A housing sector advocacy group has told the federal government to convert all seized and unoccupied houses to coronavirus isolation and treatment centres, especially in Abuja and Lagos, where so many people have been infected by the deadly virus
That action, according to the group known as Housing Development Advocacy Network (HDAN), is urgent now that the government is finding it difficult to cope with accommodation issues for all of the confirmed cases.
The group is worried that the federal ministry of health and other stakeholders in the management of COVID-19 are helplessly pleading to Nigerians to donate their houses to serve as isolation centres when there are countless unoccupied houses scattered all over the country.
In the highbrow neighbourhoods of Abuja and Lagos including Asokoro, Garki, Ikoyi, Victoria Island, etc, there are many well finished, unoccupied houses most of which are linked to persons with unexplained wealth, especially politically exposed persons.
“One of the effective ways of tackling this pandemic is for the government to make available more facilities for the isolation and treatment of infected persons,” Festus Adebayo, the president of the group said on Monday.
Adebayo whose views were contained in a statement obtained by BusinessDay in Lagos, noted that “our health sector is overwhelmed by dearth of facilities needed to fight this pandemic. So instead of allowing these empty buildings to waste, government can temporarily convert them to isolation and treatment centres.”
The president noted further that the Federal Government, through its anti-corruption agency, the EFCC, has seized a number of buildings belonging to corrupt officials in major cities of the country who are being investigated or prosecuted for looting public funds.
Also, there are countless numbers of buildings abandoned or vacant in most of these cities – especially Abuja and Lagos – usually because they are acquired through illicit means or owned by corrupt officials who already have too many.
These buildings, he advised, could become important facilities for fighting covid-19 in Nigeria.
He lamented that the number of confirmed cases of infected persons was spiking by the day, noting that as at May 6, Nigeria has recorded a total 0f 2,950 confirmed cases, 481 recoveries and 98 deaths, with more to be announced as days go and as on-going test results emerge.
‘’Before things get out of hands, the Federal Government should grant access to these unclaimed houses and make the work easier for our health workers,’’ he said.
Adebayo encouraged real estate developers to participate in the efforts being made towards containing the pandemic successfully by assisting the government with information about buildings that can be made available for such exercises and those that can be temporarily donated willingly by their owners.
“This is a matter of life and death, and we as Nigerians must all come together to help one another. So this calls for extraordinary measures like the one we are now calling for. Everybody has a role to play in this,” he said
Recently, the federal capital territory administration (FCTA) announced the availability of a five-storey building that could be used for isolation and treatment. Adebayo commended this gesture and encouraged more of such, adding, “this should be replicated in other parts of the country.”
According to the group which is at the forefront of affordable housing advocacy in Nigeria, this pandemic has helped to expose the weakness of public policies in Nigeria, especially the ones pertaining to public and affordable housing.
They emphasized the importance of affordable housing, not only as a means of providing shelter and jobs, but as a means of controlling the spread of diseases and viruses like coronavirus.
‘’We can only hope that the government will maintain its promise and take the provision of affordable housing for Nigerians seriously after this pandemic. We can see how possible it is for countries with mass housing to manage this pandemic through social distancing and staying at home order.
“This has been largely impossible in Nigeria because millions of Nigerians are either homeless or living in slums. So this calls for serious action. It is the responsibility of government to house the poor,’’ the president said.
