Abiola Speaks

All governments in Nigeria since independence highlighted housing as a major priority. Unfortunately it has been 56 years of its independence, Nigeria is yet to develop a vibrant mortgage market and houses continue to be provided through the tortuous traditional method of buying land and building over some years, which could be an individual's entire life time. In many cases such buildings are left uncompleted or individuals have to deplete their entire life savings in order to build a home. One of the major housing policy initiatives was the Policy on Affordable Housing that was initiated in 1979 by the Shehu Shagari Administration. The policy though laudable was unable to meet the nation’s housing needs because it was based on the unsustainable tenet that houses will be provided by government (this remains the anomaly that we must resolve). The implementation of the 2002 housing policy reforms was a promising beginning, but a lot remains to be done. In a recent news report on ...

"Our nation is ripe with a multitude of successful people, who have achieved much for themselves with little impact on anyone else" - Fela Durotoye Nigeria is without any reservation, a strategic nation on earth. Let me use the next few lines to explain to you why I am so sure of this particular fact. Nigeria is among the first ten of the world’s most populous nation on earth. According to United Nations Department of Economics and Social Affairs estimates; Nigeria is ranked the 7th most populated country in the world with a population of 183,506,867 as at 7th March, 2015. Aside that, Nigeria is also the most populous county in the continent of Africa and also boasts of the largest economy, the position which South Africa had occupied before now. In terms of natural resources, especially crude oil; Nigeria boasts of 37.2billion barrel, ranking the country as the largest oil producer in Africa and the 11thlargest in the world, averaging 2.28 million barrels per day. In fac...