At a time when the country’s housing deficit is over 20 million units, adversely affecting millions of Nigerians, the declaration by the new Minister of Housing that he has “a responsibility to address Nigeria’s housing shortfall” will naturally raise expectations among citizens desperate for practical solutions rather than another cycle of promises.

Indeed, the appointment of Dr Muttaqha Darma as Minister of Housing and Urban Development comes at a defining moment in Nigeria’s housing history. Housing in Nigeria has gone beyond a sectoral challenge; it has become a national emergency. The scale of homelessness, overcrowding, rising rents, proliferation of slums, and unaffordable building costs reflects years of policy inconsistency, weak implementation, poor urban planning, and inadequate financing systems.

In cities like Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt and Abuja, millions of workers can no longer afford decent accommodation near their workplaces. Young graduates, civil servants, artisans, and low-income earners are increasingly priced out of the housing market.

The minister is therefore stepping into one of the most difficult portfolios in government. It is not enough to speak about innovation and strategic thinking. Nigerians want to know exactly how the government intends to confront the reality of the housing crisis and what will be done differently from previous administrations that also promised affordable housing but delivered little beyond luxury estates and political rhetoric.

To his credit, Darma acknowledged the enormity of the challenge, admitting that even constructing 15 million houses over the next decade would require substantial resources. That honesty is refreshing. However, recognition of the crisis must now translate into concrete policy actions that address the root causes of the housing deficit.

One of the biggest obstacles confronting housing delivery in Nigeria is the soaring cost of building materials and construction. Cement prices have continued to rise beyond the reach of average Nigerians. Iron rods, roofing sheets, tiles, electrical fittings, and finishing materials have all become prohibitively expensive due to inflation, foreign-exchange instability, import dependence, poor infrastructure, and rising energy costs. Developers complain daily that the cost of constructing houses has almost doubled within a few years, making affordable housing nearly impossible.

The government cannot continue to ignore this reality. If the new minister truly wants to walk the talk, he must engage manufacturers of building materials, construction firms, financial institutions, and relevant agencies to formulate policies that reduce construction costs. Incentives for local production of building materials, tax waivers for essential housing components, support for alternative building technologies, and investment in local industrial capacity must become priorities. Without reducing construction costs, affordable housing will remain a slogan.

Another critical issue is the absence of an effective mortgage system accessible to ordinary Nigerians. Housing finance in Nigeria remains weak, elitist, and inaccessible. Mortgage interest rates are often too high, repayment periods too short, and eligibility requirements unrealistic for average salary earners. For many workers, securing a mortgage is almost impossible.

This explains why home ownership remains a distant dream for millions of Nigerians despite decades of government interventions. Countries that have successfully reduced housing deficits did so through strong mortgage institutions, long-term housing finance, low-interest loans, and government-backed support systems. Nigeria cannot continue to operate without a functional housing finance architecture that genuinely supports low- and middle-income earners.

There is also an urgent need for the revival of the Federal Government’s old Sites and Services Scheme, which in the past enabled low and middle-income earners to access affordable plots of land with basic infrastructure such as roads, drainage, water, and electricity, allowing families to gradually build their homes according to their financial capacity.

That model recognised Nigerians’ economic realities and encouraged incremental housing development.

Reviving and modernising such a programme across states would not only reduce pressure on the government to directly construct millions of houses but also empower citizens to become homeowners by providing affordable access to land and supportive infrastructure.

Successive governments have repeatedly launched housing initiatives, but many ended up benefiting only the wealthy and politically connected. Estates built under various schemes are often located beyond the reach of ordinary citizens, with prices running into tens or hundreds of millions of naira. In some cases, public housing projects are abandoned halfway due to corruption, inadequate funding, or poor supervision.

The painful truth is that since the era of Shehu Shagari and the low-cost housing initiatives associated with Lateef Jakande, Nigerians have struggled to see any truly large-scale, people-oriented public housing programme targeted at low-income earners. Those administrations may not have solved the housing crisis completely, but they demonstrated political will by constructing homes that ordinary workers could aspire to own.

Today, many Nigerians perceive government housing schemes as designed mainly for the rich. Luxury apartments, upscale estates, and expensive urban renewal projects dominate official narratives, while teachers, nurses, junior civil servants, artisans, market women, and informal workers remain excluded from the housing conversation. This growing disconnect fuels resentment and reinforces the dangerous impression that governance primarily serves elites.

The new minister must therefore remove this impression through deliberate policies that prioritise inclusiveness. Affordable housing should not merely be announced; it should be visible, accessible, and transparent. Nigerians want to see housing estates where repayment plans are realistic, allocation processes are credible, and beneficiaries are genuinely drawn from low- and middle-income groups.

Darma’s observation that private developers are succeeding while government housing projects are often abandoned raises important questions. Indeed, private real estate developers continue to build profitable estates across major cities because they operate with efficiency, speed, accountability, and clear commercial incentives. Government projects, on the other hand, are frequently slowed by bureaucracy, corruption, policy reversals, and weak maintenance structures.

However, the government cannot entirely surrender housing delivery to the private sector. The role of government is not merely to observe market forces but to protect vulnerable citizens who cannot compete in a purely profit-driven housing environment. Private developers naturally target high-income earners because that is where profits are guaranteed. It is therefore the responsibility of the government to intervene where the market fails.

The minister must also confront the broader urban development crisis accompanying the housing shortage. Nigerian cities are expanding without adequate planning, infrastructure, transportation systems, drainage, water supply, or waste management. Informal settlements continue to grow because millions of people have nowhere else to live. Urban renewal cannot simply involve demolition exercises without providing alternatives for displaced residents.

If the government is serious about addressing housing, it must also address land administration bottlenecks, cumbersome title documentation processes, multiple taxation, and delays in obtaining building approvals. Across the country, securing Certificates of Occupancy and property titles remains frustratingly slow, expensive, and vulnerable to corruption. These systemic inefficiencies discourage investment and increase housing costs.

Ultimately, Nigerians will judge the new minister not by speeches, promises, or academic qualifications, but by measurable results. They want to see housing projects completed, mortgage systems improved, construction costs reduced, and ordinary citizens included in national housing plans.

The housing sector has the potential to stimulate economic growth, create jobs, support local industries, and improve social stability. But this can only happen if there is genuine political commitment backed by transparency, accountability, and people-centred policies.

This is the time for the government to walk the talk. The housing crisis can no longer be managed through rhetoric or ceremonial project launches. Millions of Nigerians are waiting for proof that the government still remembers the poor, the struggling middle class, and the millions of families whose dream of decent shelter remains painfully out of reach.