Podcast: Advancing inclusive housing in Lagos

Intro [00:00:07] Welcome to the African Cities podcast.

Ismail Ibraheem [00:00:18] Good morning from Lagos. My name is Ismail Ibraheem, I’m the uptake director for ACRC and former uptake lead for Lagos. My day job is a professor of Communication and Journalism Studies, and I have in the studio today three interesting and very important researchers who have been engaged in the research on housing in Lagos. This morning, Lagos is bright and sunny. And before we go into the conversation, I’m going to ask each of my guests to introduce themselves, what they do, the sort of research they’ve been engaging in the past couple of months, and then to tell us, how Lagos is looking like from the part of Lagos they are in, just to give us a sense of the very diverse nature of Lagos. So, the first person I want to call is, Mr Deji Akinpelu.

Deji Akinpelu [00:01:17] Okay. Good morning. Thanks for having me. My name is Deji Akinpelu, co-founder, Rethinking Cities. Rethinking Cities is an advocacy group on urban development issues. And, right here in the city of Lagos, our advocacy pretty much also centres around issues around affordable housing, housing in the city of Lagos, particularly with a focus on housing provision for urban poor. We’ve been part of this research for a couple of months, and I’m pretty much excited to be here at this moment to discuss the issues for that. Thank you.

Ismail Ibraheem [00:01:58] Thank you so much, Deji. Okay, can I ask Lookman Oshodi to introduce himself?

Lookman Oshodi [00:02:06] Yeah. Thank you. Good morning again, everyone. Lookman Oshodi is my name. I work with Arctic Infrastructure as the project director. We are based in Surulere and Surulere is looking bright this morning. I mean, in that part of Lagos. So everything is calm, and, of course, the weather looks very bright and very inviting. At Arctic Infrastructure, we look at climate- resilient infrastructure, that could make urban system to function efficiently and effectively. And we work along the value chain of the urban system. And that includes housing and basic support infrastructure, such as transportation, water, sanitation, energy and any other thing that could make the urban system work effectively for the people residing in that urban system. So for us we often work with quite a number of government agencies and of course the private sector and development partner in the area of housing for the people of Lagos. So in the past, we have worked with the Lagos State Ministry of Housing and [inaudible] to develop a policy on housing, affordable housing development fund for the city of Lagos. And of course, in the past, we have equally worked on the social housing policy for Lagos State. Of course we have equally did a market survey on how housing impacted the vulnerable communities in different parts of Lagos. And of course, we have been involved in different development plans on housing and basic infrastructure for the residents of Lagos in the past few years. And currently, we are equally supporting the Lagos State government on the typology of housing development in Lagos Island, an area of Lagos State. So, quite a number of actions that we have done in the past, and we hope to be part of this system in the future. So glad to be part of this discussion. Thank you.

Ismail Ibraheem [00:04:29] Thank you so much Lookman. Over to you Basirat.

Basirat Oyalowo [00:04:33] Hey, everyone. Good to be here. I’m Basirat Oyalowo, I’m a senior lecturer in real estate, and I am the housing domain leader on the ACRC Lagos project. My research has evolved around housing studies in general, and focusing on Lagos, where I grew up, and worked and lived most of my adult life. It’s been interesting looking at the challenges around housing affordability, housing accessibility and, over the years, I’ve also delved into the sustainability aspect of things as far as housing justice is concerned. And, in the last couple of years, I’ve been more and more involved in working at the community level in terms of promoting resilience and advocacy for community-centred interventions in the housing sector, as well as end-user-driven approaches to housing provision, particularly through cooperative societies. Through this, I have worked with the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria in trying to promote accessible housing finance for the informal sector in Lagos, as well as several community resilience action mapping. So, the direction is to look at housing as a composite social and economic good, rather than just as financial products. And, this has driven my research in the last couple of years. It’s good to be on this podcast. It’s always instructive speaking about housing in Lagos, because this is an endemic issue, that has a long standing and there’s a lot to talk about here. So it’s good to be here. Thank you.

