By Akhigbe Dominic.M. Esq.,
MON, APRIL 9 2018-theG&BJOURNAL-A few years ago, I took a rent of an apartment somewhere in Mainland Lagos; I paid the sum of six hundred thousand naira as total incoming rent with four hundred thousand naira as recurrent rent. During one of the (then) Environmental Sanitation Saturdays; my Landlord and I were whiling away time after supervising the cleaning of the surroundings and the drainages. My landlord was an accomplished man who was ready to share his experience anytime, anywhere and any day. He is a very educated man with a Ph.D in his field of endeavor. I still recall how he told me that he bought the entire two plots on which the imposing edifice situates for #4000 in 1982. He said the entire house comprising of six plats and a potter’s lodge from start to finish was built for #80,000 in all. In fact; he further informed me that this same land was his most expensive of all his landed properties. This is #120,000 put together! However, my rent for the Apartment which I rented in the same house was #400,000 then.
The above scenario can be argued and situated within the corridor of time factor. After all; !980 is about four decades ago! Inflation and other determining factors can be adduced to wrestle this long past period. However, I can still remember that in 2015 or thereabouts; a bag of cement was hovering between #1100 and #1200. The 6 inches block was in the neighborhood of #90 and #100. Today, a bag of the same cement sells for between #2900 and #3000 naira. A 6 inches block sells for about #190 and #200 while 9 inches block sells for #200 to #210 depending on location. Other building materials have become very prohibitive. A square meter of Gerrard Steptile Roofing is about #2900. The long spam aluminum roofing sheets goes for between #19,000 and #20,000 a bundle of eighteen sheets. We are not talking of electrical fittings, ceiling or the other components. The situation has become very disturbing.
Affordable Housing has become a mirage. Indeed, is it possible to make Housing affordable with this abominable cost of building imputes? The answer is very clear. You cannot expect a man to spend over #10,000,000 (excluding the cost of the land) to erect a two bedrooms flat and give such an apartment out for anything affordable. You do not give what you don’t have.
The big question is, can this situation not be remedied? Am sure it can. This is possible if the government creates the enabling environment for investment. Regulations can be put in place to manage the activities of manufacturers who sometimes want to take advantage of the helpless consumers and make abnormal profits thereby pricing their products out of reach. Policies that tend to encourage monopoly in favor of specific classes of people should be repealed.
When this administration came into power, it was said that the president invited one of the largest manufacturers of cement and cautioned him against bogus profits that are capable of undermining the Affordable Housing policy of government. It was further said that the president also threatened to direct a forensic audit of the business activities of this same company except prices were managed in a manner that would make cement affordable. Like magic, cement prices dropped with a huge quantum. After a while; the status quo returned. This same investor practically stifled the business activities of some other investors in this subsector by promoting monopolistic tendencies. Just every other unwholesome practice that has gone unchallenged in this country is attributed to this same business magnate. This manufacturer has become a colossus. He practically dictates the flow of prices of cement in Nigeria today. The popular excuse is that it is expensive to do business in our climate. A fifty kilogram of cement now sells for #3000 excluding logistics!
…..to be continued.
Akhigbe Dominic.M. Esq., /Property Law Expert/CEO, H.I.E Properties & Homes Ltd/SENIOR STRATEGIC PARTNER, PropertyLogic Incorporated/Seasoned Business Coach/Columnist of The BusinessDay/Contributing Editor, govandbusinessjournal.com.ng
