BEYOND BRICKS AND MORTAR: DEMYSTIFYING THE
AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEBACLE IN A TRANSITING
ECONOMY
By
Timothy Gbenga Nubi
PREAMBLE
The Vice-Chancellor Sir,
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Research),
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Management Services),
The Registrar,
The Provost, College of Medicine,
Other Principal Officers of the University,
The Dean, Faculty of Environmental Sciences a5nd other Deans
here present,
Members of Senate,
Distinguished Academic and Administrative Staff Colleagues,
Your Royal Majesties and Highnesses,
My Lords Spiritual and Temporal,
Invited Guests,
Dear Students,
Gentlemen of the Press,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen.
The Vice-Chancellor, Sir, it is a great privilege and honour for me
to stand before you today to deliver my inaugural lecture. It is the
first in the Department of Estate Management and the sixth in the
Faculty of Environmental Sciences of the University of Lagos. I am
humbled to present my inaugural lecture today, as the first
Professor in the Department of Estate Management. I consider it a
honour and privilege to present, for the first time in the University
of Lagos, the University of First Choice and the Nation’s Pride; the
relationship between academic work and practice in a highly
professionalized discipline like Estate Management.
Mr Vice-Chancellor, Sir, decent and adequate shelter is one of the
basic needs of the individual, family and community. The house
1
and the environment on which it stands have profound influence
on human health, efficiency, social behaviour and satisfaction.
The importance of providing an adequate number of dwellings,
which satisfy reasonable standards of comfort and hygiene and
also contain essential utilities and services for community life, is
immense. Shelter is basically acknowledged to have a profound
impact on the life style, health, growth, happiness and productivity
of an individual, therefore lack of it is one of the worst forms of
poverty.
An overview of the housing sector in Nigeria clearly reveals that
access to adequate and affordable housing remains elusive to
many Nigerians both in the urban and rural areas. The supply and
demand disequilibrium for housing has continued to widen as
population growth continues to outpace the production of housing
units. About 60% of the present population of over 167 million lack
“adequate housing” in Nigeria. Current housing deficit is about 16
million units. Though housing inadequacy is felt more by the less
advantaged groups (low income, displaced, youths, elderly,
physically challenged etc), even the middle class have started to
feel the pain of the acute housing shortage. The current
deficiency, in addition to projected demographic trends, point to
the need for several million housing units to be built across the
country in the coming years.
The widespread development of slums in our towns and cities
nationwide is the physical manifestation of poverty in its entire
ramification. The relationship between housing, sustainable
development and poverty is interwoven and slums provide the
very significant visible dimension of urban poverty.
IMPORTANCE OF HOUSING
Research has demonstrated that housing has the potential of
becoming an engine of economic growth because of its high yield
on invested resources, a high multiplier effect, and a host of
forward and backward linkages in the economy. The real estate
industry, in general and the building construction sub-sector both
2
constitute important sectors of the economy as they are important
contributors to the generation of employment. In 2001 and 2004,
real estate contributed N219 billion and N444.68bn to the GDP
respectively, while the contribution of building construction during
the same period rose from N30.6bn in 2001 to N80.1bn, more
than double over the period. At present, the informal sector is
largely responsible for activities in the housing sector and there is
the need for formal sector to provide leadership in the sector.
i.
Housing as Driver of the Economy
Housing is an important driver of the economy, accounting for a
significant portion of annual GDP in developed economies. Apart
from this, housing generates significant expenditures outside the
housing sector; housing and real estate asset classification leads
to greater market efficiency, stability and liquidity. In developing
economies on the other hand, housing construction in low income
neighbourhoods is a stimulus to the creation of micro and small
scale businesses; as this category of people generally use their
homes as places of employment. This creates a latent potential for
Microfinance for housing that may be bundled with loans for
business development.
ii.
Housing as a Foundation for Community and Public
Participation
It is interesting to note that the need for housing brought up by the
aftermath of the two World Wars is responsible for far-reaching
housing policy in developed countries. The need for (better)
housing generally acts as a catalyst for civic activism, thus
providing a stimulus for the development and sustenance of
community-based organizations. There are opportunities for
empowering women within this framework.
Security
Housing, as the most significant assets of most households,
provide a source of economic security, whose value can be
traded. It also provides a sense of social stability for individuals
within each household and when provided within the framework of
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social capital development, provides community stability that
serves as a source of alternative dispute resolution.
Decentralization and the Democratic Process
The complexity of the housing market, together with the social
connection its provision provides, is governance experience for
elected leadership. The sheer scale of its provision provides
capacity building for governance at the local government level.
iii.
Housing as a Key to Poverty Alleviation, Health,
Humanitarian Relief and Reconstruction
Poverty Alleviation
The desire for home-ownership is a strong motivator for savings
and investment. Achieving home-ownership is also a means of
generating extra income from rentals. Housing provision could
also be used as a means of tracking migrant populations, as well
as bringing people to jobs. It is serves as an asset base for rural
poor with few other resources.
Humanitarian Relief and Reconstruction
Housing provision can be packaged as a veritable source of
humanitarian relief and reconstruction. It is a medium for
resettlement and reintegration of internally displaced persons,
helping them to recover from natural and man-made disasters. In
the last few months, the National Assembly and the Presidency
have had course to pay official visits to the camps of people who
have been displaced from their homes due to the Boko Haram
crisis. No doubt, resettling these citizens and re-integrating them
will require a well thought out policy founded on housing provision.
In the aftermath of wars and natural disasters, housing provides
an opportunity for economic recovery and reconstruction.
Health
The nexus between housing and health is recognized in several
international treaties, policy and agenda. Overcrowded homes are
crucibles for diseases. Healthy children need healthy homes; and
decent housing in a clean environment is critical to the prevention
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and care of Ebola, AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and various other
diseases.
.
THE SCALE OF THE PROBLEM.
The content, scope and implementation of housing policy have
changed dramatically since the early 1970s when urban issues
first entered the operational agenda of institutions like the World
Bank. There have been two interacting drivers toward housing
policies of considerably higher quality and greater scope. First,
there is the very significant worldwide increase in the quality and
quantity of housing research since the 1960s. The second driver is
the rapid rate of urbanization of the world economy. These two
drivers have been accompanied by historical events such as the
collapse of the Soviet system and the demise of central planning,
which have led to a major rethinking of the market institution.
Operating the market institution required difficult reforms in
transition economies, which represented about 35% of the world
population in 1990. This new thinking is called neoliberalism and it
is discussed in detail later.
The environmental and housing implications of urbanization in
terms of additional land consumption alone are very serious as
cities of the developing world will absorb 95 per cent of urban
growth in the next two decades, and by 2030 will be home to
almost 4 billion people, or 80 per cent of the world's urban
population. After 2015, global rural population will begin to shrink
as urban growth becomes more intense in cities of Asia and
Africa, which are set to host the largest urban populations by 2030
(2.66 billion and 748 million respectively). Poverty and inequality
will characterize many developing world cities, and urban growth
will become virtually synonymous with slum formation in some
regions.
Asia is already home to more than half of the global slum
population (581 million), followed by sub Saharan Africa (199
million), which has both the highest annual urban growth rate
(4.58 per cent) and the highest slum growth rate (4.53 per cent).
5
Over the next 30 years, a median projection is that the total land
area of cities will grow by a factor of 2.75 from 400,000km 2 to
1,100,000km2. Moreover, this land consumption affects better
locations: already over 10% of coastal lands are consumed by
urbanization.
The housing problem in Nigeria is more acute in urban than in
rural areas, where annual growth is in excess of 5.8% per annum
in fast growing urban areas such as Lagos, Kano, Abuja, and Port
Harcourt. Globally, Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest proportion
of slum dwellers with a figure of 71.8% with annual growth rate of
4.53%. In Nigeria, the slum population is put at 70% with a higher
annual growth rate of 4.55%. This slum population has been
growing at an astronomical rate rising from 24.1 million in 1990 to
almost 51 million in 2005. According to Renaud (2004) a city
reflects the way its houses are financed. Where there is a wellstructured housing finance system, the cities will grow in an
orderly manner, otherwise incremental development as result of
lack of mortgage and construction finance creates slums and turn
cities to a permanent construction site. The poor state of housing
finance in Nigeria is reflected in the UN-HABITAT 2005 Report on
“Financing Urban Shelter” which shows that while mortgage
constitute more than 70% of GDP in advance economies, it is less
than 0.8% in Nigeria. (Denmark 87.5%, USA 71.0%, UK 70.4%,
Germany 54.3%, Portugal 50.6%, Sweden 50%, Ireland 45%,
Spain 42%, Finland 35.6%, Hong Kong 31%).
NIGERIA AT A CROSS ROAD.
Arguably, ‘the global rules of economic engagement are
bifurcated: one set of rules that embody Keynesian activism for
rich countries, and neo-liberal orthodoxy and free market for the
rest’ (Ifediora 2009). These rules are played out in the
development of international conventions and agreements; they
are utilized as guidelines for economic reforms that would bring
6
Plate 1” A “Street’’ of partially completed homes in Oworonshoki, Lagos
Source: Author’s Field Visit (2008)
Plate 2: ‘Home-ownership’ through self-help in a slum community:
Owowronshoki, Lagos
Source: Author’s Field Visit (2008)
about much needed development for poorer nations and are also
set as requirements for accessing grants and development aid
from organizations sympathetic to this cause. Have these rules
supplied the much touted benefits? The answer is NO! There
7
appears to be some conflict: it would appear that even as
developing nations admit the dearth of infrastructural services for
the majority of their people that are can ill-afford basic social
services such as healthcare, housing, water, electricity, they are
hard-pressed to supply these as economic services, calling on a
disinterested and ill-prepared private sector to participate in fund
raising and risk taking. With this, they deflect these social services
from the government’s balance sheet, (Nubi & Oyalowo, 2012);
but often with onerous consequences.
The mantra of ‘less government’ has become fashionable in these
countries as they adopt neoliberal approach believed to have
brought development to the richer nations of the world. This policy
transfer from large, direct, government expenditure to the seeking
of private sector funds and foreign direct investment is reminiscent
of the doctrine of neoliberalism. Neoliberalism has come to be the
preferred macro-economic policy option, and sectorial policies in
areas like housing, water, and electricity and so on and are being
adjusted to its requirements. Hence, the privatization of relevant
public organizations and institutions are a necessary condition for
overall adherence to neoliberal democracy. Where a greater
percentage of the population is least able to exercise effective
demand and in the wake of the economic downturn, it can be
appreciated that some policy actions would be necessary to save
these sectors from collapse due to non-participation in the market.
This is exactly what happened in most of the developed countries
of the world, which saw the entrance of the government into the
market (not that they had been far from it in the first place, as they
had provided market driven safety-nets for their low-income
citizens). In the case of developing countries, the reality seems to
be that there is continued adherence to the doctrine of ‘less
government’, even as the need escalated and even as private
sector participation has produced less impact than envisaged.
Neoliberalism as a politico-ideological construct has matured from
the original (and then controversial) teachings of Adams Smith
who in ‘The Wealth of Nations’ (1776) promoted individual interest
8
as a basis for national economic development. The construct has
found appeal globally, having been adopted voluntarily by
developed countries and becoming highly recommended as the
panacea to under-development in the developing countries.
Neoliberalism is generally associated with free trade, reduced
government intervention in wealth creation, and promotion of
market-dependent strategies to serve economic and social needs.
Neoliberalism has been held to be the major factor accounting for
economic development in developed countries, and development
agencies operating from this platform actively promote the
adoption of privatization, dismantling of state owned institutions,
and commoditization of state-owned property, deregulation and
cuts in public expenditure, opening up of partnership
arrangements with the private sector, development of foreign
reserves, globalization and a lot more. All these signal ‘less
government’ and ‘more private’ involvement. No wonder Nigeria’s
1991 Housing Policy promoted a private sector driven housing
delivery in Nigeria and an end to the era of mass housing estates
such as the Gowon Estate, Shagari Estate, Jakande Estate that
we used to know.
But Neo-liberalism seems not to be a panacea to
underdevelopment. For developed countries, liberalism and
neoliberalism are natural policies that will be adopted as part of
the framework for entrenching stable democratic governance. In
developing countries however, the situation might not be so
compact. Neo-liberalism has come to mean cuts in public
expenditure, privatization of property rights, rolling back of
environmental and labour considerations and decentralization of
regulations from national to state and local government/municipal
levels (Liverman and Vilas 2006). All these allegedly reduce the
quality of lives of people in developing countries because
production capacity by free enterprise is low, governance is not
matured and the capacity of private enterprise to make profit for
itself and hence, satisfy social needs is limited. This has led to the
concentration of land, production and wealth with a few people
9
and increasingly in the hands of international firms; with the effect
that neoliberalism is accused of being a tool for dismantling state
institutions. It has also led to widespread destruction of livelihoods
to the point where governments are threatened in countries like
Bolivia, Argentina and Brazil and where the promoters of these
policies, such as the World Bank are working to cushion the
impact. In these and a number of developing countries,
Neoliberalism is argued to be a new form of imperialism where
new resources are identified, expropriated and assigned to private
property, commoditized and exported to support capital
accumulation by a few powerful interests (Liverman and Villas
2006; Beer, Kearins, & Pieters 2007) noted that the effect of
Neoliberalism is not uniform across nations and even within
nations; its expression at the national, regional or local level being
founded on historical, political and geographical circumstances
(Nubi & Oyalowo 2010).
Housing Markets and Neoliberalism
Mortgages are instruments of capitalism and the acknowledged
bedrock of the housing finance system in developed economies.
Promotion of mortgaged homeownership has, therefore, been the
primary focus of housing policy since the 1930s in most developed
countries Nubi (2007), Stone (2009).In these countries, adopting
the mortgage policy meant the stimulation of private enterprise.
Several additional institutions to support lending; ideological
promotion, marketing and subsidies are often promoted through
the tax system. However, globally integrated financial markets and
significant increases in cross border financial flows coupled with
mortgage defaults and foreclosures, poor underwriting, poor
regulatory framework could occur to the detriment of the entire
financial and mortgage system Stone (2009) and Forrest (2008).
This is the crux of the global economic and financial crisis of
2008/2009.
With regards to housing, the crucial question seems to be: can the
private sector operate in all housing sub-markets? Does policy
transfer recognize that private sector participation is taken for
10
granted in some submarkets and carefully avoided in others? Is it
recognized that policy transfer in housing fails where the policy
allots market functions to actors that are neither suited or willing to
operate in that submarket? This is one dilemma of policy transfer
for the satisfaction of social needs.
The Policy Transfer Connection:
Policy transfer is used extensively as a tool to circulate
development ideas. Certain factors are amenable for successful
adoption. These are identified by Austin (2009) as follows: an
understanding of the operation and effectiveness of the policy in
its home country, local institutional factors, structures and
processes in both originating and recipient countries, the role of
agents (politicians, policy staff) in championing change transfer
and redesigning it to fit the local context and still meet desired
objectives. Policy transfers are best when they are designed using
‘disciplined inspiration’, which is based on policy designed with
some elements drawn from the overseas policies and not
inconsistent with them (Rose 2005). The founding father of
neoliberal thought, Adams Smith postulated that social needs can
be met by the satisfaction of individual needs, but did not fail to
note that fairness and equity are an essential part of neoliberalism. This thinking has made it possible for private sector
enterprise to be regulated in some form to ensure fair distribution
of wealth. The private sector is heavily dependent on the
existence of a public sector regulator for efficient operations. In
the housing market, this is in terms of planning laws, construction
standards, housing finance vehicles, availability of legal, fiscal and
physical infrastructure etc. If these regulations are congruent, the
public sector can expect private enterprise participation in virtually
all housing submarkets. However, where housing fund
management is still strictly in the hands of the private sector that is
mostly profit driven and absolutely deregulated, neoliberalism
might not really work. This is the experience in Nigeria where bank
recapitalization, a policy that was thought capable of injecting
funds into the housing sector failed. This is because banks are
providers of short-term fund whereas housing investment in long-
11
term would yield investment. There are also several competing
uses for the scarce fund in the bankers’ vault with which housing
must compete. The few developers that opted for the mismatch
got their fingers burnt!
FAILURE OF PAST POLICIES
The history of both public and private sector housing development
in Nigeria reveals that effective solutions to housing problems are
yet to be found. Recognizing housing as a basic human need,
past and present governments have enunciated various public
policies and programmes aimed at solving the housing problems
plaguing the nation. They have identified the core problems
besetting the sector as follows: access to land, quality of housing
stock and access to Finance. The various ramifications of these
problems are shown in the figure below:
The under-listed are the several interventions by past
governments in the area of housing and urban development.
a)
Presidential Committee on Housing and Urban Development
set up on May 21, 2001 to review existing policies on
housing and urban development, and formulate a new policy
for the two sectors.
b)
Presidential Technical Committee on Housing and Urban
Development set up in January 2002 to work out the
organizational structure of the newly created Federal
Ministry of Housing and Urban development; and to also
restructure all the parastatals of Government with housing related functions viz.: Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria
(FMBN), Federal Housing Authority (FHA) and Urban
Development Bank of Nigeria (UDBN).
c)
Establishment of a Federal Ministry specifically for Housing
and Urban Development in August 2003.
d)
Restructuring and Repositioning of the Federal Mortgage
Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) in 2003 for effective performance.
FMBN now has a new organizational structure for secondary
mortgage and capital market operations. The bank has been
re-capitalised from N100 million to N5 billion under a new
12
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
ownership structure comprising Federal Government 50%,
CBN 30% and NSITF 26%.
Establishment of Real Estate Developers Association of
Nigeria (REDAN) in May, 2002 for mass housing
development.
Establishment of the Building Materials Producers
Association of Nigeria (BUMPAN) in March, 2004 to
enhance domestic production of building materials in a
coordinated and regulated manner.
Legislative amendments to seven housing related laws
which include the FMBN Act 1977, The Insurance Act 2002,
The Investment and Securities Act 1999, The Mortgage
Institutions Act 1989, The National Housing Fund Act 1992,
The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund Act 1993 and The
Trustees Investment Act 1962.
Promotion of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in housing
delivery. Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) had been
signed with over 50 Real Estate Developers in the last four
years and some of the private developers have started
building mass housing sequel to land allocation by Federal
Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (FMHUD).
National Housing Fund management and operations have
been reformed to make the fund easily accessible to
prospective borrowers. Since 2006, interest loan on estate
loan has been reduced from 15% to 10% and on loan to
individual contributor from 9% to 6% per annum with a
longer repayment period of 30 years as against 25 years
previously.
National Technical Committee on Niger Delta was set up in
July 2006 to develop a framework for the implementation of
housing programmes in the Niger Delta Region.
In spite of all these interventions, the housing situation in Nigeria
has remained in a deplorable state. With the accompanying high
rate of urbanization, it has emerged as one of the major problems
facing Nigeria, most especially in the urban areas.
13
Furthermore, a diagnostic review of the Federal Housing Authority
(FHA) was conducted by KPMG an international consulting firm in
2005 focusing on FHA’s mandate and operational framework. On
the recommendation of KPMG report, a new mandate was
approved by Government for FHA to henceforth, focus on social
housing provision for low and middle income groups and special
groups e.g. physically challenged, elderly, widows, youths etc.
The proportion of less privileged population with no shelter at all
and the percentage of inhabitants living in slums and squatter
settlements justify this. This number will continue to grow in the
years ahead unless urgent remedial measures are taken to stem
the trend. This informs the need for a viable option for mass
housing provision in the country and this has been my research
focus for the past 20 years.
MY AREAS OF RESEARCH CONCENTRATION
My areas of research concentration are:
1.
Land Administration
2.
Infrastructure Finance
3.
Financing Affordable Housing
4.
Co-operative Housing
5.
Urban Regeneration and Housing Development
6.
Housing Finance, Housing Supply and the Housing stock
connection
1.
LAND ADMINISTRATION: CONCEPTS AND THEIR
APPLICATION
Mr Vice-Chancellor Sir, land is the bedrock of all development
activities. Its availability, accessibility and the security of its title
will determine the shape of development in any society. Hernando
de Soto’s book “The Mystery of Capital” revealed the secret of the
wealth of every developed nation. It is the secret of the potency of
proper titling of land resources. Unfortunately, the present
generation in these developed nations is not even aware of this
wonderful legacy.
14
Land administration is defined as the system of managing records
of land ownership, use and development to ensure economic and
social advantages to both government and the user (Ukaejiofor,
2007). It is also described as “the process of determining,
recording, and disseminating information about ownership, value
and use of land policies” (UNECE, 1996). Land administration can
be used to ensure equitable access to land within the framework
of a country.
Security of title is very important as without title to land and or
buildings, it is difficult to obtain investment funds and venture
capital. According to Dale and McLaughlin (1988) poor land
administration is an impediment to the growth of an economy.
Banks, for example are hesitant to meet the needs of financing
without security of title, because of the associated higher costs
and more significant risks. Legal security of land tenure facilitates
mortgage-based investment financing. Issues managed in land
administration are encapsulated in the process of land allocation,
title preparation, lease administration including subsequent
transactions and mortgage.
An Overview of the Development of Land Administration in
Nigeria
The history of land administration in Nigeria can be traced to precolonial era where land was regarded as owned by the community
and every member was entitled to the use and enjoyment of the
proceeds from it.
In 1863, the Town and Improvements Schemes and Ordinance
which applied to Lagos was enacted. The Public Lands Ordinance
of 1876 was the first law that gave government the power to
acquire and manage land in Lagos. This was modified in 1906 to
apply to other parts of Southern Nigeria. The ordinance was
further modified and re-enacted as Public Lands Acquisition Act of
1917 (amended by the 1958 Act) to apply to the whole country
except the designated native lands under the Lands and Native
Rights Ordinance of 1916. The Lagos Town Planning Ordinance
15
1928 was enacted with the main purpose of restricting land use for
town planning purposes.
In Northern Nigeria, Land Tenure Law of 1962 which evolved from
Land and Native Rights Ordinance of 1916 vested all lands in the
government and gave the Minister of Lands the power to acquire,
manage, and control all lands compulsorily by revoking customary
rights of occupancy for various purposes including meeting up
with the various land requirements of local, regional or federal
government public purposes.
Others laws that have played a role in land administration in
Nigeria are: - Public Lands Acquisition Act of 1973; Public Land
Acquisition (Miscellaneous Provision) Act of 1976 and finally the
Land Use decree of 1978, which redefined the concept of land
ownership and affected the quality and quantity of what can be
owned, real values, valuation practices and indeed the entire
property market. In the words of Bello (2005), Land administration
in Nigeria has a chequered history which is also a reflection of the
country’s socio-political evolution.
Problems associated with the Land Use Decree (1978)
The main provisions of the Decree that affect real estate finance
(and hence housing delivery) are:
S. 34 (2): The right of occupancy is not alienable without
consent; can be revoked unilaterally and does not grant
exclusive possession.

