CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
1.2 Problem Statement
Nigeria’s successfully transition from one democratic government to another for the first time in her post colonial history, in May, 2007, has led to the current administration among its strategies for growth to adopt a seven-point agenda namely; power/energy, food security, wealth creation, land reforms, transportation, security and education. This policy reform was to entrench the rule of law as well as championing the need for active participation of the private sector in the development process of the economy (NBS, 2007; CBN, 2007; Mabogunje, 2007;
Onwusonye, 2007).
This strategy for restructuring the economy is challenging due to several years of unstable military rule, which has created socio-economic inequalities as well as a volatile political atmosphere. One of such strategy was the adoption of the enabling approach to housing delivery as proposed by United Nations (UNCHS/ILO, 2006) and achieved through the strengthening of Primary Mortgage Institutions (PMI’s). A further localization of this intense engagement of the private sector by government was to delineate and institute the Lagos Mega city project (Babawale, 2003; Yakubu, 2006; Mabogunje, 2007). This was to strengthen the perceived weak regional networks and improve the framework for infrastructural development among others towards achieving the millennium development goals (MDG’s).
To understand the problem of housing in Lagos this study relied on the evolving housing conditions. Lagos was a former British colony and a city of the Yoruba tribe in South-West Nigeria located west of the African continent. In the 15th century, Lagos was the coastal outlet for Portuguese slave trade. Originally, owned and occupied by the Awori tribe, before the
advent of the Europeans in the 1400’s; it served as the capital city for Nigeria during the most part of the colonial era until 12th December,1991 during the military era when the capital was moved to Abuja. Lagos grew from a traditional settlement of about 3.85sq.km in 1881 to over 1,183sq.km currently and the population has grown from a mere 12,000 persons in the 1800’s to over 13.5 million, and its estimated to rise to over 25.4 million by 2015 (UNCHS, 1996;LASG,2007).
Fundamental to this population increase is the working class who occupies most of the 21.8%
of flats/apartment type housing in the city and 57.9% of the housing stock constitutes the rental market in a 59.6% poverty context (FOS, 2004). It is from this point that the sprawling city necessitated the creation of the Lagos Mega-city concept. This is a regional master plan, which integrates the spread of Lagos into the neighbouring Ogun state northwards to form a single urban entity that covers 37% of Lagos state land area, but accommodates 90% of total population; with an average of about 20,000 persons per square kilometer in density (Okedele et.al.2009).
A major step in the last ten years of the Federal Government towards creating an enabling environment comprehensively is the introduction of the new National housing and Urban Development Policy. This primarily deals with the framework for governments’ Mass housing delivery and private participation (Mabogunje, 2007). Its proposition is based on estimates of an annual income of N480, 000=00 (about $2000.USD) for the Federal civil service worker of between Grade level 10-13; alongside the international labour organization (ILO) recommendation of between 25-33% of that income per annum, as acceptable repayment basis for local computations. The repayment period is between 30-35years for a worker who is currently within 30-35years of age. This stratification for target-cost housing typifies the middle-income in Nigeria in terms of age, income, education, and other socio- economic/demographic indicators generally suggested for housing surveys (NBS, 2007).
Based on the above indicators, government-housing policy suggests a target-cost delivery to privileged working middle-income groups among established institutions of the public sector (Mabogunje, 2002; FGN, 2008). This is in total exclusion of other working migrants and the larger society (Awotona, 1990). This policy proposition assumes that this target group in reality represents those who have the capacity to rent and utilize rental funds as down payment for a mortgage or jump-start the self-help process of housing delivery. Unfortunately, this is not the case as most government workers are unable to part with 30% of their income to pay for these houses. In most cases, these houses come at a price well above the affordable means
of middle-income groups. While in the private sector, the middle-income group has better capacity to procure housing on cash basis. Their networks and social arrangements engender this ability. They are able to afford these housing through other means such as contributions from family, friends, thrift loans and several undisclosed businesses which they engage in to meet their self-help financial requirements. Critical to their project initiation is the building regulation process towards obtaining development rights (Egbu, et.al, 2008). Both the cumbersomeness of obtaining financing and building regulatory rights for development are key problems to HDS.
In addition, there is the limitation posed by the water to land ratio that inhibits physical development growth except by sand filling which alters the entire eco-system. Essential to sand filling is the outcome of the soil bearing capacity. This poor soil condition requires highly skilled technical methods, and huge financing to achieve structurally stable buildings. Since it is near impossible to achieve low-cost housing that will not qualify as a shack to the rest of the world within metropolitan Lagos given the prevailing technical and geo-physical constraints;
and where these processes have been circumvented (even in government housing) they usually become disastrous in outcome. This is evident in consistent collapse of buildings due to indiscriminate developments and poor technical input from professionals in the built environment. This has led partly to excessive development of the landed area of the city with little undeveloped land left for other functions of the city apart from housing. Current data shows that, Lagos has developed over 50% of its land cover (Okude and Ademiluyi, 2006).
