For a long time, government has paid lip service to affordable housing for the citizens. The Chief Executive Officer, elArc Designs, Akose Enebeli, an architect, beleives citizens will begin to see improvement in housing for all, if the government works its talks. He says to ease the yoke of housing on the neck of an average Nigerian, the Federal Government should put in place a regime of mortgage for home acquisition. Enebeli says the naira will continue its roller coaster fall against the dollar as long as the economy remains import-dependent. He also speaks with LUCAS AJANAKU on Twitter ban and downstream oil sector deregulation.
Shelter is one of three basic necessities of life. What is your assessment of the shelter situation in the country?
Shelter is one of the three basic human needs along with food/water and clothing. With the disheartening situation in the country, problems of housing deficit, poor standards, high and most times unreasonable costs are now more profound. Take Lagos, for instance, there is no reason we have empty, overpriced residential towers in Ikoyi and Victoria Island while we have housing shortages. We need to decongest some of the congested areas and spread development to other areas. If we have proper infrastructure, places that seem far away (like Epe and Ikorodu) can sustain themselves without people seeing the need to “live on the island”. We also have to look beyond the shelter situation and address the urban planning problem. While shelter is a basic necessity, your immediate environment and quality of life is also important. Availability of good roads, recreational parks, different modes of transportation, etc, also need to be considered. The shelter situation definitely needs to be addressed urgently but while that is being done, we also need to look at the urban ecosystem as a whole.
There are over 16 million housing gaps in the country. How can these gaps be closed?
The gap can be closed if the government can invest in mass housing – a cluster of repetitive housing units and is often used in urban transformation. If the government can utilse locally-sourced materials and manpower, these houses can also be low-cost. The government can make soft loans and affordable mortgages easily accessible to the average Nigerian to own these houses. The gap would not only be totally closed, but there will also be a significant increase in infrastructure development and quality of living.
We have recorded fatalities arising from building collapses in the country. What are the causes and the way out?
The principal cause of any building collapse is negligence and incompetence. The Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) and the Lagos State Safety Commission need to do a lot better to ensure that credible, registered architects and engineers are fully engaged in the construction process.There are a lot of construction projects going on that neither have professional architects or engineers involved. The way out would be for LASBCA to enforce and ensure that every project has a registered architect, mechanical engineer, electrical engineer and structural engineer on said project. The Safety Commission and LASBCA also need to have their representatives assigned to projects – this way they will ensure that materials are tested, building regulations are adhered to, quality is not compromised and professionals are a hundred percent involved in the construction process. These are things that should not be joked with and that is why at elArc, we have a team of credible and registered professionals that see through our processes – ensuring that quality is delivered and durability is assured.
There’s been a sustained rise in the cost of building materials. What are the implications of this on ‘housing for all’?
We agree there is a huge housing gap, the major implication is that the housing gap will only become larger. With the sustained rise in the cost of building materials, it will keep getting harder for aspiring home-owners to own their homes. As materials increase, so does the cost of construction and in turn the price of the final product (the house). Project-budgeting is also fluctuating constantly, making it tough for potential investors to project on their investments. So, on every level, the implications are daunting and a general challenge for the building industry.
Do you think the local content potential of the housing sector has been fully explored in every ramification?
No, it has not been explored fully. I think we have barely scratched the surface. We have natural resources like gypsum and iron-ore, which are commonly used to produce construction materials. Yet, we do not process them in enough quantities for use in construction. We also have human resources such as leather-workers in the east and woodcraft-workers in Edo State that are not maximised. We are immensely blessed with rich natural and human resources, so it is quite sad that we do a lot of importion. If we can tap into the natural resources we have and go into full-scale manufacturing, combined with the abundance of talent and human resources we have, I truly believe that the housing sector would be a force to reckon with. More jobs would be created, housing would become more affordable and locally-made items can be exported.
What is the place of the Land Use Act in the housing challenges in the country?
