Abuja, Nigeria’s administrative capital, Abuja, is a city of great contrasts. Architectural masterpieces in the form of residential and official buildings dot the landscape. The breathtaking organised concrete jungle is disproportionally matched by the squalor and deprivation which defines surrounding slums populated by a majority of an ever-growing army of jobless, and largely homeless youths, caught in the web of rural urban migration.
In the early 1990s, at a time many referred to the city as the biggest construction site in the whole of Africa, Abuja as an upcoming modern capital, was a beauty to behold. The journey to and from the city centre to most parts of town was smooth. The roads were well paved and the streets kept clean. First time visitors marveled at the serenity. Security was top notch as the military who still held sway at the time made it the number one priority.
All that has since changed. An astronomical rise in the population, coupled with the global economic meltdown occasioned by the sharp drop in the price of crude oil in the international market, worsened an already bad economic situation.
The notorious Lagos traffic gridlock, which before now was a tale from other lands; is gradually creping in. Movement from one part of town to another is becoming an unbelievably harrowing experience. Robberies and car jerking are now, more than ever before a regular occurrence. Previous efforts made by the President Olusegun Obasanjo-led administration with the then Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, now Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, to enforce compliance with the city’s master plan after several distortions, fizzled out as soon as they both left office.
Ramshackle structures most unfit for human habitation which started on a small scale, have grown into a monstrous industry threatening the city’s serenity. Many of such habitations have sprung up in different parts of the city to accommodate an ever-growing horde of economic migrants most of who lack basic skills and the resources to cope with life in an ever-changing city. Many of the houses in these areas lack toilets leaving occupants to device means of answering nature’s call. Open defecation has become the rule rather than the exception.
Sadly, these shantytowns and ghettos that dot the six municipal area councils making up the Federal Capital Territory, have become breeding grounds for petty thieves, armed robbers and other shady characters desperate to live the city life.
Abuja, the once beautiful Nigeria’s administrative capital, is beginning to buckle under the weight of the surge of men, women and children; either seeking for non-existent white-collar jobs or simply a refuge away from the nightmarish life in Nigeria’s far northern states like Yobe Borno, Katsina and Zamfara currently being ravaged by armed gangs such as: the extremist Boko Haram terror group and bandits who specialize in kidnapping for ransom.
Abuja, is having more than its fair share of a modern city’s nightmare. The collapse of basic infrastructure like roads, schools and health facilities largely due to lack of proper maintenance and over use has become visible. Open manholes with putrid stench of sewage oozing out of septic tanks across the neigbourhood; are commonplace in Wuse, Jabi and Garki Areas once known for orderliness and serenity.
The city is certainly unprepared for the population surge. Dwindling resources and the absence of political will has made it a herculean task for the government to meet most of its financial obligations, inflation has also not helped matters. Public servants, businessmen as well as migrants who are unable to find affordable housing owing to the high cost of living within the city centre and adjourning suburbs, join the ranks of a growing population of Nigerians taking up residence in these shanty towns.
Abuja’s shantytowns can be found all over the city and surrounding suburbs. These shantytowns not only provide housing for original inhabitants who have lost part of their ancestral lands to governments acquisitions, they also provide succour for economic migrants from all over Nigeria especially neighbouring Niger, Benue, Plateau, Kogi, Nasarawa and Kaduna States.
Such settlements which exist within the city centre include: Mabushi, Garki village, Jabi village, Utako village, Kpana village and Kado village, among others that are found within Abuja city.
Others are: Gishiri and Mpape both situated a few minutes’ drive away from highbrow Maitama District, Dutse, Gwagwalape, Dawaki, Dutse, Byanzhin, Karu, Karshi, and Garki villages. Along the Nnamdi Azikiwe International AirPort road, villages such as: PiyaKasa, Kabusa, Karmajiji just to mention but a few, exist.
Most of these communities lack motorable roads while the public transport system exists largely on paper. Residents of these areas who are mostly middle level and low-ranking civil servants, support staff and artisans, all have sad tales about the harrowing experiences they have to contend with on a daily basis just to get to work and back.
Cletus Eze, a public servant who works with a government parastatal with its office located at Federal Secretariat, in the Central Business District, said, “I live in Mpape even though the kind of accommodation in my exact location is not ideal, it is the only place I can afford. I wonder how many Nigerians can afford to pay the kind of rent Abuja landlords demand from potential tenants. My take home pay after tax deductions is N51,000. I am supposed to feed, transport and take care of my family from this amount and a landlord will be asking me to pay N700,000 for a two bedroom flat in Kubwa or Gwarimpa, where will I get that kind of money from? And the story is the same for most of my colleagues.