S. 21, 22, 23, and 34 (7) forbids alienation of land in any
manner without consent.

S. 28 (2a) and 3 (b) makes alienation without consent a
ground for revocation of rights of occupancy.

S. 26 renders any alienation without consent null and void.

S. 34 provides stiff penalty for alienation without consent.
Mortgage of a right of occupancy is alienation thereof under
the Act.
Proceeding from the Land Use Act therefore is the requirement of
16
Governor’s Consent on real estate transactions. Such applications
for consent in some cases are subject to such administrative
bureaucracy that makes it impossible for the requisite consent to
be obtained until about 3 to 5 years from the date of application
(Omirin & Antwi, 2005). As banks cannot afford the risk of
rendering the mortgage or any related transaction voidable and
based on the fear that such mortgage without prior consent could
give rise to revocation of the rights of occupancy, delays often
occur in the granting of full banking facilities to customers pending
the time that consent is obtained.
The Land Use Decree of 1978 and other regulatory policies have
created serious problems for residential property development in
Nigeria. Among these problems with direct and indirect implication
on housing finance include:

High cost of land which ranges from N5 million ($30,000)
to N500 million ($1.8million) between Epe, Ikorodu, Ikeja, Ikoyi in
Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Warri and Kano.

Delay by state governments in the issuance of Certificate
of Occupancy.

High consent charges for transfer of interest. These
include fees payable as professional fee, stamp duty, capital gains
tax and registration charge. These are usually more than 50% of
land value (Nubi 2001).

Dual payment for land, first to the landowner called ‘Omoonile’s and secondly to the government for registration of title.

Endless court injunction over ownership, which often
delays projects for years. When ownership is effectually
determined, the developer could be ordered out of site thereby
losing huge investment. Unfortunately, Certificate of Occupancy
issued by the Governor does not confer ownership but the root of
title as determined by the court.

Non recognition of private property development
companies in the Land Use Act of 1978 which limited large land
holding to agricultural and grazing use alone
17

Political implication (and hence insecurity) of the Certificate
of Occupancy due to the Governor’s power to revoke allocation.

