A few years back, the Lagos State government under the reign of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode graciously introduced a new building technology towards addressing various ongoing anomalies in the State’s housing sector as well as erecting a structure fast and easily.
It’s noteworthy that the emergence of the technique was as a result of the colossal housing deficit recorded thus far in the State. Survey indicates that over two million losses had been recorded across the length and breadth of Nigeria’s biggest city.
It isn’t anymore news that building collapse alongside allied matters has in recent times been a plight for public discourse within the shores of the Nigerian building industry at large. It suffices to assert that decadence is ubiquitous.
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However, it seems that Lagos is on the rampage compared to other states, perhaps owing to the fact that the territory consists of the highest number of erected structures coupled with the deplorable atmospheric condition faced by its residents.
In his speech to newsmen, the then State’s Commissioner for Housing, Mr. Gbolahan Lawal disclosed that the new technology was already being used in its ongoing housing estate at Idale in Badagry and would further be deployed in the site situated at Imota in Ikorodu, in a bid to achieving the government’s motive of delivering 2,000 houses across the cosmopolitan city.
Mr. Lawal, who equally disclosed that the technique ensures construction of bungalow within 48 hours, stated therein “We want to see how to go into the manufacturing of houses. We make it seamless and produce about 100 units in a month. We have three companies; one is already at site.”
He went ahead to opine that investment in the housing sector usually have a multiplier effect on the economy as he informed that various gadgets and accessories such as tiles, electronics, water cum electricity meters, mattresses, TV subscription, in addition to menial jobs for artisans, are tied to construction of houses.
When announced, I was elated that Lagos as an over-populated State could eventually arrive at a point where erection of formidable structures was considered as priority and could be done with ease by the builders.
It had overtime been insinuated in some quarters that the Nigerian polity was yet to embrace building technology to the fullness considering the level of quackery and mediocrity invariably witnessed in the sector. But it appeared the Lagos government’s lofty move disabused some persons of the notion that Nigeria lacks the apt resources to get it right.
Nevertheless, I made it clear then that before we celebrate in haste, it would be pertinent for the government to critically consider some factors with a view to ensuring the newly discovered technique doesn’t fade away in no distant time as well as being fully domesticated in the State.
We aren’t unaware that the firms contracted to handle the job were mainly foreign, hence the need for every discerning mind to worry about the future of the initiative. Though the housing commissioner disclosed that some indigenous workers were being trained in the technique and process of construction, I was of the strong view that there’s need to institutionalize the training.
Institutionalizing the said application would enable our teeming professionals, and the prospective ones, to passionately key into the process. Consequently, our indigenous designers and builders would be in charge of the initiative thereby helping to greatly boost the economy. So, Lagos was expected to take a lead in this aspect.
Similarly, there’s a compelling need to establish a strict policy to guide the housing sector in the State. We were notified that a new housing policy aimed at tackling the State’s housing deficit had been drafted. Such a policy, which was expected to be fully functional by now, must bear every clause needed to address all forms of lapse currently observed in the State’s building sector.
The policy, which was required to be designed with the aid of well-experienced and reliable town planners, needed to enshrine reasonable penalties for anyone guilty of violating the development control laws. It’s in record that Lagos was the first state to create a full-fledged Housing Ministry in 1999 because of the priority it accorded shelter, hence such prioritization must be fully upheld by the policy.
It’s appalling that three years later, nothing tangible has been recorded in respect of Lagos’ new building technology. Hence, at such a time like this when expectations are very high, an onward review coupled with apt implementation of the needed policy is consequential. We aren’t unaware that successive governments in Nigeria are not good in continuing with the capital projects or initiatives introduced by their predecessors. This is why they are charged to have a rethink in this regard.
It’s also time we started recognizing the use of materials like wood, clay and bamboo in the construction of standard structures, either residential or commercial. We were informed that the Lagos Housing Ministry had in years back experimented on the use of the aforementioned items but the availability and speed of delivery was the reason it dropped the proposed initiative.
It’s amusing for one to assert that the required wood for building construction is unavailable, or can’t be found in abundance, in Nigeria. What the governments at all levels need to do is to raise the profile of timber-based architecture toward promoting the demand. It’s needless to assert that everything centres on adequate recognition of the technique in question and the onward quest to deploy its lofty use.
In addition, the Nigerian government must begin to promote afforestation by assigning grievous punishment to unapproved deforestation via viable policies. By doing so, the needed wood would become more accessible and cheap than concrete and bricks, thus construction with the former would be done swiftly.
As we once again commend Lagos for recording this feat, the current government led by Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu must equally be urged to think deeply towards making advanced building technologies stand the test of time in the State, so other states can borrow a leaf from them.