As the world celebrates the 2020 Habitat Day, the Association of Nigerian Chartered Architects (ANCA) emphasises the importance of the achievement of ‘housing for all’ and uses the unique opportunity availed by the event to call on all Nigerian stakeholders involved in the project to synergize in order to make the long-awaited achievement of shelter for all a reality.
Below is a press release towards the day by the association signed by its President, Arch. Dr. Noyor E. Omatsone and some other executive members.
The housing sector has at various times been noted as important for stimulating economic growth and generating employment opportunities upon which the occupation, quality and ownership of house are reliable indicators of a person’s standard of living and how the health of a nation is measured.
Nigeria has severally been reported to have an estimated housing deficit of about 20 million units, with an annual incremental estimate of about 900,000 units. Thus, there exists a widening gap between needs and expectation on one hand and the reality on the other. Low earnings and low savings or disposable income for housing; high interest and inflation rates; inadequate infrastructure and inaccessibility to low-interest finance or credit facilities, high cost of land and documentation; increase in construction cost; and an unstable economy, the political system as well as housing policies amongst others, have over the years been adduced to be the major factors affecting the delivery of housing. It is perhaps, in the realisation of these challenges that brought about “Housing for All – A Better Urban Future and Global Observance’’ as the theme for this year’s World Habitat Day.
The delivery of adequate, accessible, affordable and acceptable housing is undoubtedly critical to Nigeria’s reform and development agenda. Towards this end, the Federal Government had issued related Executives Orders in support of local content requirements and announced the provision of N500 billion for the resuscitation of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), which is expected to enhance the cash-liquidity of mortgage institutions for the delivery of home-grown affordable housing in Nigeria. It, therefore, underscores the need for dynamic and responsive policies, programmes and projects towards accelerating the provision of affordable housing supply, especially for the urban poor.
It is in this stead that the Association of Nigerian Chartered Architects (ANCA) recognises the task of achieving this, like that of a collective duty and commitment; and therefore advocates Development Models like State Budgetary Finance Commitments (SBFC), Designated Consolidated Housing Fund (DCHF); Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN); Private Mortgage Institutions (PMI); group formations for crowd-funding, CDAs/Unions/Cooperative; REIT, Public-Private Partnership (PPP) financing etc, with the government’s intervention through attractive incentives as a social responsibility and her objective performance of the transitory interplay of roles as provider, enabler, facilitator and regulator to engender trust, confidence and interest of investors. These development models provide inherent abilities to be off-taker/up-taker driven in terms of adequacy in quality, acceptability, geopolitical or cultural idiosyncrasies and socio-economic capabilities on an agreeable and reasonable periodic equity contribution or repayment regime for mortgage or rentals or rent-to-own or build-to- own of the housing units.
Architects, in the discharge of their Corporate Social Responsibility; collective responsibility and commitment need to work with the dwellers, rather than impose ideas, by showing them alternative approach(es) towards improving their living condition and attaining a decent, healthy and safe built environment.
It is, therefore, our informed view that the Association of Nigerian Chartered Architects, Nigerian Architects, her Statutory Professional Regulatory Agency (ARCON) in collaboration with other related professionals in the built environment, the government and development partners can achieve this through the establishment of appropriate value for needs assessment, creative design solutions; effective, efficient and acceptable pro-poor policies and programmes that will engender equitable development and investments in affordable and social housing projects, which is in line with the New Urban Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG); specifically goal 11: Making Cities and Human Settlements Safe, Inclusive, Resilient and Sustainable.
e-Signed
Arc Dr. Noyor E. Omatsone FCArc, FNIA, Maarches – President
Arc Dr ‘Koye Jolaoso FCArc, FNIA, FIMS(UK),Maarches, MNIM, FCIPDM, FICAN, MiCIOB- National Secretary
