HOUSING AND INDUSTRY SECTOR DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA - URBANIZATION CHALLENGES



INTRODUCTION
Housing is a fundamental product for every human being irrespectively of financial standing, infact, would acclaimed American psychologist, Abraham maslow ranked shelter as second only to food in his heavily of human needs.
            Housing is thus a necessity that provides shelter for main order for him to actualize his real potentials in life and contribute to the growth of the world. Despite the importance of housing to the socio-economic development of man and the nation, housing problems have remained endemic and intractable throughout the world. The homeless, the inadequately housed, and the evicted are more numerous in the cities and the countryside across the planet in today’s world, some 100 million person are homeless and more than a billion are inadequate housed.

            Given this scenario, the lingering question is why this state of affairs why the perennial and unending problems of housing shortages forced evictions and slum development.

     CHALLENGES OF HOUSING SECTOR DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA     
The housing scenario in Nigeria presents a pathetic picture depicting the low standard of living across the country regarded as the most populous black nation in the world.  
Homelessness, overcrowding and growth of slummy neighborhood have become common features of Nigeria’s urban areas. This problem has been compounded by the rapid rates of urbanization and economic growth.
For over 50 years of its independence, Nigeria is yet to develop a vibrant mortgage market and houses continue to the provided through the tortuous traditional method of buying land and building over some years which could be an individual’s entire life time in many cases such buildings are left uncompleted or individuals have to delepte their entire life savings in order to build home. Housing difficulties is more serious for the low income groups and the problems have been completed by inflated real estate values, speculative activity, unemployment low earning capacity and lack of planning one can also cite the increasingly significant shifts in the formal design of housing from the rooming form to flat and single family house forms as a factories possible for acute shortage of housing for the low income groups.
In 1998 the CESCR review report on the Nigeria housing, situation and compliance with the international standard on ECOSOC rights found out there is an acute housing problem in Nigerian here  decent housing is scarce and relatively expensive. The report expressed it’s deep concern about the rising number of homeless women and young girls, who are forced to sleep in the house initial land development activities will usually involve architects, lawyers, financiers and other consultants as the project enters the building problems, construction workers and specialized personnel like plumbers and electricians needed the development of housing creates jobs for those already living in the community, and encourages others to enter the community to fill the new demand in the contraction related profession in addition, housing production requires an increase in transportation and trade services that can benefit the economy. Building materials must be produced for the construction project, and people must be hired to transport those goods from their source to the building site. This means that a high percentage of the gross outlays for a residential construction project are available for services, wages and salaries, thus stimulating job creation. See Houghton the ideological importance of housing available.

CHALLENGES OF INDUSTRY FINANCING IN NIGERIA                                
Accessibility to sustainable funds has perennially constituted a hindrance to adequate financing of small and medium enterprises (SMES) leading to premature collapse of these industries. Today, SMES represent about 96 percent of firms in the Nigeria industrial sector. Despite this dominance, however, they contribute as low as one percent to the nations’ gross domestic product (GDP). This is in contrast to countries like Indonesia, Thailand and India where SMES contribute almost 40 percent whilst SMES are an important part of the business landscape in any country, they  are faced with significant challenges that compromise their ability to function and to contribute optimally to the economy, especially, lack of short, medium and long term capital-inadequate access  to financial resources and credit facilities.
            The central bank of Nigeria (CBN) has attributed the inability of SMES to get funds from banks to poor understanding of the SME sector by Nigerian banks, lack of management, skills failing infrastructure, post banking consolidation, form part of the explanation for this rationing of SMES from the credit market by the deposit taking banks.
            According to the CBN, the informal market with its attendant challenges, become the rational alternative. Speaking on multilateral collaboration for wealth creation through the development of SMES at a stakeholder is forum organized by Nigerian association of commerce and industry, mines and agriculture (NACCMA) recently, governor of central bank of Nigeria (CBN) Sanus; Lamido Sanusi said that SMES were yet to make the desired contribution to the national economy.
            To achieve a sustainable SMES financing, Sanusi called on the need to reduce the risks associated with lending to small businesses, focusing on laws governing contract enforcement, forfeiture and collection of collateral and the use of movable assets including stock as collateral. He added: there should be development of policy, regulatory and legal frameworks that are essential to the development of innovative financial institutions and instruments including venture capital, small equity investment and leasing.
            There should be promotion of innovation in specialized lending technologies that reduce the administrative costs associated with credit application, monitoring and payment. Capacity of financial institutions should be strengthened to evaluate SME credit worthiness in cost-effective manner such as credit scoring.
            Also, a representative of Nigeria export import bank (NEXIM) Mr. Robert Orya while delivering a paper tilted: the role of financial institutions in providing finance for SMES development stated that in the pursuit of NEXIMS mandate, it has over the years faced a number of challenges that have constrained its’ ability to sustain lending to the SME section.
            These challenges Orya said included management of transaction cost for the SMES, high credit risks associated with SMES financing and lack of adequate collaterals.
            To provide better services to the SMES export sector as well as enhance the performance of the non-oil sector and exporters in general he disclosed that the banks recently embarked on a holistic corporate restructuring and transformation exercise, with a view to becoming a world class commercially oriented and customer friendly institution that imbibes best-in-class good corporate government and risk management practices.
            NEXIM has also articulated a corporate strategic blueprint with a vision to be the leading export development bank in Africa with a clearly defined market focus, targeting sectors with high growth employment and foreign exchange generation potentials like manufacturing, agriculture, solid mineral and services, it explained.                                    

REFERENCES
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G. Akhmat and Y. Bochun, Rapidly Changing Dynamics of Urbanization in China: Escalating Regional Inequalities and Urban Management Problems, Journal of Sustainable             Development, 3 (2) (2010), 153-158.

Un-Habitat, State of the World’s Cities 2006/2007, The Millennium Development Goals and Urban Sustainability, (2006), London, U. K.

UN, A home in the city, Taskforce on Improving the lives of the slum dwellers, Achieving the Millennium Development Goals, London, (2005), Earthscan, Available at             www.earthscan.co.uk  

World Bank, Urban Poverty: a global view, Prepared by Judy L.Baker for the World Bank Group, (2008), Washington D. C,   http://www.worldbank.org/urban

M. P. Brockherhoff, An Urbanizing Prospects, (the 2003 revision), Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, (2004), New York, United Nations.      

T. Aina, Petty Landlords and Poor Tenants in a low-income    settlements in Metropolitan Lagos, Nigeria, P. Amis and P. C. Lloyd (eds), Housing Africa’s Urban Poor, International African Institute, (1990), 87-102, Internet Google search, (Previewed Version accessed, March 2009).

T. O. Lawanson, Challenges of Sustainability and Urban Development in Nigeria: Reviewing the Millennium   Development Goals. In Fadare W. et al. (eds) Globalization,   Culture and the Nigerian Built Environment, 2 (2005), Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
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