Former Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo, has said that the solution to the housing crisis Nigeria faces is not just in building more structures, but also in planning for both the present and the future.
The former vice president added that the planning should include legal frameworks and structures that will make it possible for the country to have the number, not just the number of houses, but also the number that matches the rapid rate of growth.
Explaining the need for legal frameworks in planning for housing, Osinbajo, who spoke at the 35th anniversary dinner hosted by Ubosi Eleh & Co in Lagos, recalled a memo he got from Bola Tinubu, the then-governor of Lagos State, now the president of Nigeria.
According to him, the memo concerned a survey that showed the number of low- and middle-income houses was actually declining, suggesting that people were building fewer of them. They preferred to invest instead in stocks and shares at the time.
“One of the reasons the scope was falling was because people were scared that if they invested in houses and rented them out, the tenants would not pay for two years, and so the investors would be stuck for years without earning anything from their investment.