More so, there are social issues, which are associated to families, land, and home ownership.
This association limits exchange by sale (Abiodun,1985).It would be near impossible to try mass-resettlement and re-acquisition of plots or redevelopment of built-up plots without a social fight with the inhabitants of the city as has been the practice since the colonial days (Fadahunsi,1975). Attempts at inner-city slum clearance and re-development plans have often failed. This is due to stiff resistance from the masses, borne out of resettlement experiences that simply out-stage incumbent dwellers from their inherited lands, and housing. It is a known fact that the resettlement exercise more often re-allocates ownership rights to the more affluent of society (Egbu, 2008; Aradeon, 2005).
In line with the national PPP framework and the economic framework for SEEDS towards achieving MDG’s, there is the new partnership between Lagos state government and a private developer. The partnership intends to replicate the Dubai experience for a new housing scheme and city, that would be sustainable and two kilometers into the Atlantic Ocean. The strategy is
to further sand fill and reclaim parts of the Atlantic Ocean to create Eko Atlantic city of Lagos.
The environmental issues and the cost would be expensive for the middle-income group. From a marketing source (that would rather remain anonymous), this study observed that the off-plan land sold for $2,000 United States of America dollars per square meter at a minimum of one thousand square meters per plot). The entire direction is borne from the governors’ visit to Dubai and what he thought could be possible in Lagos. This is comparable to a previous governor’s experience in the seventies and his reaction (Aradeon, 1978, in Gugler, 1982:
109).Often times new policy and program directions in Nigeria is based on the whimsical deductions of political leaders and this constitutes a major problem for HDS.
However, it is evident in Nigeria that public-private partnerships is widely accepted in the provision of public facilities and services provision as seen and adopted from the United Kingdom Model (Akitoye.et.al, 2002; Ajalenkoko, 2007). The role of private sector involvement within Nigeria’s national housing policy framework is widely ignored (Awotono, 1990; Akomolede, 1990;Agboola, 2003; Mabogunje,2005). Common arrangements between government and the public are further stifled through establishment of government corporate agencies for housing delivery; unfortunately, these agencies were empowered to sell housing at commercial rate to the public through established mortgage financing institutions. Examples of these are the WEMA Board Estates, LSDPC estates to mention a few. The outcomes remain a blessing to selected few middle-income earners.
The resurgence of public-private partnerships in housing delivery of Nigeria based on the World Bank enablement strategy is traceable in part to the recent bank re-capitalization, capital market crash, and global economic meltdown. The aim of the recapitalization was to strengthen the financial institutions and make them able to compete in global circles. This has accounted for huge liquidity within the financial systems and the need to channel them into stable ventures. Mortgage financing and property development seems the most stable and most lucrative in an underserved housing market like Lagos, Nigeria. Hence, this may account for banks divesting into the mortgage business, and asset management, as well as insurance and pension management, since there is the promise of access to medium to long-term funds for the housing sector by government (Yakubu, 2006).
Mabogunje (2002), and Awotono (1990), observed that, while the middle-income group (which forms the bulk of the working class) suffers from the shortage in housing stock of Lagos, translating their aspirations into effective demand is more challenging. This is due to high degree of unemployment within their income group, as well as the necessity of food before shelter on the agenda of government (NBS, 2007).
Therefore, this study concentrated on investigating the emerging middle-income group whose growing demand for housing and seeming inability to create effective demand remains a huge problem to the efforts of both the private and the public sector housing producers and stakeholders (Ogu,2000;NBS,2007).
Three groups of private sector participants in housing delivery in Nigeria are identified (Ogu, 2001); they are households, small-scale providers, and entrepreneurial private firms. UNCHS (1993:54), described the private sector actors in strict terms of “contractors”. Based on these earlier studies, this research delineated the stakeholders in terms that are more comprehensive, by analyzing existing partnerships within the public and private sector and among the middle- income groups and stratifying their roles and activities. This entailed the study of existing institutional and organizational arrangements among actors/partners and the critical success factors for middle-income HDS as it occurs within the context of existing social groups/formations and as economically defined by the National bureau for statistics, and national planning commission (2007).
Studies have shown that there are constraints in the arrangements that compel actors/partners into formulating types of partnerships and levels of associations with which housing decisions and housing programs are implemented (Ojo, 2006; Ogu, 2000; Olutuah, 2007; Brandsen, 2001). The result is a less predictive outcome of housing objectives. This is evident in the outcomes of multi-faceted housing delivery systems seen in the nucleated neighbourhoods of Lagos. The nucleated neighbourhoods occur as development strips, enclosed housing estates, traditional settlements encapsulated by new towns development, and several lateral variations to the growth of the city. The interplay of both the public and the private sector development direction gave rise to this dimension of segmented and incoherent human settlement pattern in metropolitan Lagos. The prevalent problems associated with this direction of growth are as follows:
-Population explosion in Lagos due to rural-urban migration/rapid commercialization and poor regional network in the country as it relates to the housing stock, and poor infrastructure.
