The Housing Crisis in Bauchi State
The hopes of many residents of Bauchi State to own homes and provide comfortable shelter for their families at a relatively low cost have 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 government’s refusal to make public the procedure for acquiring these buildings has further dampened the hope of many prospective homeowners who watch helplessly as the 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 like Nigeria, where mortgage penetration remains miserably poor at less than 1 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product, compared to over 30 per cent in South Africa and 80 per cent in most advanced economies, millions have been shut out of formal housing finance.
Abandoned Housing Projects in Bauchi
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:
- The 1,000 Unity Estate located along Jos Road.
- The 1,000 Isa Yuguda housing units at Hakan-Yafi village.
- The Federal Government 1,000 housing units along Ningi-Kano Road.
- The 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 sometime 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, suspected to have applied for the houses but got tired of waiting, moved into some completed portions of the houses. The uncompleted structures in the estate have been left at the mercy of vandals, reptiles, and criminals using them as hideouts.
Controversies Surrounding Housing Projects
The second 1,000 housing units project, located about 3 kilometers away from the Unity Estate, was initiated and completed by the former Governor Isa Yuguda-led administration. Although it was fully completed, not a single house has been officially allocated, years after completion. The structures have been taken over by hoodlums who converted them to criminal sanctuaries.
Multiple sources at the Bauchi State Ministry of Housing, who craved anonymity, confided in this paper that the houses have not been allocated to occupants due to the change of governments. One of the sources 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.
Another controversy involves the third scheme of 1,000 housing units, initiated in 2016 by the late former President Muhammadu Buhari administration. This project is 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. The project was part of the Federal Housing Scheme under the National Housing Program (NHP) of the Buhari administration, which targeted only low- and middle-income earners and civil servants.
However, 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). Findings indicated that the houses were slated for commissioning about three times during the previous administration but failed, even though notices for interested persons, especially workers, were advertised. Some people suspected to be applicants have also occupied the houses.
The Fourth Housing Estate
The fourth and biggest housing estate in Bauchi was initiated by the present administration of Governor Bala Mohammed sometime 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. The houses targeted low-income earners in the state.
According to the details of the project, 1,500 housing units are to be constructed in Bauchi metropolis; 350 units in Azare, Katagum; 250 units in Misau; 200 units in Ningi and 100 houses each in Jama’are and Dass. Although 1,500 housing units for the Bauchi metropolis had been completed, the houses have been abandoned to reptiles, rainstorms, and hoodlums. A visit to the site along Jos Road revealed that a significant part of the buildings has been destroyed by the rainstorm, while the roofings, windows, and doors of other units have been vandalized.
The Need for 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, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). 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. These metrics signpost an uncomfortable reality that most Nigerians are unable to afford their own homes, highlighted in the report of a 2019 study sponsored by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and authored by Dr. Emmanuel Abole Moore.
Residents’ Lament and Calls for Action
Bauchi civil servants and residents lament the situation, expressing frustration at what they describe as the government’s nonchalant attitude in handling the projects. A resident and businessman, Alhaji Muhammad Bello, said he is interested in the house, especially one of those in the Wuntin-Dada area. “My house is too small to accommodate my family. So, I want to buy an additional house so that I can decongest my house by taking my second wife to the new house.”
Malam Isa Ibrahim, a mechanic in Bauchi metropolis, urged the government to allocate the completed buildings to reduce the burden of shelters, adding that the houses would greatly help in reducing housing deficit among the people of the state. “For me, it’s wrong for the government to continue delaying the allocation of the house after investing huge sums in the projects.”
Government Response and Future Plans
When contacted, the state Commissioner of Housing and Environment, Hon Danlami Ahmed Kawule, said 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. He added that the first component of building the houses has been completed almost 100 percent with the exception of the Bauchi Emirate in Dungal where some of the houses were not completed.
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.” He added that the governor has constituted a committee to come up with a template to guide a successful allocation of these houses without fear or favor.
Addressing Unoccupied Estates
Speaking on the issue, 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. He identified taxation as one of the best ways to curb the rising number of unoccupied estates in the country.
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. He warned that the case of unoccupied estates would continue without an efficient mortgage system and a law governing real estate in the country.