Ismail Ibraheem [00:06:51] Thank you very much, Basirat. That’s interesting. I’m actually looking forward to robust discussion around housing issues in Lagos. And I have in the room a cocktail of experts, Basirat is an academic researcher, Deji is a community/media activitist. And we have in Lookman a practitioner. We are all going to be coming into this conversation with different perspectives. If I can start with you Basirat, as the lead for housing research in ACRC Lagos, what are the key outcomes of the Lagos housing ACRC research?

Basirat Oyalowo [00:07:28] Thank you. The key outcomes – I can address this in two ways. I can look at the outcomes that emerged to confirm existing knowledge that is out there about the lack of enough newbuild housing in Lagos, the fact that the population explosion is high and the urbanisation trend is also high. There’s high population density – in some parts, over 8,000 people per square kilometre – that is over 40 times Nigeria’s average. And with the increasing influx of people into the city, Lagos does not have the capacity to produce enough new housing for its ever-expanding population and also the low quality of existing abodes is something that also came up quite clearly in the research. 66% of Lagos population live in informal settlements. And here we are talking about the quality of the unit housing itself and the quality of the neighbourhoods. We do not have enough facilities, neighbourhood facilities and services to actually help people enjoy a good standard of living in their city. But apart from this, and also compounding these issues to make it more complex, is the vulnerability of Lagos to flooding. 18% of the city as we know it is prone to flooding. The city is low- lying, it suffers from flooding from so many angles. But there is not enough attention being paid to making the city climate-resilient, both at the community level and at the city level. In addition, we have the crisis in the rental sector, the lack of adequate protection for gendered housing access. And of course, the macro- economic environment – that’s conditions, housing construction costs, disposable incomes and the lack of a social network for accessing housing – these are the critical issues that the research brought up. Thank you.

Ismail Ibraheem [00:09:53] Thank you so much, Basirat. Lagos is a city of contrasts, with many residents, both in rich … many residents in different neighbourhoods, facing the risk of eviction, maybe sometimes from government, sometimes from private owners of housing. Deji, I know you’ve dealt with a number of issues around evictions in different communities in Lagos. What can we learn from alternative approaches to housing from your own experience?

Deji Akinpelu [00:10:27] Yeah. The fact that you have stated is true. It’s very much rampant in the city of Lagos for us to have cases of forced evictions across the city. This remained very rampant up to last year. For instance, the forceful eviction of people of Oworonshoki last year. So this also brings to the fore the need for us to critically have these discussions, to see what kind of answers, solutions, we have to make the city become more inclusive. There’s a big test for property, housing development for the high income group. There’s no strategic plan or policies to address the issues of urban poor, in terms of housing. So this is where this conversation is very, very important. And, having this conversation, pretty much what we have done is to also engage well with communities to seek alternatives, for how these housing issues can be addressed. How can housing provision be made for these people? What kind of ideas they have in their head, in terms of, okay, this is how our housing situation can be addressed. Pretty much like a bottom-to-top approach. And over the years, the ideas playing around centres around the issue of, okay, how can we have a 50/50 win-win solution? Oh, are we gonna do, like, pooling? How do we give tenure to these people to develop their land the right time? How can the land be shared between government and the people, building up an [inaudible] land trust system, etc, etc. there are several ideas, which I think we can probably get into later. Thanks.

Ismail Ibraheem [00:12:43] Thank you very much Deji. Lookman, as a practitioner, and using the climate action framework, what can we learn from practice in terms of alternative approaches to housing?

