|
BNW |
|
B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Sale Of 1004 And Other Estates
Delivering a keynote address at the 17th Annual Conference of the Nigeria Geographical Association on December 17, 1973 at the University of Lagos, the then Honourable Federal Commissioner (as ministers were then called) for Works and Housing, Mr. Femi Okunnu acknowledged "that the problems of housing and urban development are common features of all urbanising societies, and the realisation of their dimension is in itself part of the process of socio-economic development." That was 31 years ago and still we seem not to have achieved much in terms of housing the teeming population of Nigerians even after the department of housing has been made a full-fledged Ministry.
The essence of shelter or housing is of significance since it provides many of man's cultural needs, one of which is his need for a refuge for rest and reproduction. If housing ranks this high in the order of things then one continues to wonder why it has continued to be treated with levity by the various governments in this country including the Local, State and Federal. According to Mr. Femi Okunnu then: "Housing holds a place of singular importance in the general strategy of development for its socio-economic characteristic. But it is sad to note that we live in a country where perhaps not less than 95 per cent of the population occupy substandard homes and neighbourhoods. A variety of activities will be needed in the coming years to reach the objective of a well housed nation". How far we have achieved in this onerous and sacred duty of housing Nigerians is the guess of all and sundry in this country. Housing ranks next to the air we breathe and the water we drink as well as the materials in terms of clothes with which we cover our nakedness.
I subscribe to this heirarchy of needs because when you are properly housed, feeding becomes secondary in significance as the shelter protects you from the prying eyes of neighbours who may want to gossip on the quality or quantity of feeding in one's house or home. Housing not only provides one with the sanctuary to rest one's head and body after the day's struggles but also provides the family with a conducive environment for procreation. The importance of proper housing will therefore never be over-emphasised.
It is therefore with this kind of background that one wishes to view the purported sale of 1004 Housing Estate in Victoria Island as well as the other housing estates belonging to the Federal Government of Nigeria in Lagos State. The senior civil servants who occupy most of the units of housing provided by these estates toiled over the years in the civil service building the nation. They applied for accommodation and were duly allocated these units of accommodation instead of collecting their fat housing allowances
They also face some other deductions from their meagre salaries because of the housing provided for them because they prefer good environment to large pay cheques and allowances. It is therefore not only tragic but regrettable that after putting in all these years in honest service of their nation they are about to be thrown out into the streets, because the Federal Government wants to sell their houses to other people who cannot prove to be more Nigerian than the occupiers of these housing units.
The estates in question house Nigerians from all tribes and religious beliefs and they have been living in harmony over all these years. To sell the estates to any other persons other than the occupiers at the price of the highest bidder by the same Federal Government for whom they have toiled all these years, shows betrayal of trust and bad faith. The brandishing of alternative allocation somewhere in a hurriedly prepared estate at a location called Abesan in Lagos State is not only ridiculous but difficult to comprehend. Abesan and Victoria Island, Ikoyi and Surulere cannot be compared in any way and it is frightening that a democratic government we are supposed to have voted into power is treating its citizens this way.
The genesis of the sale of these Housing Estates is linked to a circular dated June 27, 2003 with reference No.SGF.19/S.47/C. 1/11/371 from the office of the Secretary of the Government of the Federation titled "Monetisation of Fringe Benefits in the Federal Public Service". The circular started with a preamble thus "over the years, the cost of governance has continued to escalate. The burden of providing basic amenities for public officers has contributed significantly to the continuous increase in Government recurrent expenditure, leaving very little for capital development." On residential accommodation the circular said "provision of residential accommodation for political, public and judicial officers has been monetised at 100 per cent of annual basic salary to be paid enbloc, annually to enable the officers to rent houses of their choice.
However, in order to avoid exerting severe strain on officers presently occupying Government Quarters, in the first year of the monetisation exercise, their residential accommodation allowance (100 per cent of Annual Basic Salary) will be converted to rent for the quarters they occupy. Government residential houses across the country will be sold by public auction at the end of the first year of monetisation after proper valuation. Public officers occupying such houses would be given the first option to purchase the houses, but at the price of the highest bidder".
This is no longer the case now as Nigerians are now being told that UAC has bought 1004 housing estate at the expense of the occupiers as the above quoted circular has said. The argument of preferring a corporate body to over 1500 families cannot be understood. Even the pricing of these estates at a ridiculously low figure is pregnant with meanings. At the close of bid and its opening Nigerians were told that UAC has won the bid for 1004 estate at the sum of N4.501 billion. This translates to selling a choice property like 1004 housing estate almost at its annual value. When a few people questioned the rationale of such a low selling price another figure of N7 billion was produced from nowhere.
The question now is this - if UAC as the successful bidder posted a bid of N4.501 billion and its bid accepted, from where then did the figure of N7 billion come? More questions without answers. Recently also the residents of Eric Moore Towers offered to buy their estate at N240 million as against the paltry sum of N40 million at which the estate was supposedly sold. The civil servants who occupy these estates are not clamouring that they should be given these estates free of charge, but that following the Government policy statement through the circular from the office of the secretary of government of the federation quoted above, they are ready to buy at the highest bidder's price. Anything to the contrary should be seen as unjust to those Nigerians who have toiled over the years "to build a nation where no man is oppressed."
More ridiculous is the arrangement to sell 1004 estate for N7billion and then adding another N10 billion of the taxpayers' money to it for the building of an alternative estate at Abesan to allocate to the civil servants. The economics of this type of decision is also very difficult to appreciate. Also the socio-economic and political effect of displacing over 1,500 families among other negative effects inherent in this decision is unimaginable. If the government is acting in good faith it should sell the estates in question to the occupiers and maybe with a condition that a prime property manager such as the UAC Property Development Company must be retained by the civil servants owners to avoid dilapidation of the estates. Moreover to sell the estates to the residents means the empowerment of each of the individual residents while to do otherwise will be interpreted to mean that honest service to one's fatherland does not pay in the long run in Nigeria as political consideration will be preferred to honest and selfless service.
*Iheabunike is an estate surveyor and valuer in Lagos.
|
|
||||||||||||