Since the Act conceded the land to the state,
compensation after revocation is limited to the development on
such land excluding the residual value of the land. The statutory
valuation method in this case is Cost of Replacement, which
ignores the land value. Compensating only for physical
development on land in accordance to the decree creates a
disincentive to investment especially in areas where land alone is
worth millions of Naira.
My Study in the Area of Land Administration
As an effort towards resolving the problem of delays in obtaining
land documents, The Lagos State Government, in August 2005,
introduced the 30day regime to obtain C of O and Governor’s
consent. We therefore carried out a study to assess the
effectiveness of this policy directive.
The study adopted an empirical approach by collecting data from
the Land’s Bureau, Alausa, Ikeja. Nonetheless, secondary data
was collected from the internet, published works and books. The
structured questionnaire sought information on the following
areas:i.
Procedure for obtaining governor’s consent for land
transactions and the time duration for obtaining same.
ii.
Number of applications requesting Governor’s consent for
subsequent transactions and number of applications granted
consent.
iii.
Number of applications for registration of property dealings
iv. Methods of record keeping
v.
Methods of government involvement in real estate
development.
Table 1: The 30-Day Governor’s Consent to Subsequent Transactions on
Land
Stages/Operation
18
Period
Required
1
Applications and accompanying documents
are received at the reception desk (Note:
Incomplete applications would not be
accepted.)
2
Application is uniquely referenced for
identification purpose.
3
Investigation of status of the land through
charting
4
Assessment of property to determine
applicable fees.
5
Issuance of demand notices
6
Applicants forward treasury receipts of
payment of fees.
7
Approval and endorsement of documents
by the Honourable Commissioner
8
Stamping of document
9
Registration of document
10 Collection of all registered documents
1 day
4-7 days
1-2 days
5-7 days
4-7 days
2-3 days
2-3 days
Source: Authors’ Field work
The 30 day feat, as shown in table 1 above, was hoped to be
achieved through the removal of some administrative bottlenecks.
One of such is the elimination of the need for site inspection
officers. There is a limit to the number of inspections that can be
done in a day given the transportation problems in Lagos. It was
proposed that applicants now submit photographs of the site
which is verified through charting using the newly acquired GIS
facilities. This singular action would not only drastically reduce the
time required to obtain consent, but also, reduce the incidence of
bribery of officers. Another bottleneck would be removed with the
creation of some desks in the Lands Department where all
charges and fees can be paid. The Revenue Department would
now have a desk where all payment and clearances are made
rather than going from one Ministry to the other.
Worthy of mention is that applications requesting Governor’s
consent to subsequent transactions would not go to Land Use and
19
Allocation Committee nor were they required to be advertised in
the national dailies for 21 days. Where private transfer of
certificate of occupancy are involved, it may either be for an
“assignment”, “sublease,” “power of attorney,” or “mortgage”.
Applications for grant of statutory rights of occupancy (private
land) still required the 21 days publication in the national dailies.
The whole procedure would take 17 steps. However, it may take
between 9 months and 3 years before on applicant collects his
certificate of occupancy.
The effect of this change in policy (30-day consent policy) was
not seen as there were no significant changes from the number of
applications received. Currently, a 21 day regime is in operation.
The impact of this also remains to be seen.
For 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 (Jan-May 31st) the total number of
applications received for Governor’s consent on subsequent
transactions were 2721, 3001, 4028, and 2139 respectively and
for the corresponding years 1772, 2553, 2930 and 1141
applications were granted governors consent. Those not granted
consent were refused for some reasons among which are bad
legal drafting of the deed, inconsistencies of signatures, land
being under government acquired land (from survey or office),
charting information inconsistent with what is on the ground. The
question that begs for an answer though is, were these the only
transactions going on in Lagos State over the given years
(period)? And why are people shying away from requesting the
Governor’s consent on their land transactions?
Table 2: Land Prices & Consent Fees Across Lagos State
Period
Location
Plot
Size
Price
(N)
Title
Consent
Fee
Fee
Payable
(N)
1998
Magodo/Isheri
700m2
3m
Allocation
Letter + C
of O
30% of
C.V
900,000
20
Consent
Fee (%
of price
(N)
2000
“
“
4m
“
2005
“
“
7.5m
“
2006
“
“
10m
“
2007
“
“
15m
“
1998
Isheri (Native
Land)
2000
“
50ft x
100ft
(465m2)
“
2005
2006
2007
“
“
“
“
“
“
450,000
Purchase
Receipt
1m
“
3.5m
4.5m
6m
“
“
“
30% of
C.V
N
3,500/m2
N
3,500/m2
N
3,500/m2
30% of
C.V
1,200,000
30% of
C.V
N2,000m2
N2,000m2
N2,000m2
300,000
2.45m
32.66%
2.45m
24.5%
2.45m
16.33%
135,000
930,000
930,000
930,000
Source: Field Survey (2011)
Investigation reveals that people still find the whole exercise of
getting the Governor’s consent cumbersome and expensive. For
example, consent fee before the introduction of the 30 – days
consent policy was thirty percent of capital value of the property.
The policy introduced various rates for land price per square
metre depending on location and also a total of fifteen percent of
spot assessment rate for buildings depending on the type of
building and its location.
Table 2 above reveals that at inception of the policy the consent
fee was still high and in some cases higher than the original thirty
percent of market price. As at today, one can see that consent
fees in some cases are still as high as 25% of market price; the
same argument goes for buildings. The argument is that the cost
of transfer only increases the cost of acquisition of land.
Steps towards Achieving Effective Land Administration
The government’s effort at delivering housing in Nigeria is
commendable especially with the reforms that had been initiated
in the last 10 years. The effort of the Lagos State Government at
21
26.57%
20.67%
15.50%
providing enabling environment for real estate transaction/
development is also commendable. Other sources yet to be
utilized or strengthened are stated as follows:
(i)
Government should hasten action to review the Land Use
Act of 1978 with a view to simplifying access to land titling,
transfer and foreclosure.
(ii) The lands department should be a one-stop shop where all
the relevant division, department and ministry have their
desks. This will ensure prompt attendance to issues
concerning them rather than moving files to location several
kilometers away which often result in waste of time and loss
of documents with attendant possibility of corrupt practices.
(iii) The revenue generated from all subsequent transaction on
land matter should be plunged back to the citizenry through
opening up more land for development.
(iv) The government should reduce consent fees. Efforts should
be made to see that consent fees are not more than what is
required to be paid in alternative transaction like stocks.
(v) There is the need for regular public enlightenment on land
administration issues and opportunities available to the
citizenry for mortgage financing.
(vi) Government should accelerate its effort towards developing
the Geographical Information System (GIS) support to ease
Land administration
(vii) Government should not be involved with direct provision of
housing but should vigorously continue to pursue the
provision of enabling environments for housing provision,
hence, increased activities are recommended by way of
public-private partnership schemes, private developer’s
scheme and establishment of micro finance institutions
dedicated to housing finance.
(viii) The Federal Government should consider the issue of
setting up a National Lands Bureau that will be charged with
the responsibility of standardizing National policies on land
and streamlining the various regulations, practices and
procedures of all the identifiable regulation on land
ownership, titles and security of tenure.
22
Our studies have established the pivotal role of an efficient land
management system in housing delivery. It is hoped that the
above recommendation will receive the attention and
implementation of the government. The ever-increasing gap in
housing affordability, sky rocketing housing deficit in Lagos and its
effect on total socio-economic condition of the people living in the
state requires that action such as recommended in this paper,
cannot be delayed.
Mr. Vice-Chancellor, Sir, in 2002, my department, department of
Estate Management convened a National Workshop on “Land
Management and Property Tax Reform”. The lead paper was
presented by the world acclaimed and highly renowned urban
geographer, Professor Akin L. Mabogunje. The Workshop was
attended by experts of high academic and professional standing in
the built environment: indeed it was a gathering of the “who is
who” in the sector. The published workshop book of proceedings
has been acknowledged as a tool-kit and working manual for land
administration in Nigeria. Some of the recommendations have
already been adopted, while many, we hope, are still under
consideration.
My other papers in the area of land administration are:
1.
The Nexus between Effective Land Management and
Housing Delivery in Lagos. (Nubi & Ajoku 2011)
2.
The relationship between Residential Land Prices and
House Prices in Lagos State, Nigeria. (Gambo & Nubi 2011)
3.
Housing Production through Site and Services Scheme:
The Nigerian Experience. (Nubi T. G. 2001)
4.
Land Use Charge Law 2001of Lagos State: An Overview
and Need for Property Tax Reform in Nigeria. (Nubi T. G. 2002)
5.
Property Tax Reform: An Evaluation of Lagos State Land
Use Charge. (Nubi & Babawale 2011)
6.
Urban Violence, Land rights and the Environment: An
Exploration of the Nexus and the Panacea for Sustainable
23
Development. (Nubi T.G, Omirin M.M, Adisa Y.S, Koleoso H.K
and John U.O. 2010).
2. INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCE
Ostensibly new, the problems facing today’s generation of
governments and infrastructure planners are, in reality, quite old.
These problems include:
 Getting infrastructure development started or reinvigorated to
improve economic efficiency and raise the standard of living.
 Starting and sustaining private sector entities such as
architectural and engineering consulting firms, manufacturers
of suppliers and equipment and developers of new technology;
 Building public sector institutions which facilitate economic
activity, encouraging competition and increasing the
transparency of government regulation and legislation;
 Producing steady technological refreshment of infrastructure,
including replacing ‘dumb’ with ‘smart’ systems, ‘dirty’ with
‘green’ systems etcetera.
 Attracting both public and private sector investment of capital.
Government continues to search for stable procurement systems,
which let new ideas, new technologies, new capital and new firms
in, while allowing existing firms to grow and evolve. Postindependence urban administration in Nigeria had relied heavily
on traditional method of project procurement. These traditional
methods are, according to Miller (1996) and Nubi (2001)
characterized by cost overrun, hyper-inflated contract
abandonment etc.
The new wave in the world of public infrastructure procurement is
the rebirth of project delivery and finance which depart from the
traditional procurement practice. This is facilitated by globalization
and development in IT (Nubi 2001). Over the past decade, the
engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) sector throughout
the world has developed broad expertise in the full range of
24
project delivery and finance methods, including design-bid-build
(DBB), design-build (DB), design-build-operate (DBO), and
building-operate-transfer (BOT). The literature confirms that, for
each available delivery method, substantial knowledge,
experience and judgment are required for success. After any one
of these delivery methods is chosen, successful implementation of
that method requires careful planning, detailed scheduling, timely
materials and equipment acquisition and proper integration of all
the design and construction elements.
Choice of delivery method directly affects choice of technology,
design approach, construction method, facility operations and
project finance. The emerging mix of project delivery and finance
options necessarily implies new opportunities to package projects
in order to optimize not just one but a portfolio of infrastructure
facilities. Figure 2 below shows various options available today.
Mr. Vice Chancellor, Sir, our work in this area are published in the
following papers:
1. Construction Procurement System: Need for Paradigm Shift.
(Nubi T. G. 2001).
2. Infrastructure Finance in Lagos Metropolis. (Nubi T.G. &
Ukabam T.A 2010).
3. “Procuring, Managing and Financing Urban Infrastructure in
Nigeria” (Omirin M.M, Nubi T.G, & Fawehinmi A.S. 2002).
All the procurement methods shown in Figure 2 are defined in two
dimensions: the means of project delivery and the means of
project finance. The term ‘owner’ refers to the public entity
procuring infrastructure facilities or services, and contractor refers
to the successful bidder or proposer that merges as the winner of
the procurement process.
Figure 2: Delivery options
IV
Direct
25
I
Parallel Prime (PP)
Design-Bid-Build (DBB)
Construction management (CM)
Segmented
Turnkey (TKY) Pure operate and maintain
Design-build (DB) Turnkey with finance (super TKY)
Fast track (FT) Design-build-operate (DBO)
Design-build-operate-maintain (DBOM)
Combined delivery
Build-operate-transfer (BOT)
Build-own-operate (BOO)
Design-build-operate-transfer (DBOT)
Build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT)
III
Indirect
II
Note: horizontal axis = continuum of delivery methods; vertical axis = continuum
of government finance methods.
(Reproduced by kind permission of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.)
Innovations enter the infrastructure portfolio through each of the
individual segments in the procurement process (design,
construction, finance, operations, and maintenance) and through
combinations of these segments (DB, DBO, BOT). Only a broad
mix of procurement offers a stable base for broader economic and
environmental strategies. A three-quadrant strategy in which a
steadily evolving mix of public and private delivery or finance is
the express goal:
Figure 3: A Stable Procurement Strategy
Direct
IV
I
Segmented
Combined
26
III
II
Indirect
The three-quadrant model encourages entirely new groups of
individuals – technology suppliers and financiers – to participate
more actively in infrastructure renewal through the integrated
procurement process of DBO and BOT.
The three-quadrant model encourages stronger competition
among firms, not only on initial cost for DBB and DB but also on
life-cycle cost, time of performance and quality of performance.
The impact on capital availability –Lagos State recently
identifies roads that would be procured through private
arrangement in quadrant II. Lekki Epe Express road procured
under this arrangement is a living testimony of success. The
three-quadrant model encourages government to obtain
independent checks on the economic and technical viability of
large projects through DBO and BOT competitions. Such checks
will gradually permit governments to adjust the allocation of
projects across the quadrants so that private capital is reasonably
and reliably attracted to viable projects in quadrant II and to those
projects in quadrant I where government financial backing
(through cash substitutes) is clear. Private capital financing of
such projects will, in turn, create new opportunities for government
better to allocate direct cash payments to projects in quadrants IV
and I.
Conclusions
The growing acceptance of multiple project delivery and finance
methods necessarily implies that government will be increasingly
faced with strategic choices whether to use ‘public’ or ‘private’
27
mechanism in the provision of infrastructure facilities and services.
History teaches that purely public and purely private delivery
mechanisms are unreliable, unstable and averse to innovation.
Steady, sustainable improvement in the infrastructure portfolio will
be achieved through a transparent, mixed strategy – a threequadrant model – which encourages individuals and firms to
innovate, which encourages technology developers and investors
to enter and which is simple for participants to understand and
use. A flexible, reliable, mixed public – private procurement
strategy is required if broader questions related to the economy
and the environment are to be coherently addressed through
procurement systems. Governments, at all levels, are now in a
position to use alternative delivery mechanisms to make dramatic
improvements in the technology used in the infrastructure
portfolio, in the quality of infrastructure services and in cash flow.
3.
FINANCING AFFORDABLE HOUSING
According to Nothaft and Surette (2002), housing in developed
countries conventionally costs three to four times the combined
annual incomes of the owners so that virtually all housing is
bought or built with credit finance. With a typical deposit of 20 per
cent of the total price, finance is needed to cover about 80 per
cent of costs and is usually repayable over twenty years. For
households in developed countries, this debt burden is
manageable because, although the finance is repaid at positive
interest rates, income growth is likely to be relatively constant and
predictable, and the family cycle dictates that most households will
have reduced outgoings over time (Diamond 1992, and Hamnett
1994).
By contrast, households in developing countries, according to Ogu
(1996) face a series of problems in attempting to access finance
with which to resolve their housing needs. Despite enormous
absolute housing deficits and the need to improve the existing
stock, housing finance often represents less than 10 per cent of all
28
financial transactions. To make matters worse, many housing
finance institutions post losses amounting to many times the value
of their capital reserves, and have been prone to invest in highly
speculative ventures with consequent boom-bust swings in their
portfolio. They have a track record of delivering funds only when
government subsidies are available and only, then, to the betteroff 10-20 per cent of households (Boleat 1987, UNCHS 1991). Not
surprisingly, most estimates of housing investment as a proportion
of GDP in developing countries provide figures substantially below
those of developed countries (Buckley 1996, Malpezzi 1990,
Renaud 2004, World Bank 1993). While it is about 20% in
developed nations, it is less than 4% in developing nations, i.e.,
countries like Nigeria. This situation means that most households
have to 'chase loans' with upwards of 80 per cent of housing
finance transactions taking place in the informal economy (Okpala
1986, Renaud 2004).
Like any developing country, Nigeria has limited resources in
materials and technology. In addition, the nation faces population
explosions and experiences continuously rising needs. At the
early stages of the nation's development, little attention was paid
to housing problems. It was not until 1979 that government made
housing provision a major issue. Since then “ambiguous” or
“ambitious” targets, which were never realized, were set. There
are many reasons for the failure of past housing schemes and
policies, prominent among them is the issue of finance. Apart from
an increase in poverty level in the country, the paternalistic
approach of funding housing project with no efficient structure for
cost recovery (Agbola & Olatubara, 1992) also constituted a major
constraint. Another serious problem is the inability to evolve a
saving culture with proper understanding of the flow of money.
The capital market itself is at its formative stage. Housing
production, being capital intensive, requires credit support. The
most tested form of finance system all over the world is Mortgage
Financing. Unfortunately the Mortgage Institutions have not met
Nigeria’s aspirations. According to Abram (1961):
29
Absence of a mortgage-financing mechanism is one of the most
telling indices of underdevelopment. A mortgage system is
accepted as essential almost everywhere. Polonius's advice,
"Neither a borrower nor a lender be", would, if followed, make it
impossible for most people to own their homes. In countries with
the highest per capita incomes, a middle-class breadwinner must
have twice his annual gross income to buy a modest house, but
by the time he can accumulate it, he may be dead. Since
urbanization has been universally accompanied by rising costs of
homes, a shortage of capital for the purchase, and a gap between
income and shelter cost, the only way of acquiring a home is by
going into debt. A good house should last at least a lifetime. In the
more developed nations where a mortgage system exists, the
house is built first and paid for in installments out of earnings. If
there is no financing mechanism, families have no alternative but
to rent (if they can), build a cheap makeshift, crowd into small
spaces, squat, or sleep on the streets. Absence of a mortgage
system can lead to stagnation of the building and materials
industries, increased unemployment, social discontent, and in
some instances even political upheaval.
Our research into Mortgage systems between 2002 and 2012
were published in the following papers:
1.
Institutional Barriers to Mortgage Investment Risks in
Nigeria. (Odekoya A.J. & Nubi T.G. 2011)
2.
Housing Finance between Social Needs and Economic
Realities: The Dilemma of Policy Transfer under Neo-liberalism.
(Nubi, T. & Oyalowo, B. 2010).
3.
Effectiveness of Capital Market in Residential Housing
Provision in Nigeria:
Are REDAN members exploring the
Opportunities? (Nubi T.G., Idowu O.B.A & Osagie J.U. 2010).
4.
PAASO Model: A Tool Kit for Evaluating Mortgage Finance
Effectiveness in Nigeria (Nubi T.G. & Omirin M.M 2010).
5.
A study of the Nigerian Bank Re-capitalisation Policy:
implications for Real Estate Financing (Nubi T.G & Atilola M.I.
2010).
30
6.
Increasing Mortgage Finance Efficiency in Nigeria. (Nubi
T.G. 2007).
7.
The Role of Primary Mortgage Institutions in Housing
Delivery. (Nubi T.G. & Omirin M.M. 2007).
8.
Secondary Mortgage Market in Nigeria: The Old is Dead, is
the New Ready to be born? (Nubi T.G 2007).
9.
Flying with One Wing: Dilemma of Mortgage Banking
System without a Secondary Market. (Nubi T.G. 2001).
10. “Financing Low Income Housing in Nigeria cities: - Need for
Paradigm Shift”. (Nubi T. G. 2002).
Findings on Mortgage Finance System
Access to Mortgage Finance:
The Mortgage Bank for Africa Building Society (MBABS)
metamorphosed into Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) in
1977, with a takeoff capital of N20 million from Federal
government. As earlier mentioned, this forerunner lacked
prerequisite experience required to run mortgage banks. The bank
at no time was able to meet up with the pressure of demand. The
situation worsened from 2: 1 application to available fund ratio in
1979 to 4: 1 in 1986. Since then the bank has never really been
able to meet up with such demand. It is, therefore, imperative that
other sources of funds must be exploited if the bank is to make
any meaningful impact on the housing sector.
More recently, table 3 shows the amortization schedule of
mortgage finance at 6% interest rate as prepared by FMBN.
According to the table, affordability according to FMBN is 30% of
applicant’s income that could be devoted to mortgage servicing
without default in repayments. This gives N6, 250.00. / Month
when the annual income is N250,000.00. From amortization table
this is lower than the N7, 164.31 required to qualify for N1m loan
at 6% for 20 years.
From the study, the least price of a two-bedroom house built by a
typical corporate developer is N2.5m. This agrees with newspaper
reports during the research period on prices of houses in
31
Table 3
Loan Amount At Six (6) Percent Interest Rate
TENOR (Years)
5
10
15
20
25
30
Loan Amount
Repayment N
Monthly Loan
Repayment (N)
Monthly Loan
Repayment N
Monthly Loan
Repayment N
Monthly Loan
Repayment N
Monthly Loan
Repayment N
Monthly
LoanRepayment
50,000.00
966.64
555.10
421.93
358.22
322.15
299.78
100,000.00
250,000.00
500,000.00
750,000.00
1,933.28
4,833.20
9,666.40
14,499.60
1,110.21
2,775.51
5,551.03
8,438.57
843.86
2,109.64
4,219.28
6,328.93
716.43
1,791.08
3,582.16
5,373.23
644.30
1,610.75
3,221.51
4,832.26
599.55
1,498.88
2,997.75
4,496.63
1,000,000.00
1,250,000.00
1,500,000.00
1,750,000.00
19,332.80
24,166.00
28,999.20
33,832.40
11,102.05
13,877.56
16,653.08
19,428.59
8,438.57
10,548.21
12,657.85
14,767.49
7,164.31
8,955.39
10,746.47
12,537.54
6,443.01
8,053.77
9,664.52
11,275.27
5,995.51
7,949.38
8,993.26
10,492.13
2,000,000.00
2,250,000.00
2,500,000.00
38,665.60
43,498.80
48,332.00
22,204.10
24,979.61
27,755.13
16,877.14
18,986.78
21,096.42
14,328.62
16,119.70
17,910.78
12,886.03
14,496.78
16,107.54
11,991.01
13,489.89
14,988.76
2,750,000.00
3,000,000.00
3,250,000.00
3,500,000.00
53,165.20
57,998.40
62,831.60
67,664.81
30,530.64
33,306.15
36,081.66
38,857.18
23,206.06
25,315.70
27,425.35
29,534.99
19,701.85
21,492.93
23,284.01
25,075.09
17,718.29
19,929.04
20,339.80
22,050.55
16,487.64
17,986.52
19,485.39
20,984.27
3,750,000.00
4,000,000.00
4,250,000.00
4,500,000.00
72,498.01
77,331.21
82,164.41
86,997.61
41,632.69
44,408.20
47,183.71
49,959.23
31,644.63
33,754.27
35,863.92
37,973.56
26,866.16
28,657.24
30,448.32
32,239.40
24,861.30
25,722.06
27,322.81
28,993.56
22,483.14
23,982.02
25,480.90
26,979.77
4,750,000.00
5,000,000.00
91,830.81
96,830.01
52,734.74
55,510.25
40,083.20
42,192.84
34,030.48
35,821.55
30,004.32
32,215.07
28,478.65
29,977.53
source: FMHUD (2004) P. 21
32
cities in Nigeria. If the researcher should, therefore, assume a
modest price of N2.5m for a 2-bedroom house, monthly loan
repayment of N2.5m loan on such a house is N17, 910.78. This
implies that for N2.5m loan to be approved, applicants must be
earning not less than N716, 430.00 p.a. that is N59, 702.50 per
month. But less than 20% of workers studied earn this. It is
important to state that the higher the income, the lower the
amortization period and the higher also the repayment amount.
This explains why applications were not often approved. Twenty
years repayment term was assumed because it takes about 10
years to qualify for housing loan out of 30 year service period in
most organizations. In government employment, it takes about 5
years to get an appointment confirmed and almost same time to
save towards land purchase and deposit required by PMI(s). The
above foregoing happens when the applicant seeks loans to build.
If he has to buy a house, then the advertised prices in the national
newspapers should be used and, in most cases, advertised prices
of two-bedroom flat are more than 2.5 million naira. At that rate,
the problem of inaccessibility and non-affordability is made worse.
Lack of expertise: Pure commercial and merchant bankers led
the pioneers of PMI with management staff drawn from among
fresh graduates, underemployed graduates under National
Directorate of Employment (NDE) and the jobless on the streets. It
is sufficient to say that the forerunners of primary mortgage banks
in Nigeria were grossly inexperienced in the subject.
Ability to Mobilise Savings: Whatever organizational form a
housing financing system takes - savings and loans association,
building society, national housing bank, or some combination of
these - no single aspect of its operation is likely to determine its
success or failure than its ability to mobilise savings (Christian,
1980).
This involves proper understanding of the three basic motives for
33
holding money - transaction balance, contingency balance and
investment balance. There is a presumption that savings or fund
markets divide between transaction balance, which gravitate
towards commercial banks; contingency balance, which are the
natural milieu of housing finance institutions, and investment
balance, under which money tends to flow to the highest bidder.
This constitutes a major source of fund for the broader capital
market.
NHF provided that 2.5% of the income of workers be paid to the
fund as mandatory savings. This has generated a lot of
controversies and criticisms. Media reports show that there has
been repeated calls for its abrogation (Oshiomole 2001). The
advantage of compulsory saving scheme according to Christian
(1980) is that it can mobilise relatively large amount of funds in a
short period of time and if continued, it can provide a stable flow of
resources to housing finance institutions. Compulsory saving had
been used to finance 80% of the housing requirement of countries
like Singapore. It has succeeded in Korea (Abiodun 1999, Nubi
2001, Bichi 2000).
Absence of Vibrant Secondary Mortgage System: In nations
where PMIs have worked, it was equally noted that holistic
approach of mortgage finance was adopted. The PMIs grew
alongside secondary mortgage institution– the much-needed
second wing required by the eagles of the housing finance system
to fly. While Developed Nations had developed their Secondary
Market, banking in Nigeria remains traditionally primary. The
Stock Market, Insurance industries, Information Technology (IT),
Legal/Regulation instruments and other basic infrastructure
needed for secondary banking were not developed.
Unbundled Mortgage System: This is where the business of
origination and servicing are being carried out by some
Institutions. (Case study of Shagari Estate)
34
Figure 4: This is what is likened to flying with one wing.
Source: Lea (2003)
The Importance of a Secondary Mortgage Market (SMM):
For housing finance to be successful, continuous flow of funds
must be guaranteed. Secondary mortgage markets are a means
to an end. The end is to increase the flow of funds to housing. A
secondary market provides the means to accomplish this end by
bringing together the originators of mortgage loans with the
ultimate investors. It does this by developing new instruments and
institutions that can lower the risks of mortgage lending for
originators and provide them with new funding outlets. The whole
process of mortgage practice is unbundled as shown below.
It can also overcome institutional or geographic segmentation in
the market. In countries without secondary markets, one class of
institution frequently provides housing finance.
Figure 5: Unbundled Mortgage Delivery System – Modern Model
Source: Lea (2003)
PRIMARY MORTGAGE INSTITUTIONS (PMIS) AND THEIR
OPERATIONS
Structure: The operations of PMIs remain bundled; all their
operations are done in-house. This creates limited accessibility. If
35
operations are unbundled, mortgage brokers, for instance, will be
licensed to operate. Mortgage brokers by the level and size of the
firms require little capital to start and operate. They usually act in
most part of developed economies as originators and servicers of
mortgage. Their operations often bring phenomenal increase in
the volume of origination of loans. The insurance companies are
very good examples of this model for instance, many vehicle
owners in remote settlements in Nigeria do insure their vehicles
without coming to the cities.
Locations of PMIs
Location is believed to be an essential factor in determining the
degree of physical accessibility, hence, the overall effectiveness of
mortgage finance. About 70% of the operating PMIs are in Lagos
and Abuja. It was discovered that out of 58 PMIs in Lagos, 40 are
in Victoria Island. By virtue of their location, they are only
accessible to the high net-worth bracket in the society. Mortgage
operation in its ideal state, according to Vuyisani (2001) requires
face-to-face transaction. The distance imposed by location is,
therefore, an accessibility constraint. PMIs in Abuja are also
clustered in the Central District. There are more areas with great
demand like Kuboi, Karu, Sulejah, etc. In other states of the
federation, the PMIs are located in the state capitals. Town and
cities like Shagamu and Ijebu-Ode in Ogun State with population
of about 500,000 each have no PMIs. This confirmed Agbola’s
(1987) claim that mortgagors do incur more than what they
needed to amortize their loan on transportation from Shaki to
Ibadan in Oyo State. About 60% of the PMIs operate from their
main office without any branch. 28% have 1-3 branches, 6%
operate between 4-6 branches while another 6% have more than
6 branches. Those that have more than 6 branches are
subsidiaries of commercial banks. This category of PMIs, - like
Union Homes, a subsidiary of Union Bank and Co-operative
Savings and Loan of Co-operative Bank, use that parent
companies locational advantage to run their mortgage business.
Mr Vice chancellor Sir, on Friday 31st July 2015, a journalist
36
phoned me and wanted my opinion on CBN’s threat to close down
PMI’s that are engaged with other business rather than mortgage.
My reaction was ‘Igbayi Laro’ As far back as 2005, I have reported
this development and the danger to the evolution of the industry.
Type of business
None of the PMIs concentrate solely on mainstream mortgage
banking. About 80% are engaged in direct construction for sale.
Another 57% are concentrating on Local Purchasing and Order
(LPO) financing, e.g., selling of building materials and even other
non-construction material, 60% are engaged in merchandising,
70% operate as commercial banks, that is, receiving deposit and
giving out short-term loan for traders and other non-housing
customers. This is a serious problem because Ansa (2003)
warned that it is too risky for PMI to combine credit risk with
construction risk. There is no doubt that lack of focus is a serious
constraint to the evolution of virile PMIs. Many of the PMIs have
housing estates in Lagos and Abuja, Examples are Hallmark
Estate at Ikorodu, Lagos State Co-operative Estate at Ibadan,
Abeokuta and Abuja.
Sources of Fund
About 80% of the PMIs rely on their equity to fund loans while only
about 10% have accessed the National Housing Fund (NHF). But
the nature of such transaction is to sell their portfolio to FMBN,
which is more or less a pseudo-secondary market. This only
ensures liquidity but still requires the PMIs to do initial loan
funding. Some of the PMIs have criticized this requirement of
FMBN that places a condition of existence of mortgage blocks on
access to funds.
Capital Base of PMI
The business of PMIs is primarily to advance loan to potential
borrowers for home ownership. The amount of loan originated,
therefore, depends on the capital base of the PMIs. The
requirement for licensing was N5m in 1992. This was increased to
37
N10m in 1996 and then N100m in 2001. It was not until 1996 that
one PMI recorded N100 million capital base. As at 2002, 8 (25%)
have not been able to meet up with the required N100 million
capitalization. The research revealed that in 2002 only one (1)
PMI has between N401m-N500m and none has more than half a
billion naira. The CBN in November 2004 warned that PMIs that
had not met up with the N100m should do so or have their license
withdrawn (The Guardian 2004). With the N25billion capitalization
base regime imposed on commercial banks, other financial
sectors like the PMIs and Insurance are already jittery. The PMIs’
inability to meet up with the N100m capitalization is a cause for
concern. With the loan ceiling being pushed to N5m, it means
PMIs with limited capital base can only grant an average of N2m
loan to 50 applicants.
At the commencement of the National Housing Fund in 1992, the
loan ceiling was N500,000.00. This was increased to N1.5m in
1995 and later N5m in 2002. The essence of this increase in
amount of loan was to increase the loan to value (LTV) ratio. 40%
of the PMIs claimed to be offering average loan of N2.5m to N3m,
22% gives between N2m – N2.5m, 6% gives between N1.5m –
N2m, 13% gives N1m – N1.5m while 19% gives less than N1m.
The above shows that the number of applications often exceeds
loan approved. On time taken to get loans approved, 41%of the
PMIs claimed that it takes over 13 months. This is in agreement
with Ogunleye (1998), who claimed that long delays in granting
approval which is often more than 13 months was a major factor
that led to collapse of PMIs in the late 1990s.
38
Figure 6: Time Taken For Loan Approval (PMI)
Source: Author’s Field Work
Development financed by PMIs show an increasing trend from
1999. No PMI granted more than 10 loans per annum before
1998. The result also shows that loans for owner-occupier type of
houses lagged behind commercial properties.
The Lagos State Mortgage Scheme
The Lagos State Government recently embarked on a ‘LAGOS
HOMS’ project. ‘LAGOS HOMS’ is the acronym for The Lagos
Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme. It has been designed as an
equity-supported access to home ownership for only Lagos State
residents, who have been previously registered as residents of the
State. Lagos HOMS is linked to mortgage financing for first time
buyers in the state. The Government, through construction
contracts develops affordable homes across the state, while
allocation is streamlined to the target population. Applicants go
through an online process of balloting, which is further intended to
eliminate the incidence of double purchase and the consequent
diversion of units to people who already own properties in the
state. The Lagos Building Investment Company Ltd thereafter
processes mortgage loans for successful applicants.
4.
CO-OPERATIVE HOUSING
A school of thought defines co-operative housing as the cooperation of people or families organized as a group to provide
39
housing to members of the group. The co-operative may cover
financing of the project by group contribution, actual participation
and/or a co-operative effort between the government or an
institution and group of individuals or employees. The government
or an institution may provide financing and materials while the
individual members of the co-operative society provide the labour.
No matter how sophisticated the housing systems of most
developed nations appear, they started with simple and
rudimentary models in which the concept of co-operative played a
major role. The concept and practice of cooperation was originally
started by the Rochdale Pioneers of England in 1844 against the
capitalist’s exploitation of workers. The society started functioning
according to certain rules. Subsequently, these rules underwent
refinements and modifications and were later recognized as the
basic principles of Co-operation.
In America, it was called Mutual-Building and Loan Associations
and started as neighborhoods clubs. Neighbours who wished to
become homeowners began contributing a certain sum monthly.
The joint purposes of thrift and homeownership are inseparable.
The community ideals, which are served by these associations,
are appreciated throughout the country. A building and loan
association is not philanthropy, it is a straight business proposition
in which a valuable service is rendered to the borrower and is paid
for him at a rate, which produces a reasonable profit on the
investment.
Thrift is a disciplinarian. It breeds virility. It strikes at sensuality,
self-indulgence, and flabbiness. It teaches heroism of self-denial,
temperance and simple living. It is the way to success and
independence. It makes for happy homes, contented
communities, and a prosperous nation. The value of
homeownership for a large portion of the population is not to be
denied. Housing Cooperative is referred to as ‘self-help’ in
America today.
40
Another approach is that where co-operative housing has to do
with pooling of resources to finance in turns the houses for
members of the co-operative association. It also offers a higher
level of organization in the construction of large multi-unit
structures which would be shared out in units to all members of
the association.
Common points exercised in co-operative housing are;