Lookman Oshodi [00:12:56] Yeah, thank you. When we look at the issue of alternative approaches to housing, a few questions will come to mind. One will be, what kind of alternative are we looking at and what are the existing approaches that we have in the system that deliver housing to the people of Lagos? So in the area of existing programmes and of course, the policies and pricing of those programmes, and we know that in Lagos, a substantial number of housing that are coming to the market are privately delivered, whether at the level of high income, medium income or even at low income. Most of these houses are privately delivered, it’s like a self-help, developer housing system. And so far, to change that narrative, the government, on its part, has come up with a Lagos homes system. That’s a rent-to-own approach and of course a home ownership approach. But it is clear that these models are not enough to meet the housing needs for the people of Lagos. And also, it is clear that to really transform the city of Lagos, because when it comes to delivery of housing, housing has always been there. And of course, we know that the deficit is about more than 2 million housing units that are needed in the city. So, where we have this precarious need is on the low-income part, but where many of them are in the form of informal and slum settlements across the city. We are looking to really drive that alternative approaches to housing. Funding is very critical. Without the funding that alternative may not be able to come to the table. And, apart from funding, what kind of materials that we have that can actually drive climate-resilient housing, that we are looking for that could lead us into a discussion around the alternative. But, as we know, while we are dealing with the issue of adequacy, the city is also at the risk of climate change impact risk from time to time. This needs to be factored in when we are discussing the alternative [inaudible]. So in looking at this alternative, access to land is very key. Building the materials that will drive that alternative discussion is really key. Funding is very key. And skills that are available to drive this housing to its logical delivery process is very key. So quite a number of options have been put to the government from the private sector for the government to try. And, some of them is in the area of design, design that will accommodate local building materials and of course, to some extent foreign building materials as well. And of course, design that could reduce the input of cement into the production of housing. So that discussion is equally ongoing. Of course, to bring that alternative to the table, I mention the issue of skill. So the skill at different levels of housing production, maybe at the artisanal level, at the medium-scale level, and at the professional level, there is a need for skill retooling to understand the concept of affordable housing in a larger city like Lagos. Housing should not at all time be a product of commerce or a product of profit. Definitely there should be social aspect. There should be a community impact aspect. So that skill retooling to really guide every participant in the housing production process into that direction, that skill retooling is necessary. And to drive that skill retooling, the housing fund that has been proposed for Lagos State Government for implementation has really addressed that skill retuning. Certain provision has been made to ensure that the different categories of housing production, strata, they are part of this housing retooling system. So quite a number of interwoven approaches that can bring alternative housing to the market. But most importantly is that we need to look at the outlook of the city of Lagos itself. Just like Dr Oyalowo mentioned earlier, the city is becoming congested. And of course, that the number of housing is becoming inadequate to host the number of population that we have. And if you look at the spread of the city, you can see that the city is low rise. So when you are having a socially burgeoning population, it is clear that that kind of structure of the city cannot accommodate that population. So that means alternative housing needs to come into play. And what we are looking is something of a high rise structure that can dignify and of course, accommodate a significant large number of Lagos population. So when we are looking at alternative approach, we should equally look at the city context itself, a city context, a need to change from the low-rise structure we are dealing with to something high-rise structure. So those are the types of platform that we are dealing with at this time.

Ismail Ibraheem [00:19:01] Thank you very much Lookman for those insights. I think within what you have said, yourself and Deji, and within the discourse on those approaches to housing in Lagos, some themes are actually coming up, such ascooperative housing, land pooling, resilience building, legislative reforms. Basirat, what is coming out from your research in terms of alternative approaches to housing.

