The Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) has called on the federal government to look closely at the high cost of construction materials, whether it actually needs to provide cheap housing for the low and medium-income earners, the privileged and vulnerable people of Nigeria.
The institution also noted that no single cause could be identified to describe Nigeria’s poor financial performance over time than the energy situation, pointing out that”it’s a national shame that a market of roughly 180 million has about 12,500MWT of installed capacity as of today, with roughly 3,000 to 5,000MWT being transmitted into the final customers when South Africa with a population of about 58 million generates about 59,000MWT indicates that we have a very long way to go.”
The NIESV said the cry has become critical because 60 per cent of their entire cost of construction goes into construction materials, which includes everything to do with home development in the nation.
The President of the National Council of NISEV, Chief Emmanuel Wike said this in Benin City, capital of Edo State at a media conference to mark its 5th Council Meeting.
He explained further that housing improvement alone could push the country’s economy if sufficient care was paid to the high price of building materials with a view to reducing them to a reasonable level.
According to Wike, “Government must proffer solutions which will reduce the cost of building materials to ensure adequate home development, delivery and affordability.”
To attain this, he included that authorities must work on factors responsible for the high price of building materials, identifying these variables as the exchange rate of the Naira, cost of raw materials, epileptic power supply, cost of gas, transport and distribution; inadequate infrastructure, political interference, government policies and laws.
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On electricity, he explained, “The constant tinkering with all the structures of electricity supply and distribution with several billions of dollars spent since 1999 have just brought darkness, frustration, misery and worrisome situation among Nigerians.”
Chief Wike said that the importance of electricity supply should never be underestimated, including that development cannot be achieved without adequate power supply.
His word: “Epileptic power supply in Nigeria has retarded industrial growth, economic growth, cost of productions, market cost, and high quality of solutions. It is a significant determinant in wealth and job creation.”
Wike said though the NIESV knew the energy sector was in a very tough circumstance and that a lot needed to be done to firm up things, but the solution went past raising tariff.
He said there must be a complete restructuring and overhaul in such a way as to guarantee appropriate capacity at the distribution and transmission levels between private operators with the technical understanding.
“It goes past throwing money into the sector. Already, the government has invested hugely in terms of capital and interventions. Increasing tariff and injecting funds into the system is not the solution that will get us out of this situation.
“A very revolutionary solution must be utilized to get us from here. State curiosity, in form of country authorities investing in the industry space, must be encouraged and legislated. If need be, private business participation must be encouraged,” the NIESV president stated.