The utilization of the labour of the members of the cooperatives.

The spirit of togetherness and

The organization of available resources.
Types of Co-operative Housing:
There are basically three major types of housing co-operative,
namely:

Housing Co-operative Association.

Production Co-operative Association; and

The Community Settlement Co-operative.
Benefits of Co-operative Housing:
1)
Choice on where to live
2)
Flexible and convenient funding model
3)
Good management and better social network
4)
Better living environment
5)
Reduced cost of construction
6)
Reduced cost in use
Conditions for Success in any Co-operative Housing
Initiative:
A study of the records of co-operative in some 30 countries
suggests that there are certain factors which have led to success
on a large scale.

Government assistance: Government assistance to
housing co-operatives means in the first place, an appropriate law
41
and in the second place, finances. Another field, in which
government and especially local government can aid cooperatives, is in acquisition of land, sometimes through the use of
compulsory purchase powers. Local authorities can also do
much to help co-operative housing development on the edge of
towns by its readiness to develop land and lay on essential
services.

Safeguards against abuse of the co-operative form:
With the generous scale of public support for co-operative
housing, have come strict controls aimed at excluding abuse and
incompetence. Measures must be put in place to prevent private
interests from infiltrating housing cooperatives through the
checking of tenders and contracts and the limitations imposed on
the membership of professional architects and builders in housing
cooperatives.

Open membership and continuity: Another important
success factor is finding a solution to the problem of reconciling
open membership with selection. This turns out to be closely
linked with the problem of continuity.