Basirat Oyalowo [00:19:29] Yeah. Thank you very much. What is actually coming out complements, what Lookman and Deji been talking about. And in addition to some issues that I would also like to raise very quickly is the fact that when we are looking at increasing the housing stock in Lagos and we’re looking at that direction, we have to recognise the fact that one size cannot fit all. We cannot anchor housing provision in Lagos to one singular method, maybe, to one singular operator, whether it’s the government or the private sector. We have to recognise the diversity of the housing need and the fact that we have to look at the network of suppliers. And this is where the cooperative sector comes in. Already, Lagos has several thousands of cooperatives registered, close to 2,500 cooperatives are actually registered to operate in Lagos State. And cooperative societies, because they are social and they are societies that come together to address social and economic needs of their members, have been very active in housing finance for their members. They provide loans to help people pay for their rent, they provide loans to help people buy land, they provide loans to help people complete their housing. They provide loans to help people expand their housing. So already they are filling the gaps that the formal sector, through mortgages, and the government, through the construction of public housing, has not been able to fill. So they are, instead of, ready organisations, so to say, that should be more involved, should be more visible, should be more supported in housing accessibility in the city, particularly the fact that over the years, in recognising the housing need of their members, some of them have gone into provision of land, in terms of buying land in bulk from mostly the informal sector. And then, I mean, their members buy into this land so that they can then construct. But they have been bedevilled by the fact that they are not housing experts, so they are not also able to expand on what they can offer. This requires the fact that there’s a need to come together, in bringing the formal sector together with government and the cooperative societies, to support and improve the activities of cooperative societies as the agents of the housing needs of their members. That is something that we need to be more intentional about in new housing provision. Then, on the other hand, there is the issue of resilience. We find that there is not enough policy attention being paid to future-proofing housing in Lagos in terms of the construction and also even in protecting existing settlements, as we just talked about, evictions, demolitions and all of that. So here we have a context problem. We do not have enough housing. What we have, they are under the threat of flood risk, they are under the threat of evictions and demolitions due to any number of reasons. In this case, they are also actors, such as the community development associations, the residents associations, the landlords associations. All of these people come together to address low-level problems within their communities, ranging from security to provision of drainages at very low level to provision of street lights, provision of gates to secure the community, and low-level activities that they can afford to do. So there is a need to scale up these activities to have like a framework that we enhance what is already there, that is already appreciated by the community, that is already in operation, without necessarily bringing in laws that would not be implemented. We have several laws that are not yet implemented. We have several laws that, as Lookman has been saying, that are in the offing that need to be passed and need to be implemented. So looking at putting all this together, we can then start to scratch the surface of solving the housing challenges in the city. Thank you.

Ismail Ibraheem [00:24:26] Thank you very much. We have to be intentional in addressing the housing challenge in Lagos. Definitely, because Lagos has a population of more than 25 million, and there is no way that the housing provision we have can meet the demand for housing in Lagos. Interestingly, the Lagos State Government has been very, very strong in terms of planning. Recently, it announced its Strategic Development Plan 2020 to 2052. So what are the main highlights as far as housing is concerned in Lagos from this strategic plan? Again, I will start from Lookman.

Lookman Oshodi [00:25:04] Yes. The main highlights from the development plan. Quite a number of plan which was quite a departure from what we used to have in the past. In the past, before this particular development plan, there was a target of reducing the number of slums in the city, at about the rate of 5% per annum. And that was not realised. So the new development plan hinges on using some of the state instrument, especially the Lagos HOMS and of course, Lagos HOMS to drive a new development plan. And of course, a rent-to-own approach will still continue. And of course, a new approach has been introduced, which is mixed-income housing. So all this, they are very interesting developments, when it comes to development plan for any city. But the issue will be how ready, what are the structure on the ground to drive the implementation of this provision in the development plan. Structurally, which one is the leading agency that will lead this implementation? And of course, from the mandate of different agencies, we have a Ministry of Housing that will lead this process. But the immediate question is whether the Ministry of Housing is well equipped in terms of manpower, in terms of infrastructure, in terms of what it takes to drive delivery of this provision of these plans? So, one thing is to have the plans very well elaborated, and the other thing is to get it delivered. So, apart from the Ministry of Housing, there are quite a number of institutions that are clearly, in that stream of delivery on the provisions of the plan, which include the Lagos State Urban Renewal Agency that deals with the different slums and the informal settlement, and of course, Lagos State and Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development will equally play a role. So I’m saying that in terms of institutional, to really drive this process, is very key, the structure we have on ground, they need to be retooled to be able to drive the provisions of the development plans. Again, apart from the institutions, I look at the investment that needs to come onto play to drive the provision, because the aspect of a PPP, that’s a development I plan mentioned. And that has to do with the private sector bringing in the investment into the sector. And if we look at the prevailing economic situation, as at today, where the reference currency, which is a dollar, keep at least being valued more than our local currency of Naira. So this is a shrinking investment in that regard. And this will affect the implementation of that PPP part, that development plan I talked about. And of course, and this we foresee that can possibly have some long-term effects. Certainly there is a stronger, potentially a provision to really augment some of the areas that the private sector will be lacking. And importantly for the state as it is, it is that the funding framework that has been put in place, this, present financial issue that we have in the country presents a good opportunity for the state to take it head on, in terms of implementing the provisions of this affordable housing. And it is closely connected to the provisions that we have in the development plan, because it is connected to the issue of mixed-income housing. It is connected to the issue of PPP. It is connected to the issue of a rent-to-own model. So, I see this plan as a fairly robust one, but the structure to get it implemented, that is one thing that the government and the private sector need to work collaboratively to get it delivered.

