For the rich, by the rich
Nigeria’s housing crisis is getting worse, but FG is focusing on the wrong things
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- Margaret
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Let’s get into the news you missed during the weekend:
Nigeria’s housing crisis is getting worse, but FG is focusing on the wrong things
President Tinubu left you a message in his birthday TED talk
The Big Deal
Nigeria’s housing crisis is getting worse, but FG is focusing on the wrong things
If you have a roof over your head, you don’t know what God has done for you. There are millions of Nigerians who wish they could relate, but Nigeria is happening to them.
Experts are now begging the government to do something about this because it has hit a new high. The experts say Nigeria’s inability to provide more housing for its growing population is part of the culprit. For context, we need at least 17 million affordable houses. Lagos alone needs about three million more houses.
Brian Reuben, the Executive Chairman of the Sixteenth Council, mentioned that Nigeria needs to build at least 900,000 houses just to keep up with the rising population, but we’ve not been able to meet that expectation. If you’re wondering where that leaves millions of Nigerians — homeless, trapped in terrible living conditions, or struggling to pay ridiculous rent prices.
According to these experts, the way forward is simple: make land easier to get, provide better housing finance options, and follow through on policies instead of advertising them in the media and ghosting when it’s time to execute.
Why is this a big deal?
On paper, the government’s Renewed Hope Housing Project looks like the solution to Nigeria’s housing crisis. But when you break it down, it’s giving for the rich, by the rich.
The problem isn’t just the number of houses built but who can afford them. Even though the government designed these houses to give everyday Nigerians an opportunity to own a property, the price tags on them are not exactly what “everyday Nigerians” can afford.
A one-bedroom apartment in the Renewed Hope Estates, for instance, costs between ₦8 million and ₦9 million. The fancier Renewed Hope Cities go for ₦22 million and above. When you compare that to the national minimum wage of ₦70,000, that doesn’t look like a solution. If an average Nigerian decides to put every single kobo of their salary towards buying a house—no food, no transport, no school fees, just vibes and real estate—it would take about 10 years and 8 months to afford the cheapest unit. If they want to live in the more luxurious Renewed Hope City, they’ll pay for about 26 years.
To be fair, the government provides a mortgage plan, but how many low-income earners can comfortably sustain a 30-year mortgage in this economy? Right now, more than half of Nigerians are classified as low-income earners, meaning that the government still hasn’t hacked what it takes to keep its citizens from sleeping under bridges.
That leaves over 17 million people in Nigeria struggling to find shelter, which is crazy because this Renewed Hope Housing Project has a budget of over ₦50 billion.
President Tinubu had a birthday TED talk and left you a message
It was President T’s birthday over the weekend, and even though you probably didn’t wish him, he left you a gift— a presidential aspire-to-perspire message.
At a birthday dinner with his inner circle, Tinubu reflected on the 2023 election campaign, revealing that he almost dropped out of the race at one point. According to him, a relative visited in the dead of the night, begging for ₦50,000 to buy food. The man blamed Tinubu for the naira scarcity, saying people were jumping over bank counters because of him. Then, after collecting the money, he looked Tinubu in the eye and declared, “I don’t think you’ll make it.” In response, Tinubu said, “I will make it.” Spoiler alert: He did, and our lives changed because of it.
His political ally, Aminu Masari, was the one who convinced him to stay in the race.
Masari encouraged him not to look back. And just like that, Tinubu kept pushing, made it to Aso Rock, and on his very first day in office, casually removed the fuel subsidy.
His inner circle showered some birthday praises on him. Vice President Kashim Shettima said Tinubu’s decisions have “taken the bullets” that past presidents were too scared to face. Senate President Godswill Akpabio called him the “most audacious president” and even joked that if he had been a governor under Tinubu, he would have been a “supernatural governor.”
Benjamin Kalu, the Deputy Speaker, credited Tinubu for lifting future politicians, while Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma praised his “bold decisions” for preventing a national collapse.
And just in case Nigerians weren’t already convinced of their president’s greatness, Bosun Tijjani quoted a World Bank official who allegedly called Tinubu "the best reformist leader in Africa today."
Belated Happy Birthday, Mr President! May God give you what you deserve.
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