Fresh concerns over housing deficit, soaring rents in seat of power

The arbitrary increase in house rent in the last few years is forcing thousands of Abuja residents into neighbouring states and villages in search of affordable shelter. With the attendant insecurity and high cost of transportation due to the increase in the pump price of petrol, residents said only the government’s intervention by way of affordable estates and functional transport system can remedy the situation, BRIDGET CHIEDU ONOCHIE reports.

Benedict Okon, 55 years old, and a father of three, was among the civil servants transferred from Lagos to Abuja in the early 1990s. As a level 8 officer then, his income was very low compared to the current salary for the same level, yet, he had the privilege to live in Wuse 11, one of the popular districts in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

He was in his youth and even though two families had to share one flat of two bedrooms at that time, life was sweet, especially when compared to the hustling and bustling Lagoslife that he just escaped.

But that euphoria was short-lived as the government of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s housing policy in the early 2020s favoured occupants whose names were used to settle bills in every apartment.

Okon, being the junior officer then, lost the apartment to his flat mate and since his salary could not get him a comfortable accommodation in the same area, he relocated to Kubwa, one of the major satellite towns in Abuja. With his income, he could afford a two-bedroom apartment as a Level 10 officer, having enjoyed two consecutive promotions in his office.

But the city’s rapid urbanisation and population growth mostly occasioned by insecurity in the North that forced thousands of people down to Abuja, created a housing crises in Abuja, including the satellite towns. Consequently, landlords began to take advantage of high demands to charge astronomical rents.

With about N300,000 monthly salary, Okon could not afford the regular increase in his rent. The most recent, which moved from N700,000 to N1,200,000 yearly forced him out of his comfort zone, where he had lived for over a decade, to Masaka, a village in Nasarawa State, in search of affordable housing.

But his struggles did not end there. He now commutes to Abuja daily, travelling over 25 kilometres on Abuja-Keffi Road that is notorious for heavy vehicular traffic. His transport fare has also doubled amid steady decline in his family’s standard of living.

Okon is just a testament to the growing housing crises in Abuja. Without effective housing policy, only the affluent live in the city centre, where a three-bedroom apartment ranges between N5 million to N15 million.

It takes only politicians and business moguls to live in the city centre that houses such high profile districts as Asokoro, Maitama, Garki, Wuse, Utako and Jabi. Even Gwarimpa, Wuye and Life Camp areas have become too expensive for ordinary salary earners.

Unfortunately, the high cost of house rent in Abuja has far-reaching consequences as it affects not only the individuals’ income but the general well-being of families. Due to the prevailing socio-economic situation in the country, the city’s character is experiencing glaring changes with low and middle income classes being priced out. Of the city

In fact, the social fabric of Abuja is gradually tearing apart, leaving behind, a trail of inequality, displacement and despair. Before now, the options for low income earners were the satellite towns such as Kubwa, Dutse, Bwari, Nyanya and Lugbe but with the ever increasing house rent in these areas, thousands of Okons are forced out of the Satellite towns into neigbouring states such as Nasarawa, Kaduna and Niger states in search of affordable shelter.

According to Muhammed Sagir, a travel agent, who lives in Mararaba, Nasarawa State, from where he goes to his Garki, Abuja office daily, the situation in the country has been unstable in the last few years, making family plan unstable as well.

“I relocated from Nyanya, which is closer to town, down to Mararaba. I leave home 6 a.m. daily in order to avoid traffic. Anyone who lives in that axis and leaves home at about 7 or 7.30 a.m., will encounter serious traffic. This is one of the challenges we face living in the suburbs.” Before seeking government’s intervention, however, Sagir implored Nigerian landlords to be considerate in transferring aggressions to tenants.

“Before we even talk about the government, I think we should talk about ourselves. The rate at which rents are increased cannot be compared to the rate of inflation in the country. Some of us have just decided not to pity one another. I am begging landlords to have mercy on their tenants.

“Let the increase be commensurate with the applicable situation so that people are not rendered homeless.” To the government, Sagir decried lack of regulations. He expressed worries over government’s indifference to citizens’ lawlessness.

“Some of these landlords don’t even pay land or housing tax in Abuja, yet, they treat tenants without pity and control. So, the government should rise to its responsibility of ensuring that arbitrary and unexplainable increase in house rent is curtailed,” he said.

