EDITORIAL: Soaring Rents and Growing Homelessness In A'Ibom

Nothing, absolutely nothing  prepared Nigerians for the skyrocketing rents since 2023. 

Unlike food shortages that most Nigerians are able to handle by returning to their farms, it is impossible for Nigerians to do anything about cost of building materials and rents.

Prices  of building materials which have gone above the roof are manufactured by big companies and regulated by the government; so, they determine the economic dynamics.

The reasons for this high cost of rents that is rendering families homeless is directly connected to the rising cost of building materials.

No matter the excuse of the government,  Nigerians cannot accept the high cost of building materials and the accompanying huge rents .

In the view of The Eyes Portal newspapers, it is totally unacceptable for the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to care for nothing that Nigerians cannot afford rents or build their own houses.

It is surprising that the government is superintending over a nation where Cement for instance that was below N5,000 when it came to power has gone  to as high as N13,000 per bag. 

The commonly used roofing sheet called Cameroon Zinc moved from N47,000 per bundle before 2023 to N450,000 under Tinubu.

Apart from the general inflation in the country, the cost of building materials  is the reason advanced by house owners for raising their rents astronomically.

While their reasons cannot be totally overlooked, it has become the norm for house owners to demand for rents beyond the reach of citizens.

In Akwa Ibom State for instance, rent has moved from N3000 to as high as N10,000 per roomin.a compound of several individuals who have no kitchen attached to their rooms and share the toilets where one exists.

For a self contain room, that is one room with toilet and kitchen, a citizen would have to pay between N600,000 to N700000 per annum.

A one bedroom flat is now between N1Million and N1.5Million and that is how it progresses to  other levels of houses.

Conversely, Nigeria's par capita income is so terribly low while the minimum wage is nothing to write home about.

This therefore makes paying the current rents in Akwa Ibom State beyond the reach of the average Akwa Ibom person. within this pains that the people are passing through is a government that is doing absolutely nothing to improve their earning capacity to enable them secure a better standards of living.

The current situation by our rating is very unprogressive for any nation. Many citizens cram themselves in little houses  in the  slums while several others are out in the streets without a place to call home.

The call of The Eyes Portal Newspapers is for the government to quickly act in ways that shows it cares for the welfare of the people.

 Government policies should be immediately directed at bringing down the cost of building materials. This we are confident will have a way of influencing the rents by reducing them to the point of affordability for the average Nigerian.

Also, it is our opinion that government after ensuring stability in the building sector can equally determine the range of rents to be charged for the various kinds of houses available.

May we also call the attention of the State government to the activities of Rent Agents. These are persons who constitute themselves as go-between for landlords and tenants. The activities of these persons have been unbecoming. They are responsible for jerking up the rents to incredibly high levels to  accommodate their illegal charges and commissions.

There are professional people such as Estate Managers who engage in high level sale of property and their activities are well regulated.

However, this itinerant Rent  Agents should be banned by law to end the pains which they have consistently inflicted on the people.

The government should act now to save Akwa Ibom people from going homeless.