Stakeholders and members of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers meet in Lagos this week to discuss the Vision 20: 2020 agenda as it relates to the development of housing in Nigeria

By BOYE AJAYI

The 2010 national conference of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, NIESV, tagged “Centre of Excellence 2010”, holds this week, Monday, April 26 to Saturday, May 1 at the Expo Centre, Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos. Indeed, the choice of the theme, “Vision 2020 and the challenges of housing construction and development in Nigeria” is timely and most appropriate.

The conference, which is the 40th edition in the series, will provide the much-needed platform to discuss the goals, objectives and challenges of the Vision 20: 2020 agenda and its relevance towards resolving the prevalent problems of housing construction and development in Nigeria. Aside providing learning and networking opportunities for the real estate professionals and stakeholders from within and outside the country, the conference will also sensitise the general public on the impact of the Vision 2020 agenda on land, real estate and the national economy.

Emeka Onuorah, president, NIESV said “The agenda envisions Nigeria becoming one of the 20 largest economies in the world by the year 2020,” adding that it behoves land economists and housing experts to examine the role of housing in the economy and the relevance of NIESV to the actualisation of the laudable target of the vision.

Examining the specific roles and responsibilities of estate surveyors and valuers in the achievement of Vision 20:2020, Bode Adediji, a fellow and first national vice president, NIESV said that land and its management constitutes a surveyor’s area of core-competence because all human activities associated with the implementation of the agenda must take place on land. Then, he stated that all key areas of implementing Vision 20:2020 must have recourse to the profession of estate management in one form or the other. Adediji, a member of Vision 20:2020 steering committee on housing and urban development, said that there are key sectors of the agenda that must be addressed and championed frontally by estate surveyors and valuers or in collaboration with allied professionals in the built-environment, notably, in the areas of housing, agriculture, infrastructure and urban development.

Based on this, Kola Akomolede, a fellow and past national publicity secretary of NIESV hinted that the challenges of housing development in Nigeria are many. Aside the high cost of construction, land acquisition and documentation problems, the number one problem, according to him, is housing finance “Contrary to what is obtainable in Nigeria, mortgages as low as four per cent are readily available in the advanced countries,” he noted. Akomolede, also a past secretary-general of the Association of Housing Corporations of Nigeria, AHCN and currently, president (Nigeria) International Federation of Real Estate and Building Construction, FIABCI, believes government can easily resolve this problem. He suggested that government can mobilise funds from the public sector, corporate organisations, individual and other specialised sources like the excess crude fund because the National Housing Fund, NHF, is in no way helping the situation.

Dosu Fatokun, a fellow and immediate past president, NIESV says there is need for land reform in order for housing development in the country to witness a turnaround. “Every human endeavour is on land and without official management of land, the whole economy is in jeopardy,” Fatokun said. His assertion is premised on the national housing deficit put at about 16 to 17 million housing units. Thus, he declared that affordable mortgage and development financing are needed by the low and middle-income earners to allow them have easy access to affordable housing.

In the same vein, Charles Adebiyi, also a past president of NIESV remarked that aside from research and development, capacity building as well as institutional development, players in the sector need to come together under a unique umbrella – The Nigerian Urban Forum – to draw up agenda towards ensuring sustainability in housing development as it relates to the attainment of the Vision 20:2020 agenda.

Onuorah; Tasks housing experts on Vision 20;2020

Adediji; Identifies areas of challenge

Akomolede; Asks government to intervene

Fatokun; Calls for land reform

Adebiyi; Canvasses collaboration in the sector