Estimates indicate a population rise above 25.4million by the year 2015(UNCHS, 1996).
-The negative impact of a non-cohesive national housing policy framework and strategy has always been the case since colonial era. Since public housing is tied to government employment with total exclusion of the private sector participation. However, most housing
schemes by government are often targets for private sector speculators by so defeating setout objectives (Gyuse, 1984; Pugh, 1991; Cohen, 2006).
-Land tenure problems; this is in terms of the land-use decree of 1978. The effect of Land use decree on local ownership, state titling, and the ineffectiveness of enforceable legislation (Mabogunje, 2007; Ogu, 2001; Onibukun, 1986).
-There is a Poor institutional framework and capacity for preparing, vetting, approving, and monitoring of the building process. Since the government, regulatory body is unable to meet up with the rate of development and have to contend with contraventions in retrospect rather than planning for development. There are no valid records obtainable for total number of housing development in Lagos, since various government agencies responsible have no data to validate the trend for forward planning (Egbu.et.al, 2008).
-Inaccessible finance and high cost of fund; low income levels as it impacts the abilities of household to translate housing aspirations into effective demand (Ojo, 2007).
-Rising cost of building materials and cost of construction generally: This is due to dependence on foreign building materials, against an unstable Naira value in terms of foreign exchange (Adams, 1995, 1998).
-The Urban structure and social structure problems of the city’s history as seen in her urban settlement master plan, which emerged, from the distortions of traditional settlement patterns and their social networks/linkages by colonial institutional arrangements. The Infrastructural developments were strictly to satisfy the economic dictates of resource exploitation and the convenience of a handful of expatriates and sectarian care for the locals who patronized the colonialist. While the remainder of the traditional settlements and inhabitants where excluded, truncated, or by-passed to create new settlement networks around emerging colonial institutions. Such as the railways, police barracks, emerging central business districts close to the port, hospitals etc. This redefinition of housing by colonial governments from a social entity in traditional terms to an employment-career based benefit and a subsidy to those who participated in fostering the exploitation process remains a legacy to current public and private sector housing objectives with negative consequences on the outcomes of housing policies until date. This social structure and growth pattern accounts for the segmented nature of the city of Lagos in its urban form and from which the myriad of housing problems emanated (Aradeon, 1981). This tragedy is epitomized in the architecture of the city’s housing
development through the four factors thought to determine the conflicts between design intentions and realities of spatial-use by Aradeon (ibid) namely; land-use system, land-use design, variable factor of spatial use and physical control issues.
These identified multi-faceted and multi-disciplinary problems are detrimental to efficient and sustainable housing delivery systems of Lagos. Therefore, using Lagos as a case study and the enablement paradigm as framework by focusing on public-private partnership as a policy approach in Nigeria the study informed the extent to which partners achieved planned objectives and played their roles in the housing delivery system.
More so, there is the problem of adequacy in contributions and outcomes as enabled partners interact. In defining a critical path for sustainable and efficient housing delivery, theories such as urban theories, architectural theories, socio-cultural theories, and global neo-liberal theories formed the basis for analysis. This research utilized the inherent attributes of housing delivery systems to examine internalized conflicts and collaborations and the need to overcome the mitigating problems, which emanate from the weaknesses of both institutional and organizational arrangements. As cited earlier, previous studies in housing policy and delivery systems have criticized specific delivery systems but this research concentrated on
‘unbundling’ the internalized conflicts and collaboration among private and public partners in relation to physical qualities and quantities of housing and the arrangements among partners in relation to architectural paradigms specific to Lagos.
The need for new architectural design influences that would explain human unsettlement in relation to housing is important (Rapoport, 1978, 1983; Angel 2000; Cohen, 2004; Cater, 2010;
Buckminster, 1978). This new direction advocates the infusion of a broad knowledge base from various specialties into the design process (Cater, 2010). Whereby, architecture serves as a confluence for extrapolating and applying this broad based knowledge into a synthesized useable form and function for everyday life. It is from the analysis that ensues in the HDS of Lagos that new architectural paradigms would emerge for PPP contributions among middle- income groups; knowing that they can contribute to financing their housing but within current arrangements cannot to do so due to the highlighted prevailing problems. The philosophical approach to solving these problems as it affects Lagos and the rest of Africa is contained in the following statement. “African renaissance does not entail replicating these past cities, but rather understanding the city form and characteristics and thereby borrowing from the positive qualities of these old cities in order to contribute to the development of contemporary and future African cities”(Adebayo,2002:355).