Nigerian rights activist and businesswoman Aisha Yesufu has challenged young Nigerians to get into politics and set agenda for politicians who come to seek their votes.
Aisha spoke on Housing TV Africa X spaces tagged Youths and Housing on Saturday evening.
When quizzed on the issue of affordable housing for young Nigerians, Aisha who was a guest speaker at the virtual event charged Nigerian youths to get involved in the governance process of the country and chart a new course for Nigeria and issues that affect them.
“Nigerians must realize that everything boils down to politics. Without fixing the politics, you won’t fix the problem. When people who want to go into public office come to them, the youths don’t ask them questions such as; what are you doing about my housing problem; will you provide a mortgage for me if I vote for you? These are the questions they should be asking.
“You don’t allow people to get into public offices before you start setting agenda for them. The time for agenda setting is when they come to u to seek your vote. That’s when you begin to ask them about their housing plans. If you are not solving my housing problem, why do you want me to vote for you?
The fierce rights advocate decried the cesspit of corruption in Nigeria’s land tenure system as largely responsible for the huge housing deficit in Nigeria. She charged the government to make the issuance of C of O cheaper and easier for developers to process.
“The issuance of C of O is very cumbersome and the process leading to its issuance in Nigeria in most cases is fraught with corruption. Developers have to bribe government officials to get landed documents and permits and in some cases, these charges are in millions of Naira. These extra costs are transferred to house buyers and tenants which further contributes to this crisis.
Aisha urged the government to eliminate the activities of land speculators and middlemen who get direct land allocations from the government with no intent to develop such lands but to hoard and resell them at exorbitant prices.
“I think we must revisit our land use laws. There should be a law mandating allottees to develop their plots within six months of allocation and failure to adhere to this law, will automatically lose their land. This will reduce the activities of the middlemen.
On the role of the private sector in providing affordable housing for young Nigerians, she opined that the sector has been largely driven by the private sector as the government has abdicated from its responsibility of providing affordable mass housing to Nigerians.
“The private sector has been the one housing Nigerians. In the case of housing, the private sector has done more to house Nigerians than the government. The private sector could do more if the government provided an enabling environment for them to do business.
To build affordable housing for the youth, there should be some incentives for developers to reduce the cost of land, building permits, and other regulatory charges with the corruption that comes with them. This will reduce the cost on the developers which will inadvertently translate into the provision of affordable houses for the youth.
