Stakeholders in the built environment have said that the Federal and state governments to improve power supply to support manufacturing sector, cost of building materials may continue to be on the increase. They argued that continuous use of generators to power their factories will always increase the cost of prodcution the materials and that eventually add up the total cost of the materials in particular and the houses at the end.
One of the speakers, Mr. Patrick Obi Ekwemozor, said that the country is abundantly endowed with human and material resources that are yet to be harnessed to fullness. “With complete dependence on importation, Nigerians will only be making money instead of venturing into production or manufacturing. The idea will make Nigeria a dumping ground where second class materials and other manufactured good are dumped. It is very bad.
“The building material markets are among the biggest markets in Nigeria. In fact, structures are being erected every day. Personal houses, malls, churches, halls, mosques, office buildings, and other building projects are being embarked on every moment. Building materials market is a big industry and remains among the most patronised.
“Despite the biting economic effects of recession in Nigeria, the cost of building a house has continued to rise. Between October 2016 and April 2017, several building materials have become more expensive than they were years ago. In October 2016, it cost N2,500 to buy the ¼ of white plywood board whereas, in April 2017, the same plywood was sold for N4,200 per unit.
As expected, this holds grave consequences for developers, the government, Nigerians planning to rent or buy property as well as other stakeholders,”he said.
Another respondent, Haruna Isiaka said that because Nigerians are only looking for where they will buy finished goods, they always buy half baked goods. “This will not be so if they are being manufactured locally. If they are manufactured locally, the environmental requirements will be taken into consideration and that alone will give them the desired qualities. It goes without saying that a high quality building material would be more expensive than a low quality one. “Sometimes, the price difference could be as high as multiples of 3 or even more. And sadly, here in Nigeria, many low-quality products are widely sold because most Nigerians care less about quality. Rather, they play the cost-cutting card and choose products that cost the least prices. The most important thing to note, however, is that high quality products provide long term value and peace of mind.
“And they can even be more cost effective in the long run. Imagine that you have to make a choice between a US-made kitchen sink that costs N45,000 (for example) and a China-made model that looks almost like it and has the same features but costs N15,000. If you go for the cheaper option, you might have spent more than N50,000 on subsequent repair and replacement over the next 15 years, while the high-quality option keeps serving you for decades without any need for repair,” he stated.
Source: sunnewsonline
