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By Sunday Ani
Leaders in Nigeria’s housing and construction industry have called on governments at all levels to recognise real estate as a vital pillar of national development and to form policies that would help the sector to thrive.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum, Executive Director of the Housing Development Advocacy Network (HDAN), Festus Adebayo, said real estate is the only truly tangible national asset, warning that the country cannot achieve meaningful growth without strengthening the industry.
He noted that before the evolution of the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), in 2002, developers worked in isolation. “They came together as one formidable body to influence the government’s policies and decisions. The association’s first leader was the late Alhaji Lateef Jakande, who guided the association for eight years and helped establish it across all states,” he said.
He highlighted the sector’s global importance, explaining that residential real estate accounts for about 51 percent of the global wealth, rising to 71 percent when other property classes were included. “If we are not performing well, the nation is going nowhere. “No country makes progress outside the development of its real estate industry,” he said.
He stressed that cities are built on residential assets, making real estate professionals key to national progress. He cited South Africa as an example where the government’s policies cannot ignore the strength of a robust real estate sector.
He stressed that Nigeria’s built environment employs a large portion of the workforce, especially in Lagos, where architects, lawyers, developers and other professionals, together, sustain more than half of the state’s labour force. “None of them is illiterate. They have brought professionalism and order to a sector once overlooked,” he said.
He urged authorities to ease the regulatory burden and support housing development, stating, “A government that does not cater for the housing needs of its citizens does not deserve to exist. Running a real estate business in Nigeria is no joke, and we must not allow the sector to be branded as criminal,” he warned.
With the United Nations set to mark the World Habitat Day in about 30 days from now, Adebayo warned that housing challenges were worsening, as more Nigerians struggled to pay rent or were forced to live on the streets. “We cannot separate our economy from real estate. Without our activities, there is no city and there is no nation,” he concluded.
