obailala:
You didnt mention it but it almost sounded like you implied it. Okay now I get you, it's possible for the govt to rent them; but then, if the middle class still struggles to find decent houses to rent or buy, and the middle class ends up renting forever, dont you think there would be an imbalance if the govt ignores the mid class and focuses just on the poor?

The US and UK where you say the council has houses for rent and sale for lower income earners, remember provision had already been made for the midclass through low interest mortgage schemes, help-to-buy support schemes etc. As organised as these societies are, if there wasnt any provision already made for the midclass, then by natural law, the midclass would manipulate it's way into buying up all those council projects made for the poor. Same logic I believe applies for Nigeria.

By the way, I have a friend who works in a small telecoms firm and earns N120k per month, also have a brother who also into IT, earns N380k monthly; both are married with kids. These are the kind of guys I refer to as the Nigerian mid class, generally earning anywhere between N1-10m). They live fairly comfortably, but on their income, would never be able to own houses of their own if the govt doesnt step in.

Since the govt has scarce resources, a quick way the govt can kill several birds with one stone (i.e. solve housing problem for medium and low income earners) is to develop housing schemes for mid income earners to buy. The money made from these would be used to develop more housing schemes. As the mid class moves in to occupy their new homes, those lower in the ladder move up one step to occupy the houses the mid class previously occupied.

lexy2014:


D only grammar u are missing is d cost of acquiring any of d properties

omonnakoda:

I don't know what you mean by "almost implied" How does one almost imply a thing?
I do not understand your fixation with middle class
I do not understand your fixation with home ownership. Must people own homes?
Is that some kind of religious duty? There is nothing wrong with renting. What is required is better protection and regulation as well as security of tenure

Let us agree that there is a need to increase the supply of housing.

Different models work in different places e.g Germans tend to rent more and buy less than in the UK

Our current monetary reality is very different from the UK,
Interest rates are double digits and most loans are short term.
We have a capital deficit compared to the UK and lenders are very risk averse. Also our weak currency will hardly encourage any lender to lend for 20 years
How many people in the category of Teacher ,Nurse etc can afford to put down 10% on a house in London? Buy to let is for new builds often in areas that are not the most in demand

Lekki is different from Imota

obailala:
Okay let's forget about 'owning' a property, what about being able to rent decent properties? If the government only considers the poor, what then happens to the mid class? Dont they deserve decent homes to rent too?

When the midclass guy living in a 2 bed apartment in Imota moves into his new 'rented' apartment in Lekki, the poor guy living in a face-me-I-face-you room gets an opportunity to move into that vacant 2-bed apartment in Imota. So by building those houses in Lekki for the midclass (who can afford to pay for them and provide revenue for govt), the govt also indirectly takes care of the housing needs of the poor. The rich and mid-class pays for the welfare of the poor.

omonnakoda:

I don't agree with all this middle class categorisation. For me it is wholly irrelevant

and why should moving to Lekki be an aspiration? I don't get that
People across Nigeria should be encouraged to stay in the rural areas and so the housing strategy should build more homes in rural areas.

obailala:
The typical aspiration of every normal human is to one day move into a more decent house in a more decent neighbourhood; not sure why you had to pick on the word 'Lekki' and abandon the primary message.

And there's nothing irrelevant about catering for the needs of the mid class who typically pay the most tax and provide the revenue for govt to function. Ignore the midclass at your own peril. It's also important to note that if you take care of the midclass, the poor is also taken care of.

omonnakoda:


We will have to agree to disagree

If you want to move to Lekki that is your choice nothing to do with government

Government exists for everyone.

The role of government should be to make policies that attract long term capital into Nigeria and articulate a housing strategy for everybody to increase the supply of housing

Why can't ALL NEIGHBOURHOODS be decent

If you want to move to Lekki a more decent house in a more decent neighbourhood, that is your choice nothing to do with government

Government exists for everyone.

The role of government should be to make policies that attract long term capital into Nigeria and articulate a housing strategy for everybody to increase the supply of housing

EcoBrick:


https://twitter.com/Mr_JAGss/status/1266071949668683781?s=19

stevmatt15:
Superb, splendid, fabulous, fantastic, laudable, praiseworthy, commendable, applaudable, sumptuous, marvelous, meritorious. Please which other GRAMMAR am I missing here? SANWO is at work.

obailala:
Even in the most developed countries or cities in the world, all neighbourhoods aren't decent. And even if all neighbourhoods are made decent, some neighbourhoods will always be more decent than others, and humans will always aspire to move up to better locations.


"If the poor wants to leave their shanties and move to better homes, its their choice, nothing to do with govt." How about that?


Of course, not for the poor alone. Those paying the huge taxes need govt help too.

Resources are limited/scarce, so prioritising is of utmost importance. Like I explained earlier, the midclass can pay for the houses and the funds can be used by govt to develop more houses.

When the govt provides decent houses for the midclass to buy, the poor also benefits because they occupy the older houses which the midclass leaves vacant. As you can see, this model readily caters for the middle and lower income earners, and also creates long term capital for govt to develop more housing.

On the other hand, if the govt ignores the middle class and jumps to cater only for the housing needs of the poor, the taxable midclass would feel cheated and disgruntled, and the government would have no capital to develop more housing. Such an imbalance would create chaos in society. This model may work only in communist nations.

omonnakoda:


Like I said we will have to agree to disagree, with respect you are making noise and repeating yourself with your epistle on middle class Government in Nigeria doesn't have the money to cater for anyone.

