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Mixed
housing scheme is the most suitable for Lagos State, and by
implication, all emerging metropolis in Nigeria, says Akin Sawyer, the
Director of EBRAM Global Housing, a Dubai-based Real Estate Company.

Mr. Sawyer made the
proposal at the plenary session for real estate at the ongoing Lagos
Economic Summit, while responding to a question on state government’s
effort to provide low cost housing.

“We must be careful
when talking about low cost housing,” said Mr. Sawyer. “When you build
low cost housing as a unitary scheme, you end up building a slum, which
has its attendant problems like crime.” Mr. Sawyer said a mixed income
housing scheme, that will allow high income earners live in the same
locality with middle and low income earners, is better.

He explained that
separating the housing schemes explains why slums are springing up,
even in high profile areas like Lekki and Ikeja GRA; “after all, high
income earners need low income earners like drivers and maids to serve
them,” he said.

Low income housing impossible

“It is not possible
to build low cost housing because there is nothing like low cost
cement,” said Supo Sasore, the state’s Commissioner for Justice, in his
response to the question.

Against the
precedence already set by Lateef Jakande, a former governor of Lagos
State, the commissioner said “the public sector cannot build low income
houses. Houses have to be built in partnership with the private sector.”

Mr. Sasore had
earlier delivered a presentation of the real estate projects of the
state, all of which are designed to cater for the needs of high income
earners.

As observed by a
participant, the housing need is highest at the low income level. Also,
that the state government has no low income housing scheme policy
contradicts governor Babatunde Fashola’s statement, made last week, at
the annual Harvard University programme, ‘Africa Focus’, that “a
leadership that cannot protect the poor will be unable to protect the
rich.” However, some of the discussants, who are real estate investors,
disagreed with Mr. Sasore.

Tayo Amusan of
Persianas Group, said the state government can copy the example of the
US, where a demand for certain units of low income housing estates from
real estate developers, before granting the land needed for their
projects.

Mr. Sawyer has more
advice he considered useful for the megacity drive of the state
government. He corroborated another participant who said the state can
explore the use of other materials, like bamboo and bricks, to build
low cost houses, and sounded a warning: “Let us be careful so that we
do not bury Lagos in concrete.”