooding, and high inflation to the drop in the homeownership rate.
According to research by Professor Timothy Nubi, the Director of the Research and Innovations Office at the Faculty of Environmental Sciences, University of Lagos, affordable housing would never be possible given the nation’s 63 per centpoverty base.
He said, “It is time to unbundle affordable housing, redefining our discussion to affordable homeownership and affordable rental housing. Despite housing being the foundation of the American dream, homeownership in America today is about 72 per cent.
“Nigeria is a nation without data. However, considering the poverty level, the homeownership rate should be less than 20 per cent.”
Similarly, Land Republic CEO Victor Adegbile explained that availability and affordability issues had entangled homeownership in Nigeria and that a comprehensive approach was necessary to unlock a better future where homeownership is above 20 per cent.
He said, “The foremost step involves offering substantial incentives to first-time homeowners across Nigeria. To achieve this, grants and low-interest loans are vital tools to hinder the financial burdens that often hinder aspiring homeowners.
“Another vital catalyst for boosting homeownership in Nigeria is the implementation of affordable housing initiatives. However, this would be easier if there was a synergy between the government and private developers. It is crucial for the government and real estate developers to collaborate and focus their efforts on constructing budget-friendly housing units across the country. “
Based on statistical data, Nigeria is the world’s largest black country, home to more than 200 million people. Nigerians are also the most educated immigrant group in the US, according to research from Rice University.
A large portion of the nation’s youth are unemployed, unemployable, illiterate, and ignorant; this is particularly true in the North which has developed into a hotbed of extremist religious beliefs that serves as a recruiting ground for banditry and terrorism.
As such, Nigeria’s housing crisis is without a doubt a pandemic of enormous proportions. The International Human Rights Commission (IHRC) estimates that over 28 million Nigerians do not have access to adequate and reasonably priced housing.
According to the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Nigeria will need to build roughly 28 million new homes to close the housing gap in the nation.
American Dreamer beautifully illustrates that the ending may not always align with our expectations, but with determination and effort, it can often turn out to be exactly what we need.
Similarly, Nigeria, blessed with abundant resources, holds within its grasp the potential to fulfil its housing needs. All it needs is an economic resurgence, a reformed mortgage policy and access to low-interest financing. With these elements in place, Nigeria could once again herald an era where affordable and accessible homes become a reality for its citizens.