National Library Gets Quit Notice over N228.7m Unpaid Rent

The National Library of Nigeria says it faces eviction from its Abuja office following its inability to pay rent totalling N228.7m.

The amount is for two and half years rent. The notice to quit given to the NLN ended on Monday, September 30, 2013.

The NLN Chief Executive Officer, Mallam Habib Jato, said this on Monday in Abuja when the House of Representatives Committee on Education led by Aminu Suleiman visited the office.

Jato said, “Two and half years rent, amounting to N228,690m has yet to be paid and the landlord has threatened ejecting the organisation by the end of September, 2013, with its unpleasant consequences.”

He also noted that inadequate funds had hindered the execution of many of the organisation’s projects such as capacity building in Information Communications, Technology, and the development of the National Readership Promotion Campaign, among other initiatives.

Jato added, “Lack of headquarters building, which makes operational coordination and service delivery difficult has also made work more difficult.”

Suleiman, who frowned on huge rent, said the amount was unjustifiable and unacceptable.

Meanwhile, the organisation’s permanent site slated for completion in 2015 has had its design reverted to the original plan allegedly by President Goodluck Jonathan.

The Punch

The 6th Floor : Fanning the Flame (3)

(True Life Experience of a Nigerian Real Estate Agent)

By Olumide T. Agunbiade|Real Estate Writer and Blogger

MRS. Labi was inconsolable as she continued to cry. Hot tears continued to flow down her cheeks and her beautiful figure was shaking vigorously as she wept. As she continued to weep, deep in thought, I   remembered an incident that happened few months back at the hospital where I took my family for medical check-up.

On that memorable day, the scenario was quite different between other couples. As I sat at the reception on that day, I saw a man walking up and down the hospital corridor, deeply worried. He had brought in his heavily pregnant wife, just a few minutes before. She was due to deliver and had been wheeled into the labour room. He was quite anxious and disturbed as he paced up and down the hospital corridor.

               “Oga, come and sit down,” one of the nurses had said rudely, “you are disturbing others with the way you are walking about. Are you not a man? People bring their wives here to deliver everyday and they don’t disturb us like you are doing now.” She concluded her verbal outpour with a contemptuous hiss.

 He was so lost in thought that he didn’t even hear. Even if he had heard her, he would have ignored her. There were more serious issues bothering him than the verbiage of an incompetent and rude nurse. If he could have had his way, he would not have allowed his wife to keep this pregnancy.

  The woman was as stubborn as a goat. They already had five children. Three boys and two girls. The family lived in a single room apartment in a “face-to-face” 30 rooms building. He had been unemployed for the past two years, after he was retrenched in the factory where he worked as a foreman. How did I get to know all these? Well, he narrated everything to me when he finally sat beside me. He was a bit relaxed when he did that.

Times were hard! He had to survive, keep body and soul together, by working as a labourer on different building sites. His wife augmented the family income by selling fruits and pure water in sachets. The last thing he wanted was another child. He even advised his wife to go for an abortion at the early stages of the pregnancy but the stubborn woman had refused.

 She had kept the pregnancy. As he paced up and down the corridor of the hospital, that morning, he wasn’t worried about his wife’s condition. He wasn’t anxious whether the baby, on the way, would be a boy or girl. He was worried about other things. Where would he get the money to pay the hospital bill? As it was, he already had a lot of debts hanging on his neck. He owed his landlady one year rent and the shylock was already threatening him with ejection. There were so many other debts to be paid, and now this!

How to Reduce Housing Deficit in Nigeria

By Olumide T. Agunbiade |Nigerian Real Estate writer

In development terms, the last few years of the 20^th century and the first few years of the 21^st century have been a total failure. Housing is one of the basic of human needs. The provision of houses through the creation of mortgages is taken for granted in developed countries; however, remains a major challenge in developing countries, especially in Nigeria.

                                                                

DEFICIT SPECIFICATION
YEAR	FIGURE	POPULATION	PERCENTAGE	CAUSE
1993	8M	98M	8.06%	Mortgage
2007	12-14M	143M	9.79%	Low supply
2010	16M	156M	10.25%	Overcrowding
2011	17M	160M	10.62%	Population
2012	18M	167M	10.77%	Slum housing
				Poverty

SOURCES: PROPERTYMAX DATA & STATISTICS

      IMF

                    CIA WORLD FACTBOOK

A recent research revealed that Nigeria and United Kingdom have two things in common – overcrowding and housing deficit. According to a report on Nigerian Housing Sector aired a few years ago on African Independent Television (AIT), it was stated that between 1973 and 2006, the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) built only 30,000 housing units nationwide.

