Affordable rural, urban housing for a modern society (2)

Housing development plans are professionally handled and designed in today’s modern society by highly trained, qualified and certified professionals from various academic backgrounds, fields or disciplines that are corporately related along physical development and infrastructure value chain, ultimately aimed at setting out aesthetics and aerial views of well planned and developed cities, towns, villages or hamlets located in various places. The physical development of housing schemes involves following procedural steps by a set of highly technical experts in the fields of engineering (civil, building, mechanical, electrical, hydro, thermal and chemical); architecture, surveying (land and estate/quantity); town planning developers and many other structural consultants. They corporately and collectively achieve a common goal, which is to deliver a beautiful and well equipped functional community that offers complete socioeconomic services to the society.

It is understandable that the corporate professional services rendered by each of these units provide the ultimate livable, peaceable and healthy lifestyle the inhabitants enjoy within the society (with minimal risks to loss of lives and insecurity; as guided by their respective professional ethics and laws, under Nigeria’s judicial system). There are, of course, basic facilities expected in such developed human habitats in a modern society; like hospitals, schools, and markets, recreational facilities (parks and gardens), hotels, good road networks, pipe borne water, electricity/power supply infrastructure, efficiently operated sewage system; and a few other social nets that are not mentioned. These modern living facilities positively impact lives enabling longer life-span that is generally observed and captured in social statistical data.

A shelter or home, built through efficient management of housing projects, is essential to man because life, being very short, deserves to be lived well and decently. This is the core reason for investors and housing developers to be given a high premium by the government and civil society organisations (CSOs), by recognising their importance in the society. The Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN) that is recognised by the federal government since 2002, has a great role to play in the economy, with respect to providing affordable low cost modern housing schemes within the entire 774 local government areas of Nigeria as their contribution to economic development and GDP growth in both the public and private real estate development sectors.

The obvious housing deficit per capita in the economy demands that both the states’ housing authorities and the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), need to liaise with REDAN on workable initiatives for mass housing schemes. At the same time, to prevail on all finance houses/commercial and development banks to partner with housing development facilitators and investors in the building industry towards closing any leakage and gaps (with respect to housing schemes) observed in our developing economy. In this regard, the Federal Mortgage Bank (FMB) needs to take the lead, especially in the interest of the civil servants in the economy. Multilateral financial institutions within the continent, like the African Export Import Bank (AFREXIM) and also the housing development institution, Shelter Afrique, should not be left out in seeing that these goals and responsibilities required of the government are adequately met. One is very sure that the REDAN as a body, is ready to do their own side of the tasks for the economy.

Another angle/dimension to provision of shelter to the homeless amongst us is through charitable projects of some spirited non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and foundations. The fundamental reason for this all important social service is that shelter is basic to man’s life (just like food and clothing). Charitable organisations are therefore urged to equally look in that direction. A soccer star, Austin Jay Jay Okocha, who built 100 bungalow houses for the poor and homeless people in a community where he was born in Enugu State of Nigeria (as a philanthropist) has shown very good example of such initiative.

New housing policies being initiated by various state governments have one or two attractive, innovative attributes of our times attached. For instance, in Anambra State, the current commissioner for housing, Pauly Onyeka, is rolling out very useful and beneficial building packages for modern, affordable and cost effective housing scheme regulations within the entire physical planning developmental landscape. The policies of vertical structural development as against the older horizontal expansion plans are already in existence (based on the fact of limited land mass for building projects). In addition, a green verge policy of (at least) 35 percent of the total land area is being applied. This is with the aspect of the waste water hygiene, by every household having a catchment pit, for wastewater collection within the premises. The compliance with regards to climate change concerns, especially global warming in line with the UN’s climate action and mitigation, is seriously being taken into consideration through planting of trees (at least two trees per structure). This is for the purpose of carbon emissions reduction or carbon neutrality (decarbonization) by the process of the existing naturally known phenomenon of the symbiotic relationship between man and tree (vis-a-viz exhalation and inhalation of carbon dioxide CO2 and oxygen O2, respectively); that is the gaseous “give and take” between the two living things, that is mutually beneficial to both. Society needs to (as a matter of urgency) embrace these innovative and life sustaining initiatives by leveraging on them, to preserve the earth for the sake of future generations.          

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