National organization and common services: National
organizations set up by the housing cooperatives themselves
would seem to be an indispensable condition of success. These
bodies are in a position to accumulate, over the years, massive
centralized resources of social, legal, administrative, financial and
technical expertise.
Policy Framework for Co-Operative Housing in Nigeria:
The National Housing Policy document of February 1991 provide
policy framework in all matters relating to housing development in
Nigeria. The National Housing Policy of 2004, section 7.3 (v) also
stated; State Government is to encourage the establishment of
Housing cooperatives and associations; Direct construction of
houses and distribution of building materials. Cooperative
societies and housing associations shall also have access to the
funds of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria through the
Primary Mortgage Institution. Sub section 7.3 (IX) y also directed
42
Local Government to encourage and support through Housing
Cooperatives and housing associations in the provision and
maintenance of low-income in deficit, safe and sanitary
environment.
Our team in FHA in 2007 relied on these documents to design a
framework for housing delivery in Nigeria. We came up with an
acronym CHOIS (Co-operative Home Ownership Incentive
Scheme) for the Housing Delivery Programme. In implementing
the CHOIS program, various avenues were defined to facilitate
access by the targeted end-users. These are:
Existing Co-operatives
There are quite a large number of co-operatives in Nigeria today
currently operating as credit unions and thrift societies within the
formal and informal sectors of the national economy. Many of
these have embarked upon housing projects for their members
but failed to deliver on large scales due to their poor access to
structured finance, land and technical support.
Key Workers’ Program
The recent monetization policy of government involving sales of
Federal Government Staff Quarters to their present occupants is
laudable. However, adequate considerations must be made to
ensure the next generation of civil servants – key workers in our
urban centres are adequately housed. Failure to do this will create
serious socio-economic problems in the near-term with majority of
the key workers living outside the urban centres where they serve.
The CHOIS programme of FHA is positioned to provide a
sustainable approach to address this need, in line with best
practices of providing for key workers and low income earners all
over the world. Key workers include police, medical officials,
teachers, junior government officials, etc.
Trade Union Associations
43
In order for the social housing drive to be all-encompassing, it
would also address the need of the informal sector. To ensure
sustainability and effectiveness in this regard, implementation of
the CHOIS initiative will be driven through this group. These
categories have large membership and a strong demand potential.
FHA will provide necessary support as required.
Employee Housing Scheme
The Employee Housing Decree of 1979 mandated every employer
of 50 and more employees to develop staff housing estates. The
Satellite Town in Lagos is the only legacy of this decree but FHA
intended to actualize the intent of the Decree, through
encouraging employers to mobilize their workers into cooperatives, and then provide every support necessary to achieve
home ownership.
Mobilisation for the Pilot Project
The Authority set a goal to deliver 2 million housing units in five (5)
years with 10,000 houses in the first year. Under the Co-operative
Home Ownership Incentive Scheme (CHOIS) pilot projects are
being packaged to drive the Social Housing Programme. At an
average cost of N2.5m per unit, the sum of Twenty Five Billion
Naira would be required in the first year for 10,000 houses.
The first batch of applications for 6 cooperatives requesting a total
number of 524 housing units with a total value of (N2.66bn) were
processed by Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN). While
the project represented a good starting point for implementing the
scheme, it also presented the opportunity to confirm the adequacy
of the National Housing Fund (NHF) to fund the nation’s housing
requirements. Out of the six applications, only one- Federal Civil
Service Corporative with 50 members, scaled through the process
and got their loan approved. The application of NNPC Staff
Housing Corporative had reached advanced stage before we left
the board in 2007. Today, FMBN has a window for Co-operatives
that encourages their members to contribute to the National
44
Housing Fund. They can access a Mortgage loan at 6%. This is
the cheapest form of loan anywhere today.
Findings in Co-operative Housing Research
My studies in this area revealed that:
The proportion of co-operatives registered as housing cooperatives is highly insignificant. For instance, less than 1% of the
over 1,141 co-operatives (as at 2013) were registered as housing
co-operatives in Lagos State. There is a dominance of thrift and
credit societies and multi-purpose societies in the state. However,
a significant proportion are involved in land acquisition for their
members, however there is evidence that suggest that this may
for speculatory purposes, rather than for meaningful housing
development. Further, our studies in this sector show that cooperatives fail to involve professionals in their housing related
transactions. In addition, the capital base of these societies may
not be robust enough to enable them participate significantly in
housing provision. Many of the Co-operatives started as thrifts
with people of low income categories coming together and it
appears this has led to a general negative perception of cooperatives as being a delivery model for the poor alone. The
sector is bedeviled with lack of institutional support; in most parts
of the developed world where co-operative societies have
delivered thousands of housing units, the presence of government
has been highly visible. These governments provide direct
financial support to the housing development projects of cooperative societies.
My research in this area can be found in the following papers:
1. Housing Cooperatives as Tools for Housing Affordability and
Availability (Nubi T.G. (2009).
2. Cooperative Housing In Nigeria: Practical Approach To
Success (Nubi T. G. 2015).
3. Meeting Nigeria’s 17 Million Housing Deficit (Nubi T. G. 2015)
5.
URBAN
REGENERATION
45
AND
HOUSING
DEVELOPMENT:
Urban Regeneration and Housing Supply
Mr Vice-Chancellor, sir, I have worked extensively over the years
in the area of slum management and urban regeneration. With my
students in ESM 551 and 552, we have studied almost all the
slums in Lagos State.
There seems to be a general consensus that the number of slums
in Nigerian cities is generally on the increase. Most disturbing is
the case of Lagos metropolis. According to Aluko and Adebayo
(2002), the official figure of existing slums in the metropolis as at
1989 was 42 (Lagos Master Plan, 1980-2000); according to
Okedele, Adebayo and Iweka (2008); this has increased to 200 in
recent times. These settlements cover almost a total of 30 percent
of the metropolis and more than 70 percent of the total population.
This translates to 7 million people if the United Nation’s projection
of 25 million population for Lagos by the year 2015 is real. Urban
slum is not limited to Lagos. The peripheries of Abuja like Yanya,
Karu, etc, are fast becoming slums too. Sokoto, Benin, Port
Harcourt, Warri, Jos are not spared. It is to be noted that
inadequate provision or acute shortage of infrastructure
constitutes a major index in slum measurement.
Slums and Associated Problems
I often tell my students that as stagnant water is to mosquitos, so
is slum to criminal activities. Slum is the breeding ground for
criminal and related activities: alcoholism, drug addiction,
diseases, poverty, hopelessness, prostitution, and many other
social vices. Reducing the population of urban slum by 100miliion
was a critical part of the Millennium Development Goals.
The increase in housing deficit that was claimed to be in
thousands in the 1980s grew into a million in early 90s and is now
about 17 million. Though many has questioned the source of the
outrageous number but the overwhelming evidence of difficulties
46
and frustrations that Nigerians often go through to procure houses
either as owner occupiers or renters make the figure to appear as
factual. However, it presents a dangerous policy implication.
Simple arithmetic punctures this assertion, but sheds light on why
we must urgently do something about our slums. If an average
household size in Nigeria is 5 and the housing deficit is 17million.
The question is: Are 17 x 5 =75million Nigerians homeless? The
answer is No. But the UN Habitat does not regard most houses in
Lagos, Abeokuta, Port Harcourt and Kano that do not have access
to basic facilities like water and electricity as ‘housing stock’. Our
lack of understanding in this regards has led to government
frustration and wrong policy shift to private sector driven provision
for basic social needs, even where people cannot pay for these
services. This opens another vista for research into urban
regeneration.
52 neighborhoods were declared slums in Lagos in 1992. Among
them are settlements along the water front of Lagos Lagoon
where land value is supposed to be one of the highest in the
country. The investment potentials of these neighborhoods no
doubt make them viable for regeneration. Among these
settlements are Makoko, Iwaya and Ilaje.
These three water front settlements are some of the communities
that sprang up sporadically in contravention to the wider state
settlements patterns and development plans. These areas lie in
the Mainland and Shomolu Local Government overlooking the
Lagos lagoon and the Third Mainland Bridge to the east. The
Local Planning Authority puts Makoko and Iwaya population at
85,840 and 50,025 as at 1995 and Ilaje at 42,050 but each have
grown. Population projection based on the 1995 figure of 51,336
would put the population of Makoko at 85,168.
Table 4: Socio-Economic Survey of Iwaya, Makoko and Ilaje.
IWAYA MAKOKO ILAJE
47
Monthly Expenditure
Median Value (N/month)
Housing (% yes)
Household size
No of rooms
% sharing bathroom
% sharing Kitchen
% without indoor cooking
% tenants
Road (% Yes)
Road Tarred in front of house
Time to walk to Public Transport
Water (% yes)
Vendor seller
Yard well/borehole
Public standpipe
Tanker water
Yard shared standpipe
House connection
Sanitation (% yes)
Pit latrine
Pour flush toilet
WC + Septic
No toilet
Solid waste (% yes)
Dumping ground neighborhood
Truck pusher
Neighborhood bin/skip
Bin/drum outside house Other
Street lights (% yes)
In streets
Working regularly
Electricity (% yes)
48
15220
10773
13613
6
1
71
41
34
69
6
1
90
69
23
74
6
1
74
30
51
67
39
4
27
10
5
8
78
22
0
0
0
0.8
43
41
12
0
2.7
1.8
92
7.4
0
0
0
0
24
44
6.6
26
31
60
8
1.8
56
17
5
19
53
27
9
0.8
0
0.9
96
0
0
0.9
57
25
0
5
0
0.8
0
12
0.9
2.5
0
In house
Drainage (% yes)
Regular flooding in streets
Regular flooding in house
98
100
98
41
22
86
41
70
48
Source: Field work (2003)
From the above table, it is clear that the settlements are
unsanitary with little or no access to portable water and sound
waste disposal a major source of outbreak of diseases.
Nevertheless, most of the houses in these areas are structurally
sound and are mainly low rise. The location advantage and
existence of certain level of infrastructures in these areas makes
regeneration a preferred option to new build.
Plate3: Housing and infrastructure at Iwaya Community
Source: Author’s Fieldwork
Plate 4: A typical street setting in Iwaya Slum Community
Source: Author’s Fieldwork
It is unfortunate that while many nations have experienced a
paradigm shift from Urban Renewal to Regeneration, the World
Bank still encourages developing nations like Nigeria to continue
with the urban renewal approach: an unsustainable approach that
has been abandoned by developed nations. According to
Mathews (2004), Regeneration is a deliberate, well designed and
coordinated intervention to re-engineer a competitive future for
deprived nations and communities over a given period of time.
This is usually an economic, social, cultural and environmental
intervention, an in-ward investment to improve the quality of lives
49
and infrastructure.
It is a well-known fact that many people living in urban areas
disproportionately experience some particular problems, namely:
Poverty, bad housing, unsanitary living conditions, high crime
rates, unemployment, low self-esteem, alcohol abuses, stigma,
discrimination and low quality of life. The reasoning is that these
problems will be minimised if urban areas were regenerated.
Challenges of Urban Regeneration
In spite of the fact that regeneration has succeeded in most parts
of the world including South Africa, it is likely to face some
challenges in Nigeria. Prominent among these are land
accessibility constraints, finance and capacity. First and foremost,
the slum areas are mainly illegal settlements that developed on
state land. The first step, therefore, is regularization of this land.
This is the only way the ‘dead’ capital according to De-Soto can
be released to capital funding from the market. Rather than relying
on the limited government fund, Public Private Partnership (PPP)
option should be exploited to the fullest.
Plate 5:The DockLands Area before Regeneration
Plate 6:The Docklands Area after Regeneration
50
The Docklands regeneration was achieved by a combination of
public and private sector investment.
DR. T.G Nubi
Plate 7:The Docklands Area after Regeneration
A total of £500m was invested on the strategic schemes and
infrastructures between 1986 and 1993
DR. T.G Nubi
Plate 8:Infrastructure in the Docklands Regeneration Project
51
Different land marks of
the area today
DR. T.G Nubi
Plates 5 to 8 show the success story of Docklands regeneration in
UK. The success of this programme is dependent on the
establishment of a separate organisation devolved from the state
bureaucracy but monitored by the state for accountability. This
explained why the author recommended a complete overhauling
of Lagos State Urban Renewal Authority (LASURA) in order to
reposition it for regeneration. This would be discussed later.
The Ijora Badia Project
Mr Vice Chancellor, Sir, in July 2015, a team led by Professor
Olusanya made a presentation to Lagos State Executive Council.
This is the closest opportunity at urban regeneration in Lagos. The
notorious Badia slum was demolished in May 2013. The old
mistake of missionary approach to urban renewal was made
again. Nevertheless, though not at the rate promised, construction
is still going on and will likely be a true case study in best
practices when it comes to Urban regeneration in Lagos State.
Ideal Habitat Initiative
52
The author has an NGO called Ideal Habitat Initiative. The mission
is on four main areas of concentration:
i.
Tent on Earth: Ideal Habitat Initiative’s Tent on Earth is
focussed on home ownership which has several of benefits
acknowledged world-wide. Home ownership contributes to home
owner’s self-esteem and psychological well-being. Individual
home owners possess self-reliance and security. Home owners
are good investors, with the home as an asset, which invariably
allows prosperity into the family.
ii.
Advocacy: “None of us is housed until all of us are
housed.” Through positive advocacy great men have changed
their societies and generations. Men like Nelson Mandela,
Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr., were advocates.
They stood for positive changes and saw them started in their life
time.
iii.
Financial Education: IHI features courses such as
Financial Fitness: Teaching Financial Management Skills and
Credit Counselling for maximum result e.g. how to access the
National Housing Trust Fund etc. Financial education is a critical
need both for consumers and for communities. For consumers,
financial education is the key to building wealth – regardless of
their income class. For communities, financial education programs
will help promote stronger and more stable neighbourhoods.
iv.
Community Development: Community building and
organizing is critical to the success of Ideal Habitat Initiative.
Buildings can be rehabilitated and services provided, but it is the
people who live in those communities that will make sure changes
last in the long run. Rather than watching or waiting for
government, resident leaders will be encouraged to take
responsibility for the outcome of their communities, and recruit
other neighbours to join them.
CCDA - Christian Community Development Association:
I have been worried for many years that the involvement of the
Christian and Muslim mission in development had disappeared. If
all Churches and Mosques in Lagos sank bore holes for their
53
communities, problems associated with water supply would
disappear!
I ran into the web site in 2012 and attended the immersion in April
of that same year, invited them to Nigeria where 250 Pastors of
Churches were trained in Lagos and 150 in Abuja.
Since then we have been training pastors and community leaders
in the principles of Asset Mapping and Community Development.
This approach is a far departure from the Missionary/Saviour
approach. The belief is that no matter how deprived a community
might appear there are underlying assets that could be tapped into
to revitalise such community. Every man is also helped to discuss
his or her three gifts. We help people to activate these gifts for
general good of all.
Lack mentality is changed to assure mentality through the half
empty or half full cup of water principle.
Conclusion
Lagos is gradually becoming third largest city in the world
according to the UN Habitat: This call for concern. There is an
urgent need to carry out housing audit to have a comprehensive
report on state of housing and urban infrastructures in the Mega
city. The study established that:

It is cheaper to improve existing stock rather than build new
ones.

Most sites for new development are at the city’s periphery:
creating extra burden of commuting long distance from home
to office for residents

Urban sprawl and consumption of urban green in the name
of new development creates imbalance in the environment.

New developments in most cases usually end up in the
hands of the rich few rather than the targeted population. But
house improvement ensures delivery to targeted group.

Regeneration, no doubt helps to release dead asset,
54
creating wealth for house owners thereby ensuring
sustainable environment where owners can pay for
infrastructures.
My other publications and activities in the area of urban
regeneration and housing development are captured in the
following papers:
1.
Meeting Nigeria’s 17 Million Housing Deficit. (Nubi T.G.
2015)
2.
Urban Regeneration as a Veritable Tool for Housing
Delivery in Lagos, Nigeria. (Nubi T. G (2008).
3.
Participatory Budgeting: Grassroots Approach in Urban
Management – Lagos as a Case study. (Nubi T.G, Omirin M.M,
Adisa Y.S, Koleoso H.K & John U.O. 2010).
6.
HOUSING FINANCE, HOUSING SUPPLY AND THE
HOUSING STOCK CONNECTION
Mr. Vice Chancellor, Sir, editors of the renowned housing journal,
the International Union of Housing Finance reviewed and
summarized my effort in this area: “The positive and negative
links between the capacity of developers to increase new
housing supply and the growth in mortgage credit is not
always made explicitly. Timothy Olugbenga Nubi, who is the
author of our third article, focuses on Nigeria in making these
connections. As in Brazil, the development of mortgage credit
is an ongoing issue and mortgage credit as a percentage of
GDP stands at just 1%. Mr. Nubi identifies the problem of new
housing supply capacity is a key factor in the emergence of
the Nigerian mortgage market and as a problem in itself. He
uses the results of his own survey of housing developers to
highlight the lack of capacity of the industry and the
preponderance of small firms (judged by the standards of the
developed world). Mr. Nubi points to the key factors
underpinning this situation and in particular to the problems
faced by developers in gaining access to adequate levels of
55
finance, and discusses the reasons behind what appears to
be a major limiting factor on development”.
When it comes to what to do in emerging financial markets, views
of mortgage market development policies according to Renaud
(2004) and Nubi (2007) remain framed by the experience of a few
high-income economies; especially by the remarkable rate of
innovation in the US financial markets during the last thirty-five
years. Experts often assume the availability of housing stock and
a highly developed home building industry. So far, there has been
no study on the effect of the state of construction industry on the
organization, structure and performance of housing finance
systems in emerging markets such as Nigeria. Renaud (2004)
identified five recurring structural issues that need to be
considered when proposing a mortgage market strategy. These
are: market size, macroeconomic stability, the degree of
development of financial market infrastructure, legal and structural
path-dependency in the development of this financial
infrastructure, the feasibility of domestic risk-based pricing for
medium and long-term financial instruments, all with the implicit
assumption that housing stocks are in regular supply as it exists in
developed economies.
In England for instance, there were an estimated 22,564,000
dwellings as at 31 March 2009, an increase of 0.74 per cent on
the previous year. The house building industry often responds well
to the challenge of increasing housing supply, with supply in
2007/08 reaching 207,500 additional homes - an increase of 59
per cent compared with 130,000 in 2001/0 (Community and Local
Government 2010). This is not the case in Nigeria where the
biggest housing corporations like Federal Housing Authority (FHA)
with access to basic resources built only 30,000 houses in 34
years. No private developer can boast of 1000 units of houses in
10 years in Nigeria. Most of the so-called mortgage loans given in
Nigeria are really construction loans. These were often secured
with land titles. Such loans often carry both construction and credit
56
risks. In most cases due to the volatility of the economy the loans
were never enough to complete the constructions, leading to
abandoned projects and high rate of defaults. Foreclosure is rare
in Nigeria because of legal restrictions but where foreclosure is
possible; there is hardly a market for uncompleted and abandoned
houses (Adewole 2010).
Property Development Agencies and the Operating
Environment in Nigeria.
As stated earlier, the nation in the last ten years has made attempt
at restructuring the housing policy to deliver the required 16 million
housing stock in line with the demand of global best practice. The
policy thrust was to have a private sector driven housing system.
Government in the year 2000 realized that this could only be
achieved by introducing policy reforms and re-engineering the
existing institutions, hence, the shifts that emphasized 
establishment of Real Estate Developers Association
(REDAN)

establishment of the Ministry of Housing,

restructuring the housing finance system through Federal
Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN)- introduction of
Secondary Market and