Former House of Representatives member and board member, North-East Development Commission, Sam Onuigbo, blamed the situation partly on the failure of government at a time to implement policies that created Abuja.

“If you go back to check, FCT was conceived to create a completely new area that does not have the kind of human and vehicular traffic that Lagos had when it served both as the Federal Capital and the Capital of Lagos State. So, there was a deliberate plan to make the city free, spacious and to have cyclical terms to support the city centre.

“That wonderful idea about starting a new capital that is beautiful, neat, centralised for everyone to access from all parts of the country was significantly altered at some point. Because implementation did not go as planned, some people, who received compensation, still came back to the city and said they had not been completely settled because a certain percentage was not paid by different administrations.

“As a result of that, the satellite towns that were created to provide for the people were abandoned or not developed to meet the desired standard. Perhaps, it is now that the new Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike, is creating access routes and security infrastructure in some satellite towns. If they were fully developed, you will discover that you will no longer have the kind of idea about suppression.”

“If he is able to develop those satellite areas, people who have land in satellite areas where there is peace, access roads, efficient transport system and basic facilities will go there and build houses that are spacious and live with their families.”

Onuigbo believed that if enough buildings are erected in Kubwa, Lugbe, Bwari and other satellite towns, people will struggle less over high house rent as options abound.

Also blaming steep inflation in the country following the devaluation of naira and associated current social economic challenges on landlords’ actions, he said that government can solve the problem of high rent by deliberately building estates and makingthem affordable.

Another way of ensuring that people pay affordable rents without tears, he said, is by building efficient and cheap transport system that can move people different neighbouring states into FCT within one hour.

“With that, people can live comfortably in Niger, Nasarawa and Kaduna States and seamlessly work in Abuja,” Onuigbo said. Pascal Eze, who lives in Suleija, Niger State, from where he goes to work daily in Abuja City centre, stated that the rise in transportation has worsened the situation of those living in the outskirt of Abuja town. According to him, car owners currently find it difficult to drive due to high cost of fuel and car maintenance.

“So, I park my car at home and join public transport, which is however exorbitant but cheaper than driving personal car.However, going in a public transport also comes with a lot of inconveniences daily. All these have implications on work output and individual health.

“If you visit most government establishments and even private organisations, you discover that people hardly go to work from Monday to Friday as before. If you do, your entire earnings will not be enough for transport fare alone. As we speak, 70 per cent of workers in Abuja live in the outskirt.

“Because of high cost of transportation, you discover that most of them come to work only on Mondays, Wednesdays and occasionally, Fridays. The ones that have private cars use them as commercial vehicles and pick passengers to augment cost of fuel. I personally have parked my car because I cannot afford to fuel it daily.”

According to Eze, it takes only a level 14 officer and above to afford a two-bedroom apartment in town. Right from time, they designed Abuja to be a city hub where only government top functionaries and politicians will stay and this has made the house rent in the city center to be on the high side.

“If you check around the city of Abuja, there are so many estates that are not habitable due to high cost of rent. They designed the city to be for the rich, which is not supposed to be.”

Noting that most places in the suburbs are not safe, Eze said that insecurity in the outskirt of Abuja has contributed to high cost of rent in the city centre as most people consider safety first.

“So, it’s it is safer for a director or a trader that can afford millions of naira to buy or rent a house in the city centre than pay N400,000 yearly for a flat in the interior.When you come here, you never can tell what will happen due to insecurity.

“I know some people who ownhouses in the outskirt but put them in rent and secure smaller spaces in the city centre because of the influx of miscreants into remote places.

“If government can address the issue of insecurity and provide good, motorable roads and affordable transport system, people will not worry so much about living in the city centre, and that can indirectly force down cost of rents there.” Eze added that unless steps are taken to address the issue of housing and transportation, the national economy will continue to suffer loss.

“Where people who are supposed to work five days in a week suddenly reduced their work days to two or three days, and are already worn out physically and mentally before arriving at the office, it is obviously going to take a toll on the economy.”

Whichever way one looks at the prevailing situation in Abuja, it points to the fact that only an innovative solutions and inclusive policies can return it as a city for all and not for the privileged few. For now, the future of Nigeria’s Capital City hangs in the balance.