As an independent nation, Nigeria is 50 years old this year. Housing is one
aspect of public life that has not been sufficiently transformed in Nigeria, in policy,
despite national independence. During the British colonial era, many Nigerians
lived in their own private houses; today the de-facto housing policy in Nigeria is
for people to develop their own houses by their own means. The consequence of
this de-facto policy, under the scenario of Nigeria’s rapidly expanding national and
urban populations, is the inevitable eruption of slums and squatter settlements;
representing the types of housing that the poor can afford to build, by their own
means, under the fierce economic circumstances of cities.
The position that is advocated in this paper is that this de-facto housing
policy that has prevailed in Nigeria over the last half century will lead to urban
chaos in the 21st century. Firstly, the population of Nigeria today has increased
nearly 3-fold over the last 50 years. Secondly, the percentage of Nigerians that live
in urban regions has nearly doubled during the last 50 years. Thirdly, the urbanpull
has contributed very significantly to urban poverty in Nigeria; and the
concomitant very desperate urban housing situations. In order to address these
situations, there will be the need for massive and sustained government
interventions in the urban housing sector.