Ismail Ibraheem [00:29:48] Thank you very much, Lookman. My next question goes to Deji now. One of the key criticisms against the Lagos State Development Plan is the fact that it is more elitist. It is elitist, leaving behind most of the majority of Lagosians that live in informal settlements. So in your own view, what are the low hanging fruits from the plan that can have immediate impact for low-income residents of Lagos?

Deji Akinpelu [00:30:20] Yeah. You’re very correct in your analysis in terms of the plans sound elitist. Even though I would just say some of the plans… the way I would also put it is that there’s no detailed commitment in terms of, okay, the low-income groups, how we want to ensure that. so the concept of mixed-income housing, for instance, that you’re find in development, so ways in which mixed income, that means different levels of income. So part of it should probably reflect low-income groups being able to have access to housing. But as the discussions proves or as anlaysis usually goes, all these things are usually very much lost and the plans look elitist. But where the plans were actually gotten from, from consultants, such as who originally wrote about this concept, the intention was also to have low-income groups enabled to participate. So when we talk about cooperative housing, for instance, cooperative association of low-income groups should also be prioritised. That’s what we are talking about. So we’re not just talking about cooperative societies of those high-income groups or organisations that are oil workers, etc, etc. So you are very correct. It seems that the documents really doesn’t capture in detail, or does not in detail focus on this group of people that is pretty much our own concern. So when you say the low hanging fruit, I think for Mr Oshodi, it’s a major point in terms of finance. Financing is very, very key. And, I think the low hanging fruit to create that affordable social housing [inaudible] is very, very key for us to pull together, begin to draw resources. You know, there was a former governor and a former minister who said that government cannot deliver housing below market price. That is not true. With the instrumentality of creative financing, you can get funding, you can get support to provide such housing. So we automatically reduce cost. So in the area of funding is something that we have to create a platform for and begin to utilise. Then the next step would be to identify low-income cooperative groups and begin to work with them. Let us allocate land to them in different areas and let them begin to embark on housing development projects. There are low-income groups that we work with that are already trying to embark on housing projects within and outside the city of Lagos. So part of also the need or what needs to be set up, is we need to begin to think of professional services that will come at a pro bono system or support system. So finance, technical team, allocation of plan, identification of this group of people that we want. So affordable housing for who? Let us define those groups of people. You know, I think some of the documents I’ve read, times two of the minimum wage – well, these are the group of people that we want to provide that social housing for. So that’s where I think the low hanging fruit exist, and for communities like Oworonshoki that was recently forcefully evicted, they are perfect for piloting some of these mixed-income housing ideas, and some of the things that Dr Basirat has spoken of too. So recent places where we’ve had evictions, we can pilot some of these ideas in these areas, whereby the community can have a certain portion of the land, and government can take another portion of the land, for infrastructural development, [inaudible] etc, while the other parts of the land can be used for social housing development for the people, on that different arrangement and land ownership types and land tenure systems. Thank you.

