Chapter One
Introduction
1.1 Background to the Study
Housing is one of the three basic needs for human survival, with a significant impact on health, social behavior, and general well-being. It is considered a critical element in evaluating human comfort, growth, and development. However, housing problems are prevalent worldwide, affecting both urban and rural areas. In urban settings, housing issues manifest as slum dwellings, homelessness, overcrowding, squatter settlements, and substandard housing units. Rural areas face challenges related to poor housing quality, inadequate infrastructure, and subpar environmental conditions.
International initiatives such as the United Nations conferences on Human Settlements have emphasized the importance of providing adequate and affordable housing in every society. The United Nations has affirmed that housing is crucial for individuals' survival, welfare, and health, prompting many developing countries to address housing challenges through housing policies.
In Nigeria, the Nigerian Housing Policy was established in 1991 to tackle housing problems. The policy outlines programs related to construction technology, housing finance, land and infrastructure, building materials, labor management, housing allocation, monitoring, and review. While these policies have made some progress in housing production and delivery, they still face challenges such as poverty, rising construction and material costs, homelessness, weak institutional frameworks, administrative bottlenecks, and program monitoring.
Akwa Ibom State, one of Nigeria's rapidly urbanizing states, is confronted with the pressing issue of providing adequate and affordable housing for its growing population. Despite various government and private sector efforts to improve housing provision, housing problems, particularly shortages and affordability issues, persist. This reflects the global concern over the housing crisis.
The national Rolling plan estimates a national housing requirement of 500,000 to 600,000 units, considering the average occupancy ratio. Rapid population growth and urbanization have contributed to the shortage of urban housing in Nigeria. One of the significant challenges facing Akwa Ibom State's housing policy is the substantial gap between housing needs and availability, particularly for the average and low-income population. Income levels are often insufficient to afford desirable housing options. Other challenges include the cost of land and building materials, high mortgage interest rates, an underdeveloped mortgage finance system, administrative hurdles in obtaining building permits and Certificates of Occupancy, and corruption in government land allocation.
Given these issues, there is a compelling need to study government housing policies in Akwa Ibom State, with a focus on the provision of affordable and adequate housing.
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1.2 Statement of the Problem
The challenge of providing adequate and affordable housing is a recurring issue in many developing countries, including Nigeria. Despite various government policies aimed at addressing this problem, success has been limited. Nigeria's population, which exceeded 140 million people in the 2006 Census, highlights the urgent need for affordable housing solutions. To meet the increasing demand, the country would require at least 100,000 new housing units annually, yet current construction efforts are far from sufficient, with only around 10,000 units being built each year.
The existing housing stock in Nigeria is often of poor quality, and there is a direct link between affordable housing and improved living standards. Achieving the target of 40,000 housing units annually, as suggested by the Institute of Architects, is realistic, but several obstacles stand in the way of its realization. These obstacles include a lack of willingness among government housing agencies to address the problem effectively and the politicization of housing schemes.
Nigeria's housing needs have been exacerbated by factors such as population growth, rapid urbanization due to rural-urban migration, high building material costs, and ineffective housing policies. Despite the government's stated goal of providing affordable housing for all, there has been a lack of meaningful implementation, leading to frustration among the population. Successive administrations have failed to meet their housing targets, and the housing deficit in Nigeria now exceeds 16 million units.
Housing has not received the priority it deserves in the country, with low budgetary allocations and inadequate policy implementation. In Akwa Ibom State, the government initiated a plan to provide 10,000 housing units, but the implementation has faced challenges. This situation reflects the broader housing challenges seen across the country.
While the state government has adopted measures to ensure affordable and adequate housing, including a State Housing Policy, the challenges persist. Even the construction of 10,000 modern and affordable houses, as well as various Public Private Partnerships, has not fully addressed the housing needs of the state's approximately 5 million residents.
The state's population has been steadily growing since its creation in 1987, yet the provision of social facilities, especially housing, has not kept pace. Housing in the state is primarily provided by both the private and public sectors, and they encounter various difficulties such as land acquisition, high building material costs, politicization of housing schemes, limited access to mortgage facilities, institutional bottlenecks, and challenges associated with land-use regulations. These issues have made it challenging to provide affordable and adequate housing for the growing population of Akwa Ibom State.
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1.3 Objective(s) of the Study
The main objective of this study is to investigate the implication of government housing policies on the provision of affordable and adequate housing in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The subsidiary objectives are:
1. To appraise Akwa Ibom State Government housing policies
2. To evaluate the impact of such housing policies on the affordability and adequacy of housing to the populace
3. To assess the factors affecting the implementation of government housing policies in Akwa Ibom State
4. To find out if the housing being provided by both the public and private sectors are affordable and adequate to all classes of earners
5. To make useful recommendations that will improve the implementation of government policies on affordable and adequate housing
1.4 Research Hypothesis
HO: There is no significant relationship between government involvement in the cost of land, building materials and affordable and adequate housing in Akwa Ibom State.
H1: There is a significant relationship between government involvement in the provision of land, building materials; and affordable and adequate housing in Akwa Ibom State.
1.5 Significance of the Study
In Nigeria, despite diverse programmes adopted by the government to issues of housing problems as well as huge capital investments in the housing sector, the supply of new housing has not been able to match the demand. The effect is the existing yawning gap between the high demand and inadequate supply of housing stock. This research will help the state government and all agencies involved in housing provision to review and streamline their policies towards meeting the affordable and adequate housing challenges facing Akwa Ibom State and the country.
This study is significant because it sought to investigate an issue that affects a lot of Nigerians, mostly in the urban areas. This study is also significant because it attempts to objectively investigate one of government policies aimed at tackling deficits in housing stock, in terms of adequate sate and affordable housing. And as such, this study will be very useful to Akwa Ibom State Government, the Federal Government, as well as other states, Public - Private Sector Partnerships, estate developers as well as other stakeholders of the housing sector.
Its findings will most importantly provide an objective assessment of housing policies in Akwa Ibom State in particular, and Nigeria, in general. All these will go a long way to providing a solution to the challenges facing government policies on affordable, sate and adequate housing. In addition, this study will add to existing literatures on the issue of government policies on affordable and adequate housing. This will be beneficial to researchers carrying out similar or further studies.
1.6 Scope and Organization of the Study
The scope of the study covers all issues relating to government housing policies, viz-a - vis the provision of affordable and adequate housing in Akwa Ibom State, in particular, and Nigeria, in general.
The study is organized in five chapters with each chapter dealing with distinctive but inter-related issues, logically linked with the research. Chapter one deals with the introduction of the study. Chapter two contains the literature review. Chapter three focuses on the research design and methodology. Chapter four is the analysis of the field data, and testing of the hypotheses; while Chapter five is the summary, conclusion and recommendations.