Arma Ya’u, a resident of Karmajiji, one of many slums located along the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, came to Abuja in search of a better life away from Kano, North West Nigeria.
Though disabled, he vowed not to partake in the once thriving but ignoble business of begging for alms, which for most of his peers in a similar condition has become the only means of livelihood.
Speaking to The PUNCH, at his residence, Ya’u recalled when he first came into the city. According to him, it was over two decades ago, when after several business trips between Kano and Abuja, he decided to stay back to improve his economic fortunes. His brief stay with a friend ended abruptly after an undisclosed dispute.
Ya’u said, “I used to sell grains at a market around what is today the Abuja train station in the central area, not the one in Idu. There used to be a big market where I sold grains like rice, beans and others before the then Minister of the FCT, Nasir El-Rufai demolished the place and I lost everything.
“We were relocated to Karmajiji here on an empty land and people had to use roofing sheets, planks and nails and any other building materials they could salvage from neighbouring demolition sites to put up structures to provide shelter from the weather and other elements. I now sell small items within the city centre. I take a taxi from here every day to go into town to sell my wares by the road side. Sometimes I get harassed by officials of the Abuja Environmental Protection Agency, they seize my goods but most times let me go without an arrest.”
Abubakar said, “I only come here during the dry season, during the rainy season I go back to my farm back home. A friend invited me to Abuja more than ten years ago. During that time, there used to be a lot of construction work all around, we would work, gather money and return to the farm. That has not been possible within the last few years because of the security situation on the roads and in farms in the North East.”
Hong, one of 24 Local Governments Areas of Adamawa State, shares borders with parts of Borno State. Its roughly 922.8 km, an almost 15 hours journey from Abuja.
For Abubakar, who used to enjoy the comfort of his hut in his village, uncompleted buildings which dot the city have served as home for several decades.
He revealed at an uncompleted high-rise building located not far away from the Headquarters of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, Towers serves him and several others like him who cannot afford the high cost of accommodation in Abuja.
The manager of Plan SMART partners, an Abuja based estate management agency, Mr. Oturu Godwin, explained that a lot of things are considered before a price tag is put on a house either for construction, lease, rent or outright purchase.
He explained that things like location, available amenities such as access roads, water, proximity to facilities among other things are taken into consideration. Godwin argued that the cost of either building, renting, lease, or outright purchase of land or buildings in most capital cities of the world are more expensive than the cost of similar property located outside of the city centre, for a number of these reasons. “Take for example, you can get a servants quarters popularly called boys quarters in Maitama for as much as one to two million Naira, but with the same amount, you can rent a house in Gwarimpa or Kubwa and still have something left. With the same amount you can buy land and start a building in neigbouring Niger or Nasarawa State.” He stressed.
These realities and the illusion that Abuja, is a city where people can “make it big without so much of an effort” within a very short time, gives further rise to the number of unplanned settlements which is giving residents sleepless nights. Such settlements have become home to all shades of characters. Hustlers of different persuasions-from the legitimate to the outright criminal, hangers-on, petty traders as well as artisans. In an interview with The PUNCH, National Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum, and Chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Chief Audu Ogbeh, noted that, “The urban poor are the most dangerous people in the world. A number of them come to town and when there is no decent employment to engage them, they become drug addicts, armed robbers and kidnappers that have become a terror to society.
“With our growing population and our heavy reliance on money from crude oil, a product which we do not have control over its price in the international market, we are in for trouble. The only way out of this looming disaster is for us to support the agricultural sector.
“As it is today, those who have ventured into large scale farming lack access to bank credit at affordable rates. The only industry which has the capacity to engage a large population of our teeming youths is agriculture. And unless we have deliberate policies that make this industry viable and attractive, you’re courting disaster.” He explained that the cost of living, especially in Abuja, was on the very high side. Ogbeh, however said, the issue of poverty in Nigeria was being blown out of proportion by foreign “experts” who had lost touch with the realities on ground. He explained that while it was true that a lot of Nigerians were going through very difficult times, he likened the naming of Nigeria as the world’s poverty capital by some western groups to killing a fly with a sledge hammer. The former Minister of Agriculture noted that, statistically, most of Nigeria’s poor live in rural areas and can at least, boast of a hut to put their heads. He made reference to parts of India and even the United States where people live on the streets. He said, “In fact, in India, there are areas in Calcutta where entire families live in cartons on the streets, virtually all their lives. We don’t have that here.”
