By Maduka Nweke
With cement prices soaring to stratospheric levels with no sign of an imminent crash, Nigerians are increasingly turning to alternative building materials in an effort to manage costs.
However, there is a raging debate over the viability of this shift. Many insist it has led to a worrying decline in the quality of construction, as the cheaper substitutes fail to meet the standards of traditional cement-based structures.
They said as a result, many buildings are being compromised, raising concerns about the long-term safety and sustainability of housing and infrastructure across the country.
But another school of thought feels that properly developed soil texture could lead to a drastic reduction in cement usage as seen in some Chinese villages.
Cement, as a fundamental building material, has seen its prices skyrocket due to a combination of factors, including supply chain disruptions and heightened demand.
The surge has placed considerable strain on both property developers and homeowners, leading to a worrying trend of abandoned properties. When the cost of building materials increases, the overall construction costs also rise. This can make it more expensive to develop new real estate projects, leading to higher property prices.
Nonetheless, experience has shown that high prices of cement tend to encourage reduction in the quality of buildings. The consequence of this is the emergence of weak buildings that accentuates the occurrence of building collapse.
For property developers, the spike in cement prices presents a formidable challenge. The increased construction costs force developers to grapple with the decision of absorbing the additional expenses, risking reduced profits, or passing them onto consumers through higher property prices.
Alternatives
There is growing concern over why the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NIBRRI) has not yet focused on researching and developing appropriate soil textures that could replace cement in construction across the country.
In his contribution, Mr. Rasaq Lawal, an engineer and former Director in NIBRRI noted that the institute was established to conduct integrated applied Research and Development into the various aspects of the building and construction sectors of the economy.
The mandate was later in 1993 expanded to include Research and Development (R&D) into all aspects of Engineering Materials related to the construction industry.
Lawal noted that in the Act setting up NBRRI, it is required to conduct research on; local building and construction materials to determine the most effective and economic methods of their utilisation; architectural design of buildings to suit Nigerian climatic conditions with respect to lighting, ventilation, thermal comfort and humidity; the design and performance of functional units in buildings including electrical installations, plumbing, painting, drainage, ventilation and air-conditioning system; local construction, foundation and earth-works for buildings and bridges, especially on problem soils.
He noted that the NIBRRI department, headed by a Director, is also the department of the Director-General/CEO, who is the most senior Officer in both Road and Building Research in the Institute.
“The Road Research Department has the mandate to conduct integrated research and development activities into all the varied aspects of the road construction industry and transport sector of the economy. The department further provides consultancy services on professional, technical and scientific activities relating to housing, roads, transportation and road construction industry to the public and private sectors.
“NIBRRI department has three operational standard laboratories that include Soils Laboratory; Geotechnical Laboratory; and Terrain Evaluation/GIS Laboratory. Aside from road construction, the department could be used to research out the suitable soil that can support building construction in the country. This is why the Asphalt/Road Construction Material Testing and Research Laboratory was established in the Administrative Headquarters, Abuja to coordinate the various results of the department. Other similar laboratory models could be replicated in each of the six Zonal Offices in the six geo-political zones in Nigeria.
“However, the mentality of finished products syndrome that has become part and life of the average ‘big man’ in Nigeria made the product of NIBRRI relegated to the background with everybody chasing cement and increasing the cost per bag. If Nigerians were to maximise the use of soil in the building industry like is seen in Chinese enclaves, every state and localities will be doing much with little attachment to cement except in roads and other serious constructions,” he said.
A private man called Anthony Onyekwe in Anambra State recently showcased a local and easier way of making bricks for the construction of houses. According to him, the rising cost of cement across the country forced people to begin to explore other ways to build houses. Mixed reactions trailed the video of the man mixing sand to make the local bricks, with some doubting its durability. But amid the rise in the price of cement, the man shared the alternative method of creating bricks without using cement.
Speaking on the rising cost of cement used to build houses, a builder Mr. Ikenna Okonkwo, said that when things get tough, people devise means of survival. “I am using clay to mold brick blocks and I also found out it was the same clay that my fathers and forefathers used that gave the Oyibo people the idea of developing cement. “Oyibo people did not start using cement until they left Africa. They were using wood, bamboo and ropes. They learnt the molding type from Africa and maximized the use thereafter.
“I made bricks using the local mud and mixed sand with water and molded the local bricks without any cement. This makes possible the dream of lowering construction costs for prospective builders to own their homes with little income in their pockets. Going by this, homeownership that has become a nightmare going by the consistent increase in the price of cement by producers would now be a thing of the past.
“The increase in cement has already triggered a ripple effect in the open market, with prices going up by about 30 to 50 per cent in a few days. Some property developers have already halted their construction activities while reviewing their sales plan, with many others seeking variation in contracts. Investigations revealed that operators under the Cement Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (CMAN) have raised prices of brands by over N10, 200 per bag. This has increased retail prices from N13, 000 to N14, 200 or more in Lagos and Southwest region. In Southeast and Abuja, prices have shot up to N15, 500 or higher,” he said.
Mr. Yakubu Dinbar, a Cement dealer in Isolo area of Lagos, told Daily Sun that a bag of cement, depending on the location, sold for N11,500 in January this year. “In the same month, a 50kg bag of cement sold for N6,000 but in February, the price surged astronomically to between N10,000 and N15,000 and by September they rose to N15, 000 per the same bag.
Unsettled by the development, the federal government convened a meeting with cement manufacturers and pleaded with them to bring down the prices of the product. But Nigerians have come to understand that when the federal government is not involved, they will fight for the crash of prices.
“See, everyone has been asking and appealing to the government to bring down the price of petroleum products but they refused,” he said. If the price of fuel is downwardly reviewed, prices of commodities and materials will also go down”, he added.
Earlier in the year, the Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG) appealed to President Bola Tinubu to intervene and avert an impending increase in the price of cement.
In a statement issued recently by the National President, Sulaimon Yusuf and General Secretary, Mrs Adenike Ayanda, the group said, “Any further increase in the price of cement will be a direct threat to the ‘Renewed Hope’ Housing Programme of the Federal Government.
Completion of ongoing building projects might be jeopardized by the impending hike in the price of cement. Buildings abandoned during the process of construction aggravate the risk of building collapse. With the dwindling purchasing power, new buildings might lack patronage and occupants due to high rental cost,” the Group stated.