The Housing Crisis in Bauchi State
The dream of many residents of Bauchi State to own homes and provide comfortable shelter for their families at a relatively low cost has been dashed due to the government’s failure to allocate thousands of completed housing units built for low and middle-income earners, including civil servants and other individuals. The refusal of the government to make public the procedures for acquiring these buildings has further dampened the hopes of prospective homeowners, who watch helplessly as properties—some of which have been completed for over a decade—rot away.
The strain on accommodation in Bauchi, especially in the state’s metropolis, fits into the broader context of Nigeria’s housing crisis, worsened by rapid urbanization and population growth. There is an estimated shortfall of around 15.2 million to 25 million housing units, with a financing gap of about N21 trillion. In a country where mortgage penetration remains miserably poor at less than 1 percent of GDP, compared to over 30 percent in South Africa and 80 percent in most advanced economies, millions have been shut out of formal housing finance.
Abandoned Housing Projects
Findings by Weekend Trust revealed that at least four sets of about 6,000 housing units in Bauchi State are either completed but unoccupied or abandoned halfway through construction. Several of them have now been overgrown with weeds and taken over by reptiles. The housing schemes include:
- 1,000 Unity Estate located along Jos Road
- 1,000 Isa Yuguda housing units at Hakan-Yafi village
- Federal Government 1,000 housing units along Ningi-Kano Road
- 2,500 Governor Bala Mohammed housing units across the six Bauchi emirates: Katagum, Jama’are, Dass, Bauchi, Misau, and Ningi
The Unity Estate project started in 2007 but was abandoned halfway. While a significant portion of the first phase was 100 percent completed over 15 years ago, other units were abandoned at various levels of completion. Some residents moved into completed portions of the houses, while the uncompleted structures were left to vandals, reptiles, and criminals.
Controversies and Delays
The second 1,000 housing units project, initiated and completed by the former Governor Isa Yuguda-led administration, was fully completed but no house has been officially allocated. The structures have been taken over by hoodlums who converted them to criminal sanctuaries.
Multiple sources at the Bauchi State Ministry of Housing indicated that the houses have not been allocated to occupants due to the change of governments. One source said former Governor Yuguda completed the estate towards the end of his second tenure in May 2015, but had left the office by the time they were ready for allocation.
270 Units Allegedly Sold to Nigerian Air Force
The third scheme of 1,000 housing units, initiated in 2016 by the late former President Muhammadu Buhari administration, was situated along Kano-Ningi Road in the Ningi Local Government Area of Bauchi State. Although it was designed for 1,000 housing units, only 270 blocks of flats were completed. This project is surrounded by controversy, as some residents have dragged the Federal Ministry of Housing to court over the alleged sale of the 270 units to the Nigerian Air Force (NAF).
1,500 Units Completed Under Gov Mohammed Not Occupied
The fourth and biggest housing estate in Bauchi was initiated by the present administration of Governor Bala Mohammed in March 2020. The project was a collaboration between the Bauchi State government and Family Homes Funds (FHF). It comprises 2,500 housing units estimated to cost a sum of N12 billion. Despite being completed, the houses have been abandoned to reptiles, rainstorms, and hoodlums.
Why Affordable Social Housing?
More than half of Nigeria’s population, estimated at over 200 million, are multi-dimensionally poor, lacking access to quality healthcare, education, and shelter. A World Bank 2018 report put the country’s urban population living in slums at 54 per cent, compared to South Africa’s 26 per cent, Cameroon’s 34 per cent, The Gambia’s 27 per cent, Ghana’s 30 per cent, Senegal’s 30 per cent, and Zimbabwe’s 34 per cent.
Nigeria’s troubling statistic was buttressed by the UN-Habitat, in its Habitat Country Programme document for 2017 to 2021, which put the proportion of urban residents who live in slums in Nigeria at 69 per cent.
Voices from the Community
Bauchi civil servants and residents lament the lack of action from the government. Multiple sources at the state Ministry of Housing, who preferred anonymity for fear of victimisation, told Weekend Trust that the incumbent government was not showing any interest in allocating the houses to interested applicants.
A resident and businessman, Alhaji Muhammad Bello, expressed his desire to buy a house, especially one of those in the Wuntin-Dada area. He highlighted the high cost of building materials and the need for affordable housing.
Government Response
When contacted, the state Commissioner of Housing and Environment, Hon Danlami Ahmed Kawule, stated that the projects are in three different components, including building of houses, providing infrastructure like roads, water, electricity, and drainage channels, while the third component is fencing the estates.
On procedures to acquire the houses, the commissioner said, “The procedures are normal procedures to acquire a house and His Excellency has boldly said it that these houses are built for civil servants, artisans, traders, youth groups, journalists and other low-income earners.”
Experts’ Perspectives
The Executive Director of Housing Development Advocacy Network (HDAN), Barr. Festus Adebayo, noted that as long as decent homes are not provided for low- and middle-income Nigerians by the government and real estate operators, owning properties will be difficult, leaving buildings unoccupied.
Similarly, the immediate past president of the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), Aliyu Wamakko, stated that the inability to enact a law regulating real estate development has made the sector porous, with many individuals laundering money to erect structures and leaving them unoccupied for years.