The need for decent housing cannot be overemphasized. It is one of the basic human needs identified in the Maslow law of needs. It ranks next to air, food, water and sleep.
A summary of a 2015 report titled “Stock taking of the Housing Sector in Sub-Saharan Africa,” prepared by the World Bank Group, noted that sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing rapid urbanization as well as growing slum populations. The report projected 1.2 billion urban residents by 2050 with 4.5 million new residents in informal settlements each year. The study further noted that many households cannot afford basic formal housing or access to mortgage loans. It equally noted that a well-functioning housing market can be a vital economic sector and a potential source of job creation. It observed that housing investments at the time accounted for 6 per cent of the GDP while 5 jobs are created per house built. Countries that took part in the study included Nigeria, Cameroon and Ethiopia.
The report read in part, “Africa is rapidly urbanizing and will lead the world’s urban growth in the coming decades. Currently, Africa is the least urbanized continent, accommodating 11.3 per cent of the world’s urban population, and the Sub-Saharan region is the continent’s least urbanized area.
“However, the region’s cities are expanding rapidly—by 2050, Africa’s urban population is projected to reach 1.2 billion, with an urbanization rate of 58 percent (UNHABITAT 2014). With this rate of growth, Africa will overtake Asia as the world’s most rapidly urbanizing region by 2025 (UN 2014).
“Although the nature and pace of urbanization varies among countries, with over a quarter of the world’s fastest growing cities, Africa is undergoing a massive urban transition.”
A 2019 report credited to the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, which has been in circulation over the years, puts Nigeria’s housing deficit at 17 million houses as of August 2012. Experts note that with our present growth rate, Nigeria requires at least 700,000 houses annually compared to less than 100,000 currently being constructed.
However, the Minister of Works and Housing, Babantunde Fashola disputes these figures. He said, “I don’t know that there is a 16 million housing deficit. I don’t know where you got it from. Before I came here as Minister, I was thinking that this number is from the World Bank. I asked the World Bank, they said it didn’t come from them. Now, if you continue to publish it and reinforce it gives the currency of truth.
“Is this the truth that we need to build 16 million houses? If that is the truth, which country has built 16 million houses in the world and if that is the truth, how many houses are empty that we are not using. So, whether in Abuja, whether in Lagos, whether in Minna, whether in Aba there are empty houses all over.
“The person who is pushing these numbers has factored those houses into use. I asked the National Bureau of Statistics and they said they haven’t done a housing shortage census. They told me that, ‘Minister ignore these people, it can’t make sense this 16 million. If it is 16 million or 17 million, the national household was 35 million if not 40 million. It means that half of Nigerians were homeless because it is one household per house. Is that the reality? Is half of Nigeria homeless? We know we have a housing deficit; every country has more in the urban centres than it is in the rural areas.
“Even in the urban centres like Abuja and Lagos where we have shortages, we still have empty houses. So, where do I get demand for supply? We must understand that we discuss housing not just in terms of ownership but in ownership and rental because no country has 100 per cent ownership.
“The idea is to provide decent shelter over your head. Every country has its unique housing problem. If you go online you see in California there are homeless people. It is a global phenomenon so there is nothing wrong with Nigeria.”
He explained that the role of government was basically to formulate policies that will pave the way for all sectors to play their roles to support initiatives that will encourage and support the provision of affordable housing either for residential or commercial purposes. Fashola stressed that it would be out of place for people to consider home ownership as the only parameter when considering gaps in the area of providing housing for a growing population. Government, he said, has competing needs which will require support and partnership in order to deliver in these areas.
The minister reiterated that when the issue of affordable housing was being discussed, there were two critical problems which came into focus. They are the problem of finance and that of supply.
He maintained that the gap in between was what the Federal Mortgage Bank was set up to bridge. According to him, the bank assists contributors with loans of up to N15 million at a single digit interest rate from the National Housing Fund, to assist interested Nigerians own their own homes. This, he said, was in addition to support from commercial entities in the mortgage sector. The minister also said the bank was equally involved in financing real estate developers all in a bid to help the supply side.
The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari-led regime had on Tuesday, December, 16 unveiled a prototype of its mass housing scheme, at Model House, Dei Dei, in partnership with a private developer using the mortgage arrangement, as part of an initiative to build 300,000 units of houses for low-income earners. How far this will go in bridging the ever-increasing housing gap remains to be seen.
source; Punch