Land reform.
Who is a Real Estate Developer?
Mabogunje (2002) defined Real Estate Developer during the
inauguration of REDAN as not just a construction company or just
a contractor. He is not even just a real estate investor or a
professional like an architect, an estate surveyor or valuer, a
quantity surveyor, an engineer or a town planner interested in
housing. Rather, a real estate developer must share some of the
attributes of all of these professionals or corporate individuals but
he must be more besides. The best definition of a real estate
developer is that he is an entrepreneur who is committed to
assuming the risks of mass housing production in advance of
sales.
57
Figure 7: Housing Producers in Nigeria
Source: Adapted from Omirin (1992 ) and Nubi (2006)
The study
The study was tailored towards assessing the operations of some
selected registered residential property companies. Before 2002,
there was no means of obtaining a comprehensive list of
developers in any part of the country. It is, therefore, out of sheer
luck that REDAN was inaugurated in 2002 and the comprehensive
list that was used in this study was compiled. From the 450
companies on the REDAN list, only the 50 that have operated for
5 years and are directly involved in housing development for sale
were selected. Data was collected from senior representatives of
selected organizations with a structured questionnaire. Secondary
data was derived from respondents’ in-house publications and
documentary analysis.
Findings and Discussion
Nature and Operation of Real Estate Developer in Nigeria
The study revealed that about 26% of the Real Estate Developers
are sole proprietorships, 23% are partnerships, 6% are corporate
developers, 42% are public limited liability companies while 3%
58
are public companies. This has a lot of effect on management,
volume of work and access to funding. None of these firms has
more than 100 employees. In fact, almost 50% have less than 10
workers on their pay roll. Lack of permanent staff, which is caused
by low volume of work and irregularity of work, often, robs the
company of the benefit of organizational learning. Some 60% of
these organizations have no in-house experts like Architects, Civil
Engineers, Mechanical Engineers, Builders, Estate Surveyors, etc.
On availability of construction inputs, some 57% of the
respondents claimed that finance is poorly available. This is the
poorest in rank amongst all other inputs, with only 5% responding
that it is readily available.
Land is even believed to be fairly available. On the type of houses
often developed, the responses are 5% semi-detached, 7%
Duplex, 13% Bungalow. About 34% high-rise and 20% block of
flats and 21% for others. This shows a preference for housing for
high-income earners and not mass housing. These are often
produced on an average of less than 20 per developer per annum.
The low volume of construction in this sector significantly
contributes to the shortage in housing stock, high cost of housing
and over concentration in high-brow neighbourhoods.
Figure 8: Responses on availability of housing construction inputs and
59
motivations.
25
20
15of
No
Developers
Not available
Poorly available
Fairly available
Available
Readily available
10
5
0
Labour
Materials
Market
Profit
Finance
Land
Equipment Govt.
Incentives
INPUTS
Source: Author’s Field Work(2006)
Sources of Capital for Operation and House building
activities
On the of nature of houses being built, 21 (20%) build bungalows,
30 (29%) semi-detached, 28 (26%) Duplex and 14 (13%) blocks of
flats. No member of the Real Estate Developer has attained more
than 100 units per annum. Most developers sold less than 25
units.
On the availability of construction inputs like labour, building
materials, availability of market for finished goods, profit from
business, finance, land, equipment and government incentive, the
responses are as follows: finance stands out as an input that is
not readily available, labour is rated as being readily available
while government incentive is rated as not being available at all.
Real Estate Developers also ranked the level of availability of
different forms of finance for financing their housing development
60
projects. They rated Primary Mortgage Institutions very poor but
equity fund and loan from commercial banks enjoyed better rating,
as shown in Figure 9 below.
Figure 9: Accessibility of Funds
ACCESSIBILITY OF FUNDS
35
30
RANKING
25
Not available
Poorly available
Fairly available
Available
Readily available
20
15
10
5
0
Equity fund
Loan from
commercial
bank
Loan from
merchant
bank
Capital
market
FMBN
PMI
Insurance
companies
Co-operative
Foreign
building
Forward
letting/sale
Lease back
INPUTS
Source: Author’s Field Work(2006)
Factors that inhibit access to finance were, particularly the
developers loan facilities offered by Federal Mortgage Bank of
Nigeria (FMBN), the developers rated high interest rate (which
was put at about 27% after the administrative charges had been
built in) as highly problematic. Also rated as very problematic by
most developers was the need to repay loans within 2 years. This
is not unconnected with the limited sources of finance in the
market. The predominant source today is the commercial bank as
shown in the ranking in Tables 5 and 6 below. Commercial banks
in Nigeria with their short-term deposits could only give short-term
61
loans, while housing development requires long term facilities.
The few loans that were given also required credit insurance or
bank guarantee thereby increasing the cost of capital. Since most
of the developers are not listed, they could not enjoy the
opportunities that the capital market offers. The tables also
present the rating of demand for insurance and bank guarantee as
problematic.
Table 5: Ranking of sources of finance for housing projects
by developers
S/No Source of housing finance
Ranking by
developers in order
of significance
1
Loan from commercial bank
1
2
Equity
2
3
Credit facilities from building
3
materials supplier
4
Shares (Capital Market)
4
5
Foreign loan
5
6
Mortgage loan
6
7
Gift from friends
8
8
Loan from Thrift and Credit
7
Societies
Source: Author’s Field Work(2006)
Table 6: Ranking of Constraints in Housing Production Effort
Developers
CONSTRAINTS
RANK
Fund shortage/high cost of fund
1st
High cost of construction
2nd
Delay in C of O and building plan approval
3rd
High cost of building materials
4th
Land acquisition problem
5th
Rout of infrastructure
6th
Manpower shortage
7th
62
Government Policy (LUA ETC.)
Poor demand
8th
9th
Source: Author’s Field Work (2006)
This is not unconnected with the depression and high rate of
inflation resulting in high cost of building materials, high wage rate
etc. Delay in getting Certificate of Occupancy and running of
building approvals ranking third could however be blamed on
administrative bottlenecks and bureaucratic procedures.
Problems of Property Development Companies in Nigeria
Property development is sensitive to both micro and macroeconomic climate due to its poor response to change in supply or
to demand. The effect of economic policies is often grievous on
housing project. Common economic problems include:
i.
Increase in poverty level
ii.
Problem of raising finance from the capital market
iii.
Galloping inflation on estimated project costs
iv.
High cost of capital
v.
Access to Land
vi.
Managerial/Entrepreneurial Constraints
Conclusion
In Nigeria today, the private sector controls about 70 –90% of total
housing stock.
However, private individuals who build
incrementally at informal level causing multiplication of
substandard housing, housing collapse and slum, dominate the
private sector. This has contributed to the short fall in housing
supply, as the system does not allow for housing industrialisation
and the benefits accruable from scale of production. The only way
out of the housing dilemma is industrialization and privatization of
housing which can only be achieved through the re-engineering of
housing development companies. Taking a cue from the banking
sector, development companies should be made to recapitalize,
go into merger and finally go public to take advantage of the
growth in the capital market and create access to international
market.
63
My other research in this area are:
1.
Affordable Housing in Nigeria: Strategic Direction for
Federal Housing Authority and State Housing Corporations. (Nubi
T.G & Yacoub A. 2009).
2.
Financing Low Income Housing in Nigeria cities: - Need for
Paradigm Shift. (Nubi T.G 2002).
3.
Housing Finance Between Social Needs And Economic
Realities: The Dilemma Of Policy Transfer Under Neo-Liberalism
(Nubi T.G. & Oyalowo, 2010).
CONTRIBUTION AND SERVICE TO COMMUNITY.
I often joke that I am a perpetual Corper! Truly, it has been a life of
service. We are Public Servant and not Public Masters. We are
potters in whose hands Heaven has committed life.
My humble contribution can simply be divided into four parts:
-
Contribution to the country
Contribution to the state
Contribution to the university
Contribution to Housing Education and Professionalism
Contribution to the Country
I worked with the Technical Board of Federal Housing Authority
between 2006 and 2007. During the tenure of the Board, efforts
were made to put in place a Blue Print towards a sustainable
affordable housing delivery in Nigeria in line with the new direction
of the Federal Government. It is my belief that the model as
presented in this paper will go a long way in resolving the nation’s
housing problem. The state’s Housing Corporations are also
encouraged to adopt it at the state level to ensure a quick spread
of the gains of the model across the country.
Social Housing Delivery Models
To deliver 2 million housing units within the time frame of 5 years
requires mobilizing all available resources and exploiting every
64
possible avenue. Five different models had been identified
through which social housing shall be delivered. They are:
i.
Co-operative Home ownership incentive scheme
ii.
Slum upgrading
iii.
Supported Housing
iv.
New Town Development
v.
Housing Association
Cooperative Home Ownership Incentive Scheme (CHOIS)
This is fully discussed in the next section. It is the traditional
method of people coming together to solve their housing needs.
In order to facilitate public enlightenment, the housing
cooperatives initiative is branded as “Cooperative Home
ownership Incentive Scheme (CHOIS)”, with the catch phrase
“Supporting the people’s housing choice”. The concept is to
achieve the following objectives:
- to create a sustainable model for government intervention in
housing delivery and urban management based on end users
initiatives;
- to promote a viable national template to actualize effective
housing delivery through cooperative and
- to become the dominant mode of housing delivery in Nigeria for
medium and low income households.
Slum Upgrading
The menace of slum in most urban Centres of Nigeria has
reached an alarming proportion and has become a national
embarrassment. The usual characteristics of slum are that they
harbour drug addicts, commercial sex workers and criminals
which call for urgent attention. In the year 2000, Nigeria along with
52 other nations subscribed to the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) which has its section 7 article 11 devoted to improving the
lives of 100 million slum dwellers. In order to achieve this
development target, FHA had planned to mobilize landlords into
Associations for urban renewal and community management.
65
Supported Housing
This group will seek to address the problem of Niger Delta, the
street beggars and street boys and girls popularly referred to as
“Area Boys” in the South and “Almanjiris” in the North. Special
housing projects will be developed for this group with facilities for
skill development. Addressing the housing needs of this special
group has been successfully utilized in various developed
countries to solve the problem of youth delinquencies, crime and
unemployment.
New Town Development
Some of the gains of mass production of affordable housing as
mentioned earlier are, first, the inherent opportunity to enforce the
National Building Code for orderly spatial development and
second, the prospect to discourage urban sprawl. FHA plans to
acquire land in locations with effective demand for social housing,
prepare a comprehensive Master Plan and basic primary
infrastructure before allocating the parcel of land to social housing
providers who will only develop the secondary infrastructure and
the houses. New Town development allows for agglomeration of
housing development, a prerequisite for housing industrialization.
It will also make it possible for government to be proactive in
determining the direction of our urban growth thereby creating
livable sustainable human settlements.
Housing Associations
Housing Associations are a very popular mode of affordable
housing delivery in developed economies, such as UK and the
United States of America. This category of housing often leverage
on government subsidies and support. FHA plans to consciously
develop this model in Nigeria. Faith Based Organisations will be
encouraged to set up Housing Associations to build houses for
their teeming population. YWCA offers a renaissance of this
approach with their Youth Hostels all over the world. Employers of
Labour will equally be encouraged to form Housing Associations
66
for their employees. Existing co-operatives will also be
encouraged to form secondary co-operatives after meeting the
need of its members. This will enable them to use their acquired
housing development skills.
Sustainable Solution: A Road Map
As part of the efforts towards achieving the government goal of
sustainable housing finance, FHA and FMBN in January 2007 set
up a joint committee to develop a model that will enable housing
cooperatives to have access to the National Housing Fund to the
develop the much desired robust mortgage finance system. Figure
13 below shows the model of interaction between the main actors
in the cooperative housing finance system. It is important to
emphasize that under the arrangement; the fund should reside
with CBN/FMBN and will be released to the PMIs who will later
release it to the Social Housing Development Agents while FHA
will act as guarantor and quality assurance agent. The
involvement of all the stakeholders ensures checks and balances.
Definition of Roles
It was resolved by the committee that the following roles should be
specified for each member of the tripartite arrangement for smooth
operation and workability of the programme and thus the following
definitions were adopted:
a.
Loan Initiator (Originator): The Loan Initiator is defined to
be the Cooperative society who is expected to collect applications
for Home Ownership from its members and present a single
application to FHA.
b.
Loan Guarantor: FHA is defined as the loan guarantor. Its
roles include regulation and processing of applications submitted
to it by Cooperative Societies for onward delivery to FMBN.
c.
Loan Financier: FMBN is defined as the Loan Provider,
which means that it will provide funds for all applications submitted
to it by FHA on behalf of members of the Cooperative societies.
Figure 10: Model of Interaction between Main Actors in Cooperative
Housing Finance
67
Source: Reis & Nubi (2007)
d.
Loan custodians: The Primary Mortgage Institutions (PMIs)
are to be the Loan Custodians.
e.
Social Housing development Agents: These are builders
and developers accredited by FHA: they would be responsible for
physical construction of the houses and infrastructure.
The roles of key parties as agreed are as follows:
Table 7: Key Roles for CHOIS Programme
STAKEHOLDER
The Cooperative
Societies
ROLES
 Create awareness of the existence
of Home Ownership Loan windows to
members who are contributors to the
fund.
 Facilitate
packaging
of
loan
applications on behalf of its members.
 Provide all necessary information
required by its members concerning
68
their applications.
 Ensure
compliance
with
all
requirements for a loan from the
Cooperative
Home
Ownership
Scheme.
 Ensure
loan
repayment
by
members as at when due.

Provide
checklist
of
requirements
for
cooperative
Societies wishing to access funds
from Home Ownership Loan scheme
The Federal Housing 
Regulate activities of the
Authority (FHA) and cooperative societies seeking for
State
Housing Finance from the Home Ownership
Corporations
Loan scheme.
 Nurture the growth of the
Cooperative
Home
ownership
Scheme.
 Provide Technical quality and
Performance Guarantee (TQPG) to
Cooperative societies wishing to
access the Home Ownership Loan
Scheme
 Guarantee the loans given by the
FMBN

Collect
and
appraise
application for Home Ownership Loan
from Cooperative Societies for
onward delivery to FMBN
 Monitor and ensure judicious
utilization of funds disbursed to
members of cooperative societies
 Facilitate the appointment of PMIs
for disbursement of funds secured
from FMBN
 Provide
necessary
technical
69
support and information towards the
growth of Cooperative societies.
 Approve the social Housing
development Agent that will be funded
by the cooperative.
 Appraise applications submitted by
FHA on behalf of cooperative
societies for Home Ownership Loan
The Federal Mortgage Scheme
Bank Of Nigeria (FMBN)  Provide finance from the NHF at an
interest rate of 4% for tenure of 30
years maximum to members of
Cooperative societies.
 Administer the fund obtained from
government
grant
strictly
for
cooperative housing finance.
 Assessment of applications.
 Provide support for the nationwide
campaign for cooperatives formation.
 Embark upon aggressive campaign
to bring all workers into NHF
programme.