The Land Use Act causes a lot of delays to the average man, who wants to purchase land and develop it. I also strongly believe that the Land Use Act of 1978 is due for review, to address the present realities, ease the process of land acquisition and encourage development.
Do you think it’s possible to replicate the Jakande achievement in the housing sector in the country?
I believe it is very possible. If you think about it, Alhaji Lateef Jakande was governor for just four years and was able to achieve over 30,000 housing units – without the recent advancements in building technology. This automatically means that with the right planning and leadership, a whole lot more can be achieved. We can achieve even better than what Jakande achieved. Can you imagine if every governor in the past 20 years or so was able to achieve a minimum of 30,000 housing units every four years? There is a hideous pattern of projects starting and getting abandoned because of politics or poor succession plans.This should not be the case – there should be a common goal for constant development. Cases in point are in cities such as Dubai and Singapore have achieved major development because of constant growth and development, not individual interests or personal gratification.
There’s been so much talk about mortgage in the quest to bridge the deficit. Is this practicable in Nigeria?
Yes, mortgage is very practicable if the government can partner with the major players in the real estate sector to make the interest rates more affordable and payment plans more convenient. Mass housing and low-cost housing is also a good way to bring down the housing cost. It is also achievable if the mortgage is commensurate to the reality of the average Nigerian in terms of earning power and minimum wage.
What were the impacts of COVID-19 on the real estate sector?
The real estate sector witnessed a near-grinding halt as construction sites took a big blow; government regulations required fewer people on site with some level of distancing, so work became slow and project timelines were extended. When construction resumed fully, prices of construction materials had gone up and led to variation in final project costs. On the rent and lease side of things, a lot of commercial properties witnessed business owners having to downsize as more staff started working remotely – this meant that physical office spaces needed to be reduced. The pandemic also resulted in a sort of depression that had a lot of people take a step back and put a hold on their purchase contracts. The main plus side is the reduced need for physical meetings as there are more virtual meetings and virtual tours of real estate properties, in a quest to embrace the new reality.
As a player in the economy, what do you think the government can do about the ever-decreasing value of the naira against the US Dollar?
The solution is for the government to focus on the major production industries. We have a vast range of natural and human resources that can be exported. Nigeria is predominantly a consumption nation, we need to become a production nation and rely on products manufactured locally. This will reduce the need for importation and possibly increase exportation hence increasing the value of the naira against the dollar.
The government is flying the kite of complete deregulation in the downstream oil sector. Are you prepared to pay between N380 and N450 per litre of petrol?
I am not prepared. I do not think anyone is prepared for such. If, indeed, that is the plan, the ripple effect cannot be predicted. First of all, we do not have constant power which means everyone would have to fuel generators at one point or the other. This will directly impact small and large-scale businesses and will in turn increase the cost of production and/or running the business.
There is also the implication of that on the prices of food. Already, we are confronted with double-digit food inflation. Our main means of transportation is petrol-powered engines, meaning the cost of transporting food across the country can become unbearably expensive.
What are the impacts, if any, of the spat between the Federal Government and Twitter in terms of confidence by foreign investors in the country?
I do not support the Twitter ban and I see how some businesses have been affected negatively. However, I do not think it has affected the construction or real estate industry in a major way largely because the construction industry thrives better on other social media platforms such as YouTube and Instagram. I cannot deny that a lot of Nigerians rely on Twitter for news, latest updates and even business, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs). So to have that taken away from us within the blink of an eye is quite ridiculous.
How has elArc Designs been able to weather the storm of these trying times?
We are very dynamic and solution-driven, so rather than sit and fold arms, we adapted as quickly as possible. We also took that time to look inwards at some of our operations and processes – we had a number of training sessions to improve internally. It was not easy on the construction front as we had to reduce workers on sites and staff had to take rotations for site visits. On the office end, we have embraced all forms of technology for remote work, so productivity has continued as expected. We do not give room for excuses in service delivery. We are also thankful for understanding clients that accepted the transition.
Source: thenationonlineng.
