Government's Lip Service to Housing for the Masses

It has become disheartening and very embarrassing to see Nigerian Citizens who have a Government that supposedly oversees their affairs living in abject poverty and penury. Most Nigerian citizens are so poor that they cannot even afford the basic necessities of life. Such things like accommodation,food ,health care facilities and education which are very common in the Western world are in Nigeria regarded as luxury.

The Government whose sole responsibility is the provision of these basic needs of life have gone on a frolic of public treasury looting,economic sabotage and official grandstanding.

In major cities of Nigeria, for example Lagos,Abuja e.t.c,there are gigantic houses developed by private citizens which are unoccupied and wasting because these houses are ordinarily unaffordable to the average and  Low income earning Nigerians . 

The Government should devise a means of regulating the proliferation of unaffordable, expensive and luxury houses by implementing an effective Tax system that will force developers to build Low income houses for the masses in these Cities;

• There should be a check on the prices for houses in urban cities.
• There should be an effective Mortgage in place such as is obtainable in the Western world where almost everybody is entitled or qualified for Mortgage.
• The Government can equally regulate the cost of building materials and also discourage Monopoly of certain materials that are very important in development of houses.
• Government can also partner with private developers to ensure that houses are made evenly available and affordable to the common man.

Disturbing scenes such as people sleeping under the bridges, springing up of shanties in Cities and homelessness due to the rise in cost of housing should be adequately looked into by Government with the aim of putting an end to such a shame.