Ismail Ibraheem [00:34:55] Thank you so much, Deji. Basirat, housing issues in Lagos, have been as old as Lagos itself. Lagos has been the commercial nerve centre of the country, as well as perhaps the commercial nerve centre for West Africa. But there have been different approaches in the past. Can you take us to previous housing delivery provision approaches and practices that have made some impact that you think should be expanded?

Basirat Oyalowo [00:35:22] Thank you very much for that. I think looking at what has happened in the past, that we should also be reinforcing in the present time, one can easily pick on the government side of things in the provision of public housing. Over the years, the government of Lagos, as with other governments in Nigeria… they’ve gone into several public housing schemes and all of that. And we see the houses coming up, but we do not know who these houses are allocated to. So in the past where we had the Jakande housing scheme, which was directly targeted, you know, at the civil servants, I think [inaudible] this was quite strong and these estates currently house several thousands of households in the city, and they are still existing. The conditions are poor now, no doubt about it. But the fact is that the government was able to build housing and then allocate to a specific designated group of people. And so this is what has been missing in public housing delivery in Nigeria, in particular, the fact that the government builds but we don’t know who gets allocated. And ever so often we have this sense that the allocation of new housing becomes a political tool to reward acolytes and party members. So here we can learn from the past. We can also learn from the Lagos home scheme during the Fashola administration, where allocation was done by balloting. Through my research, I’ve actually met quite a few number of people that attest to the fact that they were surprised to get allocated this housing, that they were not even lobbying for it, it just because the process of balloting was quite even and seems quite fair compared to what we have. So the issue around public housing is not about the fact that they don’t know how to build, its not that they don’t know how to build at low cost, its the fact that when these houses are built, they don’t go to the right people. So they need to target who new housing is meant for and to ensure that they can access, they can be allocated fairly. That is something that we need to improve upon. And so just as Deji was saying, the issues around low-income people also fits in with the cooperative sector in the fact that there are cooperative societies that are being formed by people in the informal sector and they are providing loans to their members. They keep records. They have a credit profiling that they do in their own way. And so these kinds of activities need to be recognised and need to be scaled up. If we do not have credit rules that cater for the informal sector and the low-income people, then we can turn to those that have the records. We have the property societies, they have the records, they know the lending history. They know the paper history of their members. So this can be pulled into a sort of housing finance structure that will be equitable and accessible by the vulnerable people. Also, looking at the fact that we have – and I keep on talking about what we have that’s existing, because it is easier to work with what is existing than creating new structures – so where we have already community-centred associations, we have youth groups, we have people working for the community already, we need to also support them. We need to also recognise them. We need to also fix them into the formal framework of things. So here the issues around resilience is important, issues around people collecting own data to support government investment for infrastructure is also critical. So I think that in learning from the past we need to look at these aspects of housing provision, aspects of protecting existing communities that have worked. And then we need to ensure that they are encased in the new policy directions that we are looking at, particularly, the Lagos State strategic development policy, which is the most recent and extant policy on Lagos as it is.

Ismail Ibraheem [00:40:36] Thank you very much Basirat. Just the last words, maybe if I can just start from you, what do you think Lagos should do or not do in the short to medium term in the housing sector, in the context of forced evictions, commercialisation of housing, clientelism in housing location? Basirat, just last words.