This Lekki project was not built with government money and neither targets poor or middle class it is for rich people .

obailala:
That depends on your definition of 'rich'.

obailala:

There's something called the 'middle class', we need decent houses too.

We need to rid ourselves of all these communist/welfarist ideologies where we expect the government to do everything for the poor. The poor arent the only ones in society.

We run a capitalist society; if the government caters for the needs of the middle class, the poor will automatically be taken care of. But if the government jumps the middle class to go give free welfare to the poor, it creates a major imbalance and crisis in society.

Everybody needs housing, both rich, middle class and poor. The rich may not need this type of help, but there's millions of people who fall in the Nigerian middle class category (e.g. people earning anywhere between N1-10m per annum). Although this group may seem to live relatively comfortably, they may never be able to own houses of their own in expensive places like Lagos till retirement.

When govt sets up housing schemes like this which the mid class can afford, the money paid by the mid-class would create funds for the govt to devolop more houses like these. When more mid-class families move away from their previously rented apartments to new estates like these, the vacant apartments will then be filled by families lower in the economic ladder who probably lived previously in face-me-I-face-you compounds. And of course the extremely poor living under bridges may be able to upgrade to face me i face you houses. In this model, everyone's taken along.

omonnakoda:
by your own definition on this thread

VaalCee:
We do not run a Capitalist economy where Political will overrides and determines every other sectors? Nigeria is more of mixed economy largely delving into Socialism

obailala:
I defined middle class as people earning typically between N1-10m per annum. By all definitions, this is even the lower midclass in Nigeria

OKTolu:
Beautiful, but the questions is what parameters are you using to lease or sell these houses and will it be affordable to middle class ?



Eko oni bajeoooo

koning:




Something wey dem don share for Alausa before the foundation was laid. Anybody buying now is buying it second hand. If you know, you know.

IT REMAINS A BARRACKS FOR LOW INCOME EARNERS. Another Jakande estate in different location. Lekki my arrse.

chuxyfranklin:
Nice development...

Affordability and maintenance is key....

The cost should be modest enough for a middle class..

oyatz:
We can build these type of building that will be affordable if we use locally available materials. For instance , burnt clay bricks and planks from Palm Trees can be used to build these types of buildings.

obailala:
Nigeria is almost a wefarist state where the govt does or is expected to do everything for the poor; almost every govt policy is aimed at the poor. That's why almost everything is subsidised; all imports are subsidised (with the CBN defending the Naira every month), fuel is subsidised, education is subsidised, health care is subsidised, electricity is subsidised etc... Fact of the matter is that we do not have requisite financial capacity and patriotism to run a welfare govt, that is why no sector works in Nigeria.

If the govt jumps the struggling middle class (that pays most of the taxes) to go pamper the poor, the imbalance will bring chaos.

omonnakoda:

You sound bitter

75 million naira is for low income earners?
Low income earners don't deserve homes?

koning:




I was already living in Lagos when you were on Cerelac, or Akamu in your case. You don't sound like someone whose parent could afford Cerelac.

These are council flats. Low income housing projects. That you quoted 75 million naira does not make that the actual value of the flats. That is the amount the thieving politicians who bought them on paper want to resell.


I am more of a Lagosian than you, so nothing to be bitter about. Lagos is my home too.

omonnakoda:

Defending the naira is import subsidy? Really?
Welfare states cannot be capitalist?
Is there any country that does not subsidise one sector or the other?
What was the 2008 US bank bailout? The 2008 automotive industry bailout? The endless subsidies for the defence industry? Or the current Covid bailout

The NHS in the UK is free

Social security benefits payments in the US exceed Nigerian national budget (nearly $900 billion), ditto for the UK


What about AGRICULTURAL subsidies in the EU,USA

Wake up ,you are clearly out of your depth here

omonnakoda:

Defending the naira is import subsidy? Really?
Welfare states cannot be capitalist?
Is there any country that does not subsidise one sector or the other?
What was the 2008 US bank bailout? The 2008 automotive industry bailout? The endless subsidies for the defence industry? Or the current Covid bailout

The NHS in the UK is free

Social security benefits payments in the US exceed Nigerian national budget (nearly $900 billion), ditto for the UK


What about AGRICULTURAL subsidies in the EU,USA

Wake up ,you are clearly out of your depth here

EcoBrick:


https://twitter.com/Mr_JAGss/status/1266071949668683781?s=19

omonnakoda:


You seem to like talking for the sake of talking.

I said the Lekki property is not targeted at them .


What is your point?

obailala:
Are you by any means comparing the financial capacity of US/UK to Nigeria?

If you go back and read what I wrote again, I mentioned that Nigeria does not have the financial capacity to be a welfarist state; our attempt to be a welfarist state is the reason growth is extremely slow. A typical example is petrol subsidy; Nigeria simply doesnt have the financial capacity to keep subsidising petrol.

And yeah, just incase you didnt know, the CBN defending the Naira by pumping in cheap forex into the market every month, that is indirectly subsidizing imports. the dollar is currently N360, its only when the Naira is floated fully that we can know the actual value of the Naira.

obailala:
And who are the Lekki properties targetted at exactly? The rich? Which rich person would go live in those block of flats that look like council flats?

Or do you mean to say the houses targetted at the poor? Which poor person can afford that?

You're actually losing me here, what exactly is your point?

omonnakoda:

It is targeted at those who can pay for them people who can afford 75 million who BY YOUR 10 MILLION definition are Rich.

Rich people don't have to live there. They can be landlords . That is a foolish question