By Pauline Okonkwo
A University don and Chief Lecturer, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech), Dr. John Okesoto has said that there is need for the FG to build low affordable houses for workers to enable them balance activites and productivity at the workplace.
Okesoto made the suggestion while delivering Yabatech’s 15th Inaugural Lecture Series for 2024, recently, The lecture titled: ‘The Poor, the Pot and the Bed’.
He said: “The poor represents the low-working income group in both public and private sectors: those in a low-paid occupation such as househelps, unskilled labourers and artisans,” he said.
According to him, ‘the pot’ is the workplace of the individual who provides income for the household from where family members draw their expenses for housing, food, health, investments, transportation and education. “Pot” is usually found in the kitchen not too far from the bedroom,” he said.
Dr Okesoto described ‘the bed’ as house where you settle after the day’s activities, House is a basic need of man and a place of abode.
“The pots of poor workers are far from their beds due to their poor incomes which directly impact their choices of location for their homes,” he said, he said that many poor workers lived far from their workplaces because they could not afford housing near their workplaces.
According to him, the situation impacts negativity on the gross domestic product as well as the carbon footprint of the environment.