Approve PMIs that will be used
to disburse funds to Social Housing
Agents.
 Monitor
the
repayment
performance of cooperatives to PMIs
 Work towards sensitization of
mortgage portfolio within the next 5
years.
 Serve as custodian of funds
accessed by cooperative societies
from
FMBN
Home
Ownership
The Primary Mortgage Window.
Institutions (PMI)
 Disburse funds to the cooperative
societies
Social
Housing
70
Development Agents as approved by
FHA
 Collect loan repayment from
cooperative societies members that
benefited from the home Ownership
Loan scheme
 Provide information on the financial
status of individual cooperative
members to FHA and the cooperative
societies’ governing council

Execute a deed of legal
mortgage between the PMI and
members of the cooperative societies
that are beneficiaries of the Home
Ownership Loan Scheme.
 Embark upon the construction of
houses and infrastructure.
 Exploit the possibility of using
Social
Housing alternative construction methods that
Development Agents
will ensure a timely and cost efficient
delivery of houses.
 Maintain high standards in the
quality of the houses.
 Put in place post occupation
maintenance policy.
Other imperatives for success that we put in place:
a)
Interest rates on the CHOL shall be 6% (4% for FMBN which
currently gets the NHF at 2.5% and 2% for both the PMIs and
FHA).
b)
PMIs need not engage in any form of marketing for the
Home Ownership Loan scheme.
c)
The ratio of contribution by the cooperatives to loan
requirements shall be 1:10
71
d)
PMIs shall not be entitled to charge Commission on
Turnovers (COT) as this will reduce the value of the funds
approved for the cooperatives.
e)
The Project Management fees which are included in the Bill
of Quantities shall be used to fund the activities of the Social
Housing Management/Development Agents and FHA monitoring
team.
f)
Upon application, co-operatives shall submit a schedule of
beneficiaries stating the names of individual members, age,
income levels, projected cost of Housing Units, beneficiaries, etc.
g)
FHA/selected agents shall be required to sign-off on various
stages of development with the leadership of the cooperatives.
Mr. Vice-Chancellor, Sir, To God be the glory, we successfully
operationalized this delivery model. The NNPC Co-operative and
the Civil Service Co-operative were used as models.
My Contribution at the State Level
Lagos State and part of Ogun state have been my open
laboratories in the last 25 years. For about twenty years I was
living in Ogun State precisely Alagbado and worked on the Island
and later, Lagos Mainland. The exposure to and participation in
urban challenges daily helped to define my research areas and
determination to be part of the solution. I have trained several
urban managers for these states as well.
My papers on street trading, housing collapse and land
management have made tremendous policy impact. A special
case is the Land Management Workshop that was organized by
my Department under my leadership in 2003. It had Professor
Akin Mabogunje as the Lead Speaker and all the Professional
bodies in Built Environment and the Governor (represented by the
Commissioner for Works Mr. Rauf Aregbesola now the Osun
State Governor) in attendance. It was a workshop organized to
address the land management problem in Lagos State at the time
when Land Use charge was introduced and many companies
72
ware groaning. I remember clearly the warning of the Lead
Speaker that Lagos will lose its status as investment destination if
care was not taken. It gladdens our heart in the Department to
note that few months after the workshop this obnoxious policy was
reviewed and the charges were reduced drastically. The
Proceedings of the workshop became a good resource for policy
re-engineering in Lagos.
Working with General Reis between 2007 and 2008, we were able
to put together an International Workshop on urban management
and housing delivery in Lagos. This was followed thereafter with a
week-long technical retreat where the foundation of the ideology
that eventually shaped Governor Fashola’s policies on land,
transport, housing etc. were laid. One of us eventually became the
Commissioner for Physical Planning in the State. My
preoccupation at that time was how to restructure LASURA –
Lagos State Urban Renewal Agency and turn it around to become
a great Institution that could embark on urban regeneration,
bench-marking global best practices. We worked together to
reposition LASURA but it was like putting a new wine in an old
bottle. After several retreats and in-house trainings, with its
leadership, I had a sense of wasting my time trying to cook with
wet wood.
My ongoing effort with the State is on housing and urban
regeneration. Under the leadership of Professor Olusanya, we are
applying the indigenous concept of system housing using
‘damdem building component’ to produce 1006 housing units. This
is not only a housing delivery issue but a direct solution to slum
eradication in one of the worst slums in Africa Ijora Badia.
My Contribution to the University of Lagos.
My Vice Chancellor Sir, by the special grace of God, I have
participated in training about a thousand undergraduate students
in Estate Management for our country and about 500 M.Sc.
students. I became the head of my Department in 2002 when my
73
Department was 20 years old but we were running only a B.Sc.
programme. At that time, the part-time programme had been
approved but was yet to commence. By the special grace of God
the programme eventually took off in 2003. Working with the staff
of the Department and Dr. Omirin in particular, we commenced
the Masters, M.Phil. and Ph.D programme in Estate Management
in quick succession. In 2001, we reviewed the syllabus and
attempted to change the name of the programme. In 2007 we
commenced the Master of Facilities Management programme.
In September 2012, the Senate approved an MOU between the
University and Chartered Institute of Housing/NUHS UK to
establish a Center of Excellence in Housing Studies. With funding
from AfDB, this Centre was established in 2013. It is the first of its
kind in Africa with a mandate to help establish nine others in five
(5) African countries. Today, we have the Centre in Ghana, and
that of Kenya and South Africa will soon take off. In February
2015, the Senate of this University approved a Master of Housing
Development and Management programme. This brought many
years of labour to professionalise the housing sector to a fruitful
conclusion.
In 2012, I led a team of dedicated and seasoned professionals
who worked tirelessly for about four months including the
Christmas holiday to evaluate the state of the teaching facilities in
our University. The team submitted an 800 page technical report.
This forms the working document for the facilities upgrade that our
admirable Vice-chancellor is carrying out across the University.
I was appointed as Co-chair of Ceremonies Committee in 2014
and full Chair of the Committee in 2015. Mr Vice Chancellor, Sir, I
want to express openly my sincere gratitude to you for finding me
worthy of steering the affairs of this very important committee: its
output can either make or mar the image of the University! Your
support and that of the entire Management especially the
Registrar, earned us letters of commendation that some read and
74
called a “Nobel Prize!” For the first time in the history of the
University, we had our convocation broadcasted ‘live’ across the
globe. Not only was the convocation self-funding but it also
recorded a surplus. I hope the Bursar will pay members of the
committee a 13th month salary come Christmas of this year!
In August 2015 by the special grace of God, I was elected the
Dean of our faculty. I promised my colleagues, three Rs: Re
engineering, Rebuilding and Repositioning. These are not mere
political statements. Within few weeks in office, we have moved
into action. I am trusting God that within a short period, we will
become a leading faculty not only in Nigeria but in Africa
occupying our rightful place in a global space that need our
research and expertise at this crucial time of rapid urbanization,
rapid global warming, economic restructuring, health concerns
and conflict management all over the world.
Contribution to Housing Education and Professionalism
External Examiner
I have over the years been an external examiner to Polytechnics /
Colleges of Technologies and Universities. Among these are
Federal Polytechnic Bida, Yaba College of Technology, Obafemi
Awolowo University, Federal University of Technology Akure, and
Covenant University etc. I have also acted as an ‘Assessor’ for
appointment for Professorial candidates in these Institutions
including Nnamdi Azikwe University Nsukka, Cape Town
University, South Africa and Knust University, Ghana.
Housing Education
‘Education is the best way of changing a people, a community and
a nation’- Mandela. In 2002 I realized the truism of the above
assertion. I realized that it is not strength that is required for
survival in this age but smartness. This was confirmed after
traveling the length and breadth of America in 2004 studying their
housing industry which is the core of the American dream. Three
encounters made me make up my mind to do something about
75
capacity building in Housing. First, was in 2002 when I was invited
to the retreat of Mortgage Bankers Association of Nigeria (MBAN).
Haven studied the mortgage system of United States, I suggested
that the only way to have a successful Mortgage system in Nigeria
was to start with the unbundling of the mortgage system. The
President at the time asked sincerely “Mr. Nubi, what do you
mean by ‘unbundling’? A sincere question but very revealing! As
at 1996 Nigeria had about 256 registered PMIs but a decade after
more than 200 had evaporated with depositors’ money. It was not
that Nigerians did not need mortgage services, but practitioners
lacked the much needed expertise required to successfully
navigate the sector.
The second encounter was my meeting with the first Minister for
Housing. A ‘Mummy housing’ successful Lawyer who was given a
very wrong portfolio. While introducing the secondary mortgage
market to her and the need to pursue its development, she simply
responded that our respected senior colleague- Mr. Fortune Ebie
had told her that secondary market is very complicated and a “nogo” area as at then. She was not familiar with the problems of the
housing system and ended up selling government houses at the
expense of future generations!
My third encounter happened when I was at FHA. The Federal
Government set up a subcommittee on housing Finance. We met
with the bankers, mortgage bankers, and representatives of CBN,
Ministry of Finance and a Director from Ministry of Housing.
During the last week of the assignment, we met daily. One of the
financing models that were highly recommended was Real Estate
Investment Trusts (REITS). Members believed that introduction of
REIT would help the housing finance system. On the last day, the
representative of the Ministry also asked innocently; “Where does
this REITS live? Lagos or Abuja? If he could make much impact
as expressed by members, why can’t we invite him? I had a
painful session of explaining to a Director who formulated policies
that determine the quality of our lives that REIT means Real
76
Estate Investment Trust!
The above experiences made me to be more determined to
embark upon formal and informal training programmes at different
levels to major stakeholders. The Department has held several
seminars, National conferences and international workshops
focusing on Land Management (2003); Private Sector Driven
Housing Delivery (2008) etc.
One of the gaps we noticed in the sector is lack of Housing Act.
Policy violation can never result into actionable case against the
Government but when housing provision and delivery become a
law, government will reassess their stance. A good example is the
building code. Several efforts and resources were put into the
design and its publishing. Nevertheless, it remained an ordinary
paper because there were no legal backups.
Working with a group of housing experts in London, we were able
to take senior staff members of Ministry of Housing, FHA, FMBN
and Ministry of Finance to London, Dubai and South Africa for
training between 2007 and 2013. The trainings often include study
tour to expose them to best practices. In 2012, a training
programme on ‘Housing Act’ was organized for members of the
housing committee of the National Assembly. It was a big eyeopener but not long after they returned to Nigeria, many of them
lost their electoral positions! With follow up, tenacity and continuity
Nigeria will have a Housing Act in future and housing will be a
right and not a privilege for all Nigerians.
Other informal housing education embarked upon includes: Public
seminars for cooperative members. Between 2008 and 2014, I
presented papers on co-operative housing to about 500
cooperatives in Lagos state. Many of these groups including the
Unique Cooperative of University of Lagos, Mobil, MTN, National
Stadium, National theatre, Baco Supper Bags, National Open
University etc have there-after embarked on successful housing
77
projects.
I often give talks in churches and conferences on Housing. I have
granted interviews on television and radio, newspapers. Media
write ups also form a critical medium to educate the public and
stakeholders. Several of my papers can also be found online.
From Pillar to Chain
Mr. Vice Chancellor, Sir, in my early days as a young researcher
and student of Housing, these critical areas that I have studied
were presented to us as ‘pillars’ of housing. They were studied in
isolation and solutions were proffered with the rationale that once
such problems were resolved, Nigerians will move into their own
houses. Example is the problem of land. The Land Use Act was
seen as a permanent solution to housing delivery. But years after
the Land Use Act, we remained in the wonderland. At a time, the
focus was on local building materials, then Mortgages, then
REDAN. My study revealed that the crust of this problem is the
disconnection between the different components that were seen
as pillars. We therefore made efforts to change the perception and
present the principal components of housing as major links in a
chain. A chain is as strong as its weakest points. We therefore
started advocating that the entire industry must be strategically
reconstructed.
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Figure 11: Real Estate Value Chain
ASSET OUTPUT
Development
Rights (Density)
Raw Land
Leasable
Real Estate
Asset/Space
Improved Lots
Financial RE Asset
t (Bonds, ABS, ETC.)
Finance
PROCESS/MARKET
Land
Acquisition
Entitlements
Infrastructure
Development
Vertical
Development
Primary
Capital Markets
Secondary
Capital Markets
INDUSTRY
Land Development
Vertical Development
Horizontal Development
Financial/Capital
Asset Management
Real
Asset Management
AREAS OF CURRENT RESEARCH
 Effectiveness of Co-operative societies in housing delivery
 Influence of Selected Behaviours and Socio-Cultural
Lifestyle Factors on Home Ownership among workers in
Public Tertiary Educational Institutions in Lagos State,
Nigeria.
 Effect of change in land use on housing stock supply.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Mr Vice Chancellor, Sir, going forward from where we are as a
nation, despite the overwhelming challenges presented in this
lecture, what would I like to see done to aid our effort towards
creating access to affordable housing for all Nigerians in the next
two decades?
First, my heart desire is that all efforts must be put in place to
79
have a mortgage system that will work. I volunteer myself to lead
this crusade. This might not be realized within a decade but it is
possible within 2 and 20 years is so short in the life of a nation.
Creating a Mortgage system that will work
A mortgage system that works is a key requirement in tackling
housing provision in any country. Corruption runs deep in any
cash and carry economy. Several studies conducted by this
author have shown clearly the road map towards sustainable
mortgage development in Nigeria. The fundamental problem of
lack of quality housing stock should be resolved. This can be
achieved by operationalizing the delivery model presented in
previous pages of this lecture.
The production capacity of REDAN must be increased
while the house building process should be industrialized.
Government at all levels and REDAN members need to come
together to achieve this. The model of Satellite Town in Lagos can
be replicated with astounding results.
Mortgage finance is not a business for the inexperienced.
As long as the business is not unbundled and left with the PMIs
alone, there will be no progress. The Big commercial banks
should therefore be mandated to commit at least 15% of their loan
portfolio to mortgage finance.
The involvement of commercial banks will allow for the
spread that is required to ensure accessibility. Mortgage Brokers
must be introduced into the system to boost mortgage origination
and servicing. The co-operatives will form the bulk of end users
and membership of such should be the preferred means of
participation in this system like what is obtainable in different parts
of the world.
Real Estate Developers
From studies, it is clear that the problems facing the property
development companies in Nigeria is complex. The significance
of their contribution to national housing stock cannot be disputed.
They should, therefore, be encouraged to deliver more housing
80
units to the nation. My studies have suggested a number of useful
remedies to activate their operations.
This sub-sector should be equipped and supported to meet up
with the housing deficit especially the one created by
governments’ withdrawal from the direct construction of houses.
Over the years, my studies have sought to provide useful
remedies:

The growth of Pension Fund to over 1trillion Naira in the
last four years is unprecedented in the history of capital
accumulation in the country. The Pension Fund Act allows 40% of
the Fund to be invested in Real Estate Sector. But this can only be
through Bond, Mortgage Back Securities (MBS) and Real Estate
Investment Trust (REIT). It is unfortunate that government is yet to
give legal support to these instruments. This should be done
without further delay.

Amendment of Land Use Decree especially the
controversial and regressive sections e.g. sections on revocation,
acquisition and compensation, lease holding and Governor’s
Consent.

The use of Geographical Information System (GIS) – a
computer software for land and property management to remove
existing bottlenecks in the processing of Certificate of Occupancy
process and transfer of right in land.

Providing land to real estate development companies at
encouraging terms

Subsidizing infrastructure costs of development companies
including water, electricity, telephone and roads

Compulsory housing loans to staff of medium and large
companies to boast demand for development properties.

Removing tax on mortgage repayment to encourage and
boast demand for house purchase

Reduction of construction cost and encouraging better
building industry through housing standardization, mass
construction to enjoy the advantage of economy of scale,
81
promotion of local building materials and mobilizing end users into
Co-operatives and Associations.

Creation of business environment that is friendly to
aspiring real estate investors.