Basirat Oyalowo [00:40:59] Okay. Last words. Lagos must adopt a social… housing provision. There is no doubt that housing provision is an economic activity or is an activity that has enormous economic potential, especially when we are looking at, we realise this side of things, but the fact of the matter is that more and more of Lagos residents are in the low income bracket that needs a social framework for them to access housing and more of its existing communities require protection, require upgrade. Where we have a more significant proportion in the low-income sector, in the informal sector, it is clear that we have involve a more social approach to housing provision and housing accessibility and housing protection. So that is something that Lagos must do. What Lagos most not do in the short to medium term is to decimate what it already has. There are already existing settlements, the people are providing some level of infrastructure for themselves out of pocket, because the government has not been able to provide the drainages, the waste management, the water supply, electricity supply, security, and all of this, the government has not been able to provide it at 100%, and the people have come together to address some of these needs. So we need to also pay attention to existing settlements to ensure that we do not destroy these existing settlements, we do not leave eviction, even private sector focused or private sector led evictions. Lagos must ensure that these cease to happen through providing alternatives to disputes resolutions, and providing a kind of legitimacy for these actions. So a more socially engaged approach to housing provision, housing protection, neighbourhood facilities, infrastructure provision is what is required in Lagos, drawing on the richness of its people’s readiness to also use their own social capital,who also had to do improvement of their settlement. So this is the direction that Lagos should go in the next couple of years. Thank you.

Ismail Ibraheem [00:43:41] Thank you very much. Lookman, last words: forced evictions, housing commercialisation, clientelism in Lagos, housing allocation. What should Lagos do out what should it not do in the short term and medium term?

Lookman Oshodi [00:43:57] Okay. Thank you. I think, Lagos needs to really recalibrate the vision of the city in the African model mega city. The question is, oh, can we really achieve this vision, and if we want to achieve this vision, how do we get there? So there is need to reappraise that vision and recalibrate the methods of achieving that vision. Now, having said that, I think Lagos needs to equally look at what kind of city, sustainable city, do we want to give the people who are there currently and the people who will be coming into this city in the nearest official distance official. And of course, that will equally lead to the question what kind of policies that we have on ground, are our policies adequate? I can see the need for a Lagos State housing policy, of having a housing policy to be in place to guide the new flow of housing in this city. Currently, as I mentioned earlier, the city is currently driven by self-help housing system in major parts of the city. And if anyone wants to have a sustainable city in that regard, I do not think that is the way to go, because most of this self help at first, they give the city the kind of outlook we’ve seen and of course they do not dignify the residents of the city. So the city or the Lagos State governments need to be very cohesive in this approach of delivering housing to the people. One is to define the vision of the city. One is to define whether the city should remain in this condition. And, of course, if it needs to improve, all this can be put in place by the relevant policies that I talk about, keep in mind that in the city system, housing constitutes more than 60% of the land use. So that means that housing is critical. So that means that there must be that cohesive approach. Then again, is that there are two or about three channels of housing, of assessing the housing ladder in the city. One is the self-help and the other ones are the ones put in place by the government, in terms of rent-to- own and their homeownership and mortgage scheme. And of course, a different, organised private sector who are dealing with a different housing delivery. So all these are pushes that are not adequate. So there is a need for government to diversify a method of assessing housing for the people of Lagos State. There is nothing wrong if we have up to like 15 different channels for people to access housing cooperative, social housing, resettlement housing, different channels need to come on too. And that should be the product of housing policy for Lagos State. Then I see that in the transformation aspect, first, housing and low rise city is not adequate as it is. And in the future, I do not see that as being adequate. But how will the vulnerable group of people become part of authentic transformation of the city? So that should be a key priority for Lagos State government in the short and in the medium term. So, and that is where all this concept of mixed income, social housing cooperative housing, that is where all these concepts come in, in the transformation of Lagos from low rise to a high rise city. So I will say, and then going forward, what Lagos should not do. Forced eviction has never resolved a housing issue in any sustainable city, has never been the solution. So, collaboration, participation, inclusionary approach – these should be the key words that Lagos State government should adopt in making their housing more diversified for people. So I would suggest that recalibrating the vision of the city is very key. Different policies that need to be put in place, especially [inaudible] the Lagos State housing policy, the affordable housing development policy, the implementation of that is very key. This transformation of the city needs to start as quick as possible because what we have now is currently inadequate in terms of the structure of the city to accommodate a large number of population. So that’s a transformation needs to start, but that transformation needs to be inclusive, in terms of bringing the people who are vulnerable, the people who are the lowest ladder of society, need to bring them on board without excluding them from the new Lagos that will emerge. And that will equally bring into the idea of having Lagos modern city plan that’s been developed in different parts of the city. All this needs to come together as a cohesive document that will lead to the transformation of Lagos. So again, lastly, Lagos should do away with the issue of forced eviction, displacement. That system, that strategy has been part of Lagos as far back as the 70s. And as a city today, it has not transformed Lagos into one of the high ranking, sustainable city in the world. It has not yet transformed to better living conditions for majority of residents of Lagos. So if a data approach or data method has been used for a very long time, and it has not really produced the desired result, I think it is high time that there is need to change the strategy of delivering housing. So displacement, forced eviction, all those things should not to be part of housing system in Lagos. I understand that replacement of housing will happen because of the current structure of the city. But forced eviction should not that be the process.