In 2010, just 103,000 homes were built in England – the lowest since 1923 – though 232,000 was supposed to be built per year. Nigeria has a large and ever increasing housing deficit which stood at approximately 8 million housing units in 1993 and 12 – 14 million in 2007.

According to a recent BBC report, the UK government has agreed to build 3 million homes between now and 2020 with 1.8 million new homes set to be constructed on Greenfield sites, a target area for development. A recent estimate puts Nigeria’s housing deficit figure higher at 16 – 17 million. “At an average cost of N2.5 million per housing unit, Nigeria would require N35 trillion to fund a housing deficit of 14 million housing units.” said Olusegun Adeniji of Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN).

Several factors have been identified as responsible for this shortage. According to Mohsin Khoda, a Land Acquisition Manager with Kings Land Global Investment Company based in Dubai, “Supply is limited while demand is high due to increase in population.”

In United Kingdom, the expansion of European Union (EU), migrant workers, increased divorce rate, longer life expectancy and overcrowding of the major cities had been identified as the reason for the shortage. Nigeria’s urban housing problem manifest in overcrowding, slum housing, poverty and widespread institutional mediocrity.

 According to a report from the House of Representatives, only 37% of Nigerians own houses and the country’s population has increased since 1991 from 88.9 million to 160 million. If we take the current population figure of 160 million and assume 30% of the population as working adults, we have 48 million estimated working adults; assuming about 40% or 19.2 million of the working adults qualify for mortgage loans, and assume an average house final selling price at about N3 million for a 2bedroom flat, the possible size of the mortgage market is close to N58 trillion.

SPECIAL REPORT: THE LASRETRAD LICENSE

     

• Who is “Qualified” to let or sell properties in Lagos State?
• The  unique Estate Agents Identification Number
•  The benefits of the license

By Olumide T. Agunbiade & Victor Adewunmi

• A Copy of the LASRETRAD Certificate issued to Ayus Properties

Nig. Ltd.

For decades, anyone can be a Real Estate Practitioner in Nigeria. All you need is to be qualified or registered, own or develop a property or simply have access to available properties to let and for sale. The huge financial transactions involved, high property demand, the population and the limited supply mainly in major cities such as Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt has made the sector susceptible to abuse by many dishonest developers, greedy landlords, unregistered agents and swindlers who engage in several illegal practices to the detriment of the practitioners, citizens, foreigners, stakeholders and the noble profession.

Today, the present administration of the Lagos State government has taken a giant stride aimed at sanitizing the Real Estate sector and protecting the right of Lagosians, stakeholders, residents and practitioners of Real Estate in the state by establishing the Lagos State Real Estate Transaction Department (LASRETRAD) under the Ministry of Housing.

PURPOSE OF LASRETRAD

The Lagos State Real Estate Transaction Department which was established on June 22, 2012 by the Executive Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), is the main regulatory authority in Lagos State on Real Estate Transactions.

Aside being created by the state Government of Lagos State with the aim to regulate Real Estate agents working in the state, the dedicated department which has been operating since Wednesday, January 2, 2013, is also responsible for maintaining market confidence, ensuring the protection and enhancement of the stability of Lagos State Real Estate Market, securing certain level of protection for property seekers, to make property transaction process extremely transparent and total eradication of quackery in the Real Estate industry of the state with an attempt to eliminate any type of frauds. 

WHO IS ‘FIT AND PROPER’ TO LET OR SELL PROPERTIES IN LAGOS

Lagos, Nigeria’s economic hub which accounts for about 65% of industry in the country and contributes more than 70% of the nation’s economic output is currently filled with unregistered Estate Agents and swindlers. The limited supply, high demand, increase in population in the state and the money involved in Real Estate transactions in the state has made homeowners, their children, Lawyers, Architects, Barbers, Tailors, Carpenters, Mechanics and even Clerics  to become property service providers in Lagos State.

LASRETRAD’s determination and commitment to hunt down unregistered Estates and swindlers in the state began with the recognition of  associations, Institutions, and professionals described according  to their official website www.lasretrad.com,  as  must be ‘fit and proper’ to be a Practicing Estate Agent in the state.

A directive was also issued to ministries and agencies in the state not to patronize unregistered agents with a plan to enforce the law with special help from enforcement officers drafted to the agency. However, the agency has made it a point of duty to inform all stakeholders before the raiding commences.

Associate members of Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) are exempted from necessary scrutiny since they are already qualified as practicing Estate Agents. However, in order to collate the data of licensees in the state, they still need to register with LASRETRAD.