Need for regular census to have statistics of housing
stocks

Implementation of National Housing Policy of 1991.
Government should embark upon affordability gap financing to
ensure spread and marketability of the houses developed.
Promulgation of Housing Act
When housing is made a basic right as in the Universal Primary
Education, Government will give it its desired place in the scheme
of things in the country. The Centre for Housing Studies in the
Faculty of Environmental Sciences will work with the National
Assembly to actualize this within the next two years.
Extensive urban regeneration in the next twenty years.
Urban regeneration should form the core of housing
delivery in the next two decades. Identified slums should be
declared REGENERATION SCHEMES. Oluwole in Lagos CBD is
a living testimony of a successful urban regeneration project.
We should have thousands of such going on in the
country. This will involve a huge sum of money which could be
mobilized by connecting the disconnected socio-economic fabric
of our system. Ecological Fund must be made available to
regenerate coastal slums. The Pension Fund should as a matter
of urgency, be reviewed. The spirit of the Fund encourages
national development via real estate investment but the vehicle
that the fund could be accessed- RIET and MBS are not yet
developed. This mismatch must be addressed.
Urban Renewal Authorities must be restructured to
become Corporations. These corporations must be established in
all states. Urban Planners alone cannot resolve urban slum
problems, Estate Surveyors, Economist, Sociologist, Architect,
Engineers and Housing experts must be brought on board in
82
these corporations.
Promotion and Rating of Papers in a Professional Faculty
Like Ours.
I will not be fair to my colleagues in my faculty if I fail to mention
the problems we go through to be promoted. As a faculty, we run
professional programs. We are, therefore, compelled to go
through two accreditations exercises. Membership of our
Professional institutions requires us to publish in various
professional journals. When we do this, the Vetting Committee of
the University rejects the papers. We are expected to publish in
academic journal but policy makers that need our research
findings do not read academic journals but professional journals!
No wonder both the university and the larger society are going in
opposite directions. In the interest of national development,
professional journals should be accepted for our faculty with a limit
set for the percentage out of the total publications being
evaluated.
Funding the University System.
It is daily becoming obvious that we cannot continue to look
towards Abuja to give us “This day our daily bread”. Subsidy is
meant for citizens that could not afford market rate of essential
commodities or services. A nation that subsidizes the school fees
of children of multimillionaires need a rethink. There are several
models across the world that we can either adapt or adopt. Nigeria
used to have a Students’ Loan Board. This should be revived and
restructured. If the Federal Government cannot supply all our
needs, these programs could support us. “It is only he that owns
and plays the pipe that can dictate the tune!” When the pipe is
broken into two and more than one person is playing, the tune can
no longer be dictated by one person. A case in point is the
Foundation programme that the Government policy on admission
seriously disrupted. It was a home grown model that should have
been patented by the University of Lagos and other Universities
and should have been painless to use. It has scaled up admission
83
and students’ performance over time and income from it has
helped in no small means to support our system. Joint Universities
Preliminary Examination Board (JUPEB) offers only A level
courses, it’s very challenging to admit such students into
professional programs like ours.
Attracting Foreign Students and our Admission Period
The number of foreign nationals amongst staff and students’
population is a major criterion in university rating. Admission into
Universities all over the world starts as early as November and is
concluded in February for August/September Admission. Apart
from the incessant strikes that discourage admitting international
students, by the time our forms are out, good students across the
world have settled their admission problems. We must therefore
start early to attract this category of students. We need to put
Strike Actions behind us. The gain from past strikes to me has
been quite insignificant compared to the cost!
Housing Ministry Leadership at Federal and State levels
It is unfortunate that experts in the built environment struggled for
the establishment of a Ministry of Housing. But for most of its
existence, it has been led by people that have to learn on the job.
If experts could be head hunted from the World Bank to head the
Finance Ministry and medical experts are required to head the
Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Housing deserves an
experienced expert as its head.
Housing Education
The Centre for Housing Studies is working on Curriculum
Development for Housing Studies in Secondary Schools. If
agriculture could be taught at Primary and Secondary school;
Housing education should be introduced into our Secondary
school system as a matter of urgency.
Community Participation
The location of the University should impact positively not only on
84
rent passing on houses in the neighborhood but on the health,
economy and student performance. A primary/secondary school
GST course that promotes student’s voluntary service to help in
the community for required hours in a semester must be
introduced. This will be in form of teaching in Primary and
Secondary schools, embarking on an approved project like
developing community park, environmental sanitation, capacity
building of various types. This is an important component of Urban
Regeneration. As a matter of fact, my ESM 552 class recently
successfully brought community leaders into the University of
Lagos for an interactive session on the regeneration of their
communities. Collaborations such as this must be enhanced.
Stopping the Boko Haram Onslaught
One of the major problems that our nation is facing today is the
war against Boko Haram. Every slum is a potential breeding
ground for Boko Haram. It should be noted that when they moved
to Lagos sometimes ago, it was Ijora Badia that housed them. I
warned in 2002 and 2008 that the nation risked been brought
down if housing problems are not taken seriously. Boko Haram
can never be defeated with gun but with Love! Boko Haram is not
a group, it is an ideology! You do not destroy an ideology with
guns! This is the time for our social scientists to put on their
thinking caps. Our spear must be converted to plough. Food,
clothing, schools and housing are the solutions. Government,
churches and mosques must move into the North Eastern part of
Nigeria with these provisions.
CONCLUSION
Mr. Vice Chancellor, Sir, I have spent the better part of my journey
on this planet earth thinking, sometimes crying, and hoping for a
return to Eden or Al-janah for my people. For most of the time like
Jeremiah, it has been like my cry had been like a whistle in storm.
I cry because of the level of general level ignorance about the
nature of housing. Housing goes beyond bricks and mortar.
85
Friends, it is beyond that!
Each time I was to get discouraged, I remember the charge of Dr.
Umar Alka, a co-member of the Technical Board of FHA. At the
last Board meeting in 2007 when we perceived that our service
might no longer be required by the powers that be. He
encouraged us with what he referred to as the words of Prophet
Mohammed, admonishing us that there are three ways that one
could fulfill God’s vision:
i. Do all within your ability to actualize it but if you could not,
ii. Communicate it to others who could and if there is none to
communicate it to,
iii. Die with the faith that one day Allah will send someone to
actualize the vision.
After being frustrated out of FHA, I have been communicating the
vision. And you that are here today, you have heard. I pray that
God will use you in different ways to achieve His purpose for His
people. For me, at 54, the journey is not as far as when I started.
One sometimes looked back and sees unfulfilled dreams and
increase in the number of people living in slum. I console myself
with the prayers of Archbishop Oscar Romero who admonished
that “It helps now and then, to step back and take the long view.
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts; it is beyond our
vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the
magnificent enterprise that is the Lord’s work… Nothing we do is
complete, which is another way of saying that the Kingdom always
lies beyond us. No sermon says all that should be said. No prayer
fully expresses our faith. No confession brings perfection. No
pastoral visit brings wholeness. No program accomplishes the
Church’s mission. No set of goals and objectives includes
everything. That is what we are about. We plant the seeds that
one day will grow, We water seeds already planted knowing they
hold future promise. We lay foundation that will need further
development. We provide yeast that affects far beyond our
capabilities…We cannot do everything and there is a sense of
86
liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to
do it very, very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a
step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter
and do the rest. We may never see the end results, but that is the
difference between the Master Builder and the worker. We are
workers, but not master builders… ministers, not messiahs. We
are prophets of a future that is not our own. Amen.”
I thank you sincerely for being here and listening to this lecture.
May the dream of Ideal Habitat – City without slums be fulfilled in
our life-times. My Vice Chancellor, Sir, I am done.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
First, thanks be to God for His mercy and abundant grace upon
my live. He is God from everlasting to everlasting. He lifted a
wretched man like me from the dung hills and made me to sit
amongst Kings and Princes. He guided my steps all the way.
When I was about going astray severally, He kept using His staff
to bring me back to maintain my course. That is why I am standing
here today to give this lecture. It can only be God.
Special thanks to my parents, biological and non-biological, who
gave me life and the foundation upon which my accomplishments
in life stand. My late father was a produce seller and did not really
cherish education until the last months of his life when he
surprised me one morning when he told me that he wished I
become a Professor one day. But I have another father – Pa C.A.
Ogunnubi- who God preserved till today to witness this great
event. He infected me with the hard work virus and initiated me
into the teaching cult. May your remaining days in life be filled with
joy. Sweet Mother! How can I forget you for the suffering that you
went through because of us. She became everything (a labourer,
a merchant, a farmer, a warrior, a teacher) to make us something
in life. May you live long to enjoy the fruits of your labour. To my
dearest brother Egbon Dotun. Many thanks for bringing the light of
Christ to the family. To my siblings: Yemi, Bolanle, Bolakun, Bisi,
87
Dr. Seun Peter. You have been a blessing to me!
My profound appreciation goes to those that God used either to
save my life or to move me forward in life. Mr. Babatunde Banjo
whose visit to Abeokuta in 1980 miraculously saved my life. Rev.
Oluwakoya and wife, you opened your door for me and adopted
me as a brother when you could not trace my genealogy- Heaven
will cause the noble to adopt your children. Late Olugbosi and
Dapo Osonuga: You both told me to ride on, that you saw in me a
star. Dr. (Mrs.) Omirin, I wish you are the Acting Dean today! All I
know is that you and your children will enjoy God’s favour all the
days of your life. Two times I opted out of this journey but like a
shepherd you brought me back. You told me that none of us will
leave UNILAG in frustration but with celebration. Ma, you will end
well!
I want to appreciate the efforts of my primary / secondary school
teachers and lecturer at the Polytechnic: so many, but it is difficult
to forget late ‘Otunuga’ whose son is like my twin brother and
must be here today. He is a renowned Economist and a Deputy
Director in NDIC. My Mathematics teacher in Molusi College- Mr.
Leke Ajibola Osigbesan, who taught us that if we waste today we
will suffer later in Life. My best lecturer ever a Ghanaian Mr G.K.
Sablah. My Housing Lecturer Mrs. Funto Anikwe. Your emotional
question in class: “Who will fight for the homeless”, made me to
respond, “here I am, send me!”. You returned to America but I
know you will not be surprised seeing me doing what I am doing
now. Late Mr. Fagbuyi and others, you are unsung heroes.
To those that God caused our paths to cross along our journey
thus far, Prof. Bolaji Owasonoye , Pastor Olumide Adeyi Leke, Dr.
Bola Odepidan and his wife in UK, Bayo Osifuwa Oide Obaseki.
My compatriots in Real Estate Developers’ Association of
Nigeria(REDAN), Papa Lateef Jakande, Sulaiman Abubakar of
Imani Estate, Chief Afolayan, Rev. Ugo Chime, Barrister Adeoye,
Mr. Adejana; and every single member of the REDAN family. My
88
Nigerian-UK Housing Society (NUHS) friends. Pa. Aderogba, Mr.
Jimoh, Dr. Babayemi and Michelle Adeyinka. To my cousin and
friend Bosun Odukoya you are simply wonderful. My friend at
FHA, General Tunde Reis, Mrs Victoria Mbu, Hayaray, Gamade.
My friends in the Media, Chinedu of Guardian. You have been
with me in the struggle. God will reward you all.
At this point, I must acknowledge the untiring efforts and
immeasurable support received from the Vice Chancellor, Prof
RahamonAdisa Bello, the Deputy Vice Chancellor Academics Pro
B. Alo, DVC (M&S) Prof. Duro Oni, The Registrar, The Bursar,
Liberian, The First Lady Provost of College of Medicine- Prof.
Ogunsola. I have enjoyed your love and friendship. Former Vice
Chancellor Professor Oye Ibidapo Obe, who appointed me t as
Acting HOD, I acknowledge your encouragement and belief in me.
Late Super Vice Chancellor, Professor Sofolowe, a man from
Ilesha that called an Ijebu boy Aburo, was used by God to remove
shame and frustration from me. After marking time as Senior
Lecturer for 11 years, I was appointed the first Professor of Estate
Management under his watch in 2012.
Secret mentor and role model, Prof. Fajana, Prof. Alloy Ijogu,
Prof. Familoni, Prof Omoegun and Prof. Ilori, I am grateful to my
brother and friend Prof. Toyin Ogundipe, to whom I merely joked
one day that I liked his tie and I saw it on my table the following
day. Dr. Sanni, Mrs Ego of Law, Past Dean of PG School
Professor Chukwu, Current Dean SPGS Prof. Akinboye and the
entire members of APC of the PG School Board. To the rest of my
esteemed colleagues in the APC of the PG School Board, lack of
space in this booklet will not allow me to mention your names.
Over the years I have become friends with esteemed academics
such as Prof. Osanrere, Prof. Oneyene, Prof Okunuga, Prof.
Ojikutu, Dr. Oke, Dr. Adeleke. Dr. Osinubi & his friend Dr. (Mrs.)
Aderonke Lawal while working tirelessly for the University. Again,
lack of space in this booklet will not allow me to mention the
names of everyone that has impacted on me in my sojourn in this
89
great university.
To my Ph.D Supervisor, Prof. Iyagba the professor of Professors
whose hands God used to mould many lives including mine. Prof.
Igwe, Prof. Okedele, Prof. Olusanya, Prof. Olufowobi, Prof.
Akinmoladun, Prof. Oduwaye, Prof. Odusami, Prof. Oyediran.
Prof. Idoro, Prof. Adebamowo, Prof. Dada, Dr. Ogunsami, Dr.
Onukwube, Dr. Adenuga. You are all simply wonderful. Dr.
Babawale, Dr. Otegbulu, Dr. Koleosho, Ms. Gamu you are all
awesome. To my younger colleagues, in the Faculty Uyi Osagie,
Afees Alabi, Mike Ayankora, Mr. Idowu, Dr. Afolayan, Dr. Umeh,
Mrs. Ohiro, Ms Famuyiwa, Mrs. Oyalowo, Ms Thontteh. My
administrative staff at one time or the other- Mr. Okonji, Late
Bukky Ajayi, Mrs. Sulaiman, Mrs Palmer, Mrs. Moshood, Mrs.
Akinwa, Mrs. Jegun, Mrs. Joy Avona, Mrs. Adeniyi Toyin, Pastor
Tosin Olubiyi, Mr. Kazeem Akinyemi, Mr. S. A. Efunkoya and all
my students. You are all great co-labourers. Because you play
your role well and cared for me, life has been sweeter. God will
reward you all. To my colleagues in the practicing world, members
of Estate Surveyor and Valuers. I salute you. Your support has
helped us in the academic tremendously. I want to thank the
immediate past President Emeka Eleh, his partner Chudi Ubosi
and Chief M.I. Okoro. You are a great ambassador of our
department. You never forget us but kept coming back to ask us
areas of need and the support you could offer.
To my Spiritual family- The Upper Room Baptist Church. What
would my life have been without you? Though born into a
Christian home but you showed me Christ and taught me how to
follow Him. Pa. Longe- the First General Overseer and other
foundation members- The Adekoyas, Opute, Rotimis, Filani
Alalade and others, live according to the scripture “imitate me as I
imitate Christ” I am a living testimony that God answers our
prayers in Upper Room. My current G.O..Pastor Leke Akinola and
the wife, an old friend in the darkness before God showed us the
light. ‘E ku ise Oluwa o!’. We will run the race to the point of
90
reward. My Parishioners at Alagbado, Ijoko, Lekki and
Oworonsoki. You are the fruits of my labour. I pray I will present
you all to Christ at the last day. Mummy Adesokun, Mama
Fashida, Durus, The Ale’s, The Elusakin, The Adebayos, The
Adewoles, The Dadas, The Komolafes, The Omosors, The
Olasupos The Igberases, The Awotiles, The Alexs, The Jacobs,
The Babas, The Judes, The Ogunbolajis, The Lovedays, The
Kolas and many others, knowing you all makes life worthwhile.
The Entire Idode Community- the place of my birth. The Bale,
Chief Durojaiye Olugbode, Oba Ademola Oluwaseyi Osokoya. I
know you all rejoice to see today. Great things will happen as from
today. I came to this world through a humble but noble family. My
late father, and his sibling, my Mum and her sibling- Mrs. Gbode,
Tunde Banjo, late Mrs Adebisi Adekoya, Mrs Rotimi Ajayi, I
appreciate you all. To my immediate family, I will like to tell this
gathering that this lecture would not have taken place if God has
not blessed me with a good family. If a man failed in family life, he
has failed in life. God in His mercy gave me a wife and three
wonderful children, Kayode, Tosin and Pelumi. Pelumi is the
promising Professor in the house. She is a final year student of
Bio Medical Science at Coventary University UK. The young men
both have first degrees in Electrical Electronic Engineering. While
Kayode opted for Masters in Internet Business, Tosin continues
with Masters in Electrical Electronics. Kay works today with
Accenture, Dublin, Ireland Republic while Tosin later ventured into
Investment Banking and now works with London Stock Exchange.
At young age, they are award winners and great leaders. We are
all, products of a great woman called Olubukunola Adetutu Nubi.
A perfect match of the virtuous woman described in Proverbs 31.
A woman who left a promising career at Federal Ministry as a
Senior Town Planning Officer to engage with the low skilled in
London and had to retrain to care for my children. Whatever we
are today, you see her signature in every stage of our life. In
recent times, God added to our family. In few months time my first
son will get married to Nana, our jewel. I will soon become a grand
91
pa! What a great God we serve!.
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Housing/Mortgage Finance in a Depressing Global
Economy Organized by Housing Advocacy at Victoria
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Agbola, T & Olatubara, C. (2007): Private Sector Driven Housing
in Nigeria: Issues Constraints, Challenges and Prospects In
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Ansa (2003) Mortgage Finance: The Ghana Experience.
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