Ismail Ibraheem [00:50:30] Thank you very much. Lookman. Deji, I don’t know whether you also have one or two things to say?

Deji Akinpelu [00:50:36] Yeah, they’ve pretty much said it all, but I would like to say here that, it is very important that the government stop in the long or short term to stop using the instrumentality of city master plans or city plans for the exploitation of the vulnerable groups. What we have seen as a trend is that, we have different… all our city masterplan, social [inaudible] masterplan, [inaudible] masterplan. They don’t have any inclusive approach, for housing, for the vulnerable groups. Those documents, the ones that have been approved and the ones that are still being reviewed, clearly they are taking advantage of even climatic issues such as drainage systems, floodprone areas, that take this climate change issues and environmental issues. They are using as an advantage to have development plans that will pull these people from wherever they are living right now, in as much as, we need to pretty much consider environmental safety of the people, it is very much important that the government puts at the forefront a plan, policies and practices, that considers the need of vulnerable groups by strategically having projects that clearly debunk the overriding idea that, for instance, in the city of Lagos, that property is the best form of investment. So housing is very expensive, first of all, psychologically in Lagos, before it is first expensive, practically in Lagos. So in the heads of the people, it is already expensive, without even viewing. And that has been the overriding thinking in the city and the government too has been a collaborator in making that idea, that thinking, to be very valued. We see government agencies like Lagos State Development, Property Development Agency becoming competitors in the private space, very highly commercial. The LSDPC clearly is a very highly commercial entity. Which shouldn’t be. LSDPC is being strengthened to compete in the private sector, while a government agency like LASURA that should meet the need of the vulnerable group, is being weakened on a daily basis. The agency strides is very slow, is on a slow speed. The relevance of its proposals and its budget team, it does not speak to the commitment the government should have in terms of vulnerable groups. So these inconsistencies are the things that, we pretty much need to address, taking more decisive steps. Agents like New Towns Development Authority should be at the forefront of the concept of mixed-income housing, as stated in the development plan of the city. So that should be their own major concern. So our attention should be on agencies. Government agencies like LASURA, New Towns Development Authority should be there to do “urban renewal”, quote and unquote, for these vulnerable groups. I think I’ll just stop there. Thank you.

Ismail Ibraheem [00:54:06] Thank you so much Deji. We’ve been listening to very useful insights from the incredible team on housing research in Lagos. Thank you so much. Within the past almost one hour, we’ve been looking at the issues that underpin housing in Lagos: issues of inclusion, vision of development, issues of development leaving behind the vast majority of people that are vulnerable in Lagos. Thank you so much, Mr Deji Akinpelu, Dr Basirat Oyalowo as well as Lookman Oshodi. Until we come your way next time, we say bye from all of us, from the Lagos ACRC team. Thank you.

Outro [00:54:50] You have been listening to the African Cities podcast. Remember to subscribe for more urban development insights and interviews from the African Cities Research Consortium.