Tinubu’s legacy in housing delivery in Lagos By Temitope Ajayi

As Nigerians line up preferred aspirants and potential candidates for the forthcoming general elections, I will make it a duty to regularly highlight some critical policy interventions that changed the trajectory of governance in Lagos State under Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as governor.

It is an acknowledged fact even by critics that Asiwaju’s tenure as governor from 1999 to 2007 established his credentials as a statesman imbued with great vision and foresight.
Not only did Asiwaju Tinubu change the fortune of the state and brought it back from the brink of collapse, no thanks to the 15 unbroken years of military rule.

Until Asiwaju came on board, Lagos was a literally a bedlam, characterised with utter chaos, as a result of an ever increasing population that keeps ballooning each passing day.

During the military era, there was poor investment in physical and social infrastructure by successive governors. The people yearned for the return of the golden eras of Lateef Jakande and Brigadier General Mobolaji Johnson under whose leadership Lagos State was set on the path of rapid and accelerated development.

One sector Asiwaju Tinubu was deliberate to change the paradigm was the housing sector, which is a high impact economic sector due to the imperative of shelter for human existence and also its job creation potentials.

To achieve his policy objectives, the Tinubu administration created a the Ministry of Housing s a full fledged ministry. Prior to that period, Housing was subsumed under the Lands and Housing Department.

The creation of a full Ministry of Housing was in response to the yearnings of the teeming population for government’s intervention in the provision of shelter. Apart from being one of the three basic needs for human existence, housing has cultural significance for an average Nigerian family whose lifelong ambition is to own a house.

With the responsibility of providing affordable shelter for the ever expanding population of Lagos State, the new ministry set out a 10-point Agenda to build 5000 Housing Units per annum, spread across the five Divisions of the state that fits socio-economic status of the residents.

The distribution pattern of the houses was 70% for Low Income earner, 20% for Medium Income earners and 10% for High Income earners. Furthermore, the Tinubu-led government executed unique operational strategies to deliver houses and these include Contractor Financing, use of civil servants for Direct Labour and Public Private Partnership. It is important to point out that the Lagos State Government under Tinubu introduced the concept of PPP in Nigeria’s governance lexicon.

Despite associated challenges, the administration was able to deliver 6005 Housing Units by the end of its second term in 2007.

Some of the schemes brought to life by the Tinubu-led government include the Abraham Adesanya Estate, Ajah, Ibeshe Low Income Scheme, Oba Adeyinka Oyekan 2 Estate, Lekki, Oba Ayangburen Phase 2, Ikorodu, Gbagada Medium Scheme 1, Amuwo Odofin Medium Scheme, Abraham Adesanya Phase 2, Ojokoro Millennium Scheme, to mention but a few. What has turned out to be the most enduring legacy of Asiwaju Tinubu in housing delivery in Lagos is how successive administrations after him have continued to expand on these initiatives and improve on the quality and quantity of available stock of houses for the well-being of Lagosians.