The Nation Newspaper

Category: Building & Properties

  • Ekwueme’s firm, Ebonyi in N248m deal

    FIRM, Integrated Nigeria Limited, owned by former Vice President Alex Ekwueme has signed a N248 million infrastructure development masterplan for the Abakaliki Capital Territory with the Ebonyi State government.

    This is aimed at promoting the growth of infrastructure in the capital city.

    At the signing, expressed confidence in the ability Governor Martin Elechi of the firm to do a good job.

    “The architectural plans of Dr. Alex Ekwueme have never been faulted, distorted or amended from conception to final execution. We are confident that his company will do this job professionally and satisfactorily,” Elechi said.

    He described the project as a sacrifice by the Second Republic vice president to salvage the state, considering his integrity, competence and profession of architecture and town planning.

    The governor explained that Integrated Nigeria Limited got the job based on the evaluation report by the State Executive Council on Public Procurement, which recommended the company ahead of three others.

    “We are, therefore, confident that the job will be handled by the best of professionals. The government and the people of Ebonyi expect that the job will be done as fast as possible,” Elechi said.

    Responding, Ekwueme promised to deliver the job on schedule, assuring that his company would not disappoint the state.

    He said his firm had put together a team of professionals to execute the project, adding that a quality master plan would ensure orderliness.

    “Without a quality master plan, development of any town or city will always be disorderly. We would ensure that the vision of the governor for the state is realised. We appreciate the enormity of the responsibility entrusted on us by the government and people of Ebonyi. We promise to deliver and not disappoint the people,” Ekwueme said.

    The Abakaliki masterplan, when completed, it is believed, would also discourage unplanned development of the city and limit the unprecedented migration of rural population to urban areas.

  • ‘Care panacea to fire outbreaks’

    TO prevent occurrence of fire, Nigerians have been advised to be careful.

    Chairman, Faculty of Housing, Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), Chief Kola Akomolede gave the advice during an interview with The Nation.

    He identified causes of fire to include use of candle, kerosene lamp or stove, boiling rings, gas cooker and electrical spark, and storing of petrol in the house or bringing naked light near a petrol generator.

    “All these can be attributed to ignorance or carelessness.For example, if you lit a candle and put in on a wooden table or stand, when the candle is completely burnt down to the base, fire can result,” he warned.

    He said the most common fire outbreaks are caused by electrical spark as a result, usually as a result of either overloading the circuit or use of inferior cables or fuse wire of high melting point.

    He regretted that most electricians do not know the function of a fuse wire in the gear box.

    Others include gas leakage and bringing naked light to a room covered by insecticide.

    He cautioned that to prevent fire from electrical faults, electrical outlets like sockets should not be overloaded.

    Also, the use of qualified electrical engineers when building a house or doing a repair work in the house should be encouraged. Others include always turning off all electrical appliances when not in use even for a very short moment.

    These will include air-conditioners, fans, pressing iron, boiling ring or kettle, electric cooker, computers, television, radio.

    “Even when there is no light and you are going out, still check that all appliances are turned off, if possible remove the plugs from the sockets. This is necessary to prevent fire that may arise if PHCN should bring power while you are still away and there is a surge that is greater than your normal load,” he advised.

    Akomolede said gas cylinders should be checked regularly for leakages especially before striking a match, even as it is advisable to place gas cylinders outside the kitchen so that any leakage can flow into the air outside the house with less risk of fire.

    He advised that the amount of combustible materials should be reduced to the barest minimum in the house.

    “Do not use rug or rubber carpet, they aid fire to spread quickly. Leave your floor bare with tiles, marble, granite or terrazzo. A concrete decked ceiling will prevent fire catching the roof easily,” Akomolede said.

    He said it was important to have fire extinguishers in the house, adding that they should be in places where they can be assessed without any hindrance in case of fire. Also, they should be checked regularly to confirm that they have not expired.

    He advised the public to insure their houses and other properties.

  • Ogun to complete road

    The Ogun State government has assured that it will complete the on-going construction of Lafenwa road in Abeokuta North Local Government and Ayetoro road in Yewa North Local Government Area of the state by December, this year.

    The state Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Olamilekan Adegbite, spoke while inspecting the road.

    The 50-kilometre road is being reconstructed into six lanes with facilities, such as street lights, median, sidewalks and green belt.

    When completed, it is expected to further boost the economy of the state.

    “The road should be ready by December this year and it is part of the administration’s agenda to create a city of global standard where lives and property are safe-guarded,” he noted.

    The Lafenwa-Ayetoro road is a federal road.

    Adegbite, who said most of the federal roads in the state are bad and had been neglected over the years, also said the state government decided to come to peoples’ assistance by reconstructing the roads and widen them in line with international standard.

    Besides, he said since all roads in the state are used by the people irrespective of whether they are federal or state, there is the need to make them motorable, adding they will address the incessant traffic logjam on the roads.

    He said the government realised that the new roads being constructed across the state were new phenomena, adding that it had started constructing some of the roads while the exercise will be continued to check excessive speeding by motorists.

    He, therefore, urged the people to desist from arbitrary construction of speed-breakers on the new roads without government’s approval.

  • Combating the urban housing challenge

    Combating the urban housing challenge

    The housing challenge has put enoromous pressure on urban areas. Living in these areas does not come cheap, making it difficult for low income earners to get accommodation. What is the way out? MUYIWA LUCAS reports

    For Kehinde Ibrahim, a young man in his late 20s from Osun State, coming to live in Lagos was a dream come true. But three months into his Lagos sojourn, Ibrahim has become delusional having been sent out of the house by his friends who initially accommodated him. For now, Ibrahim’s temporary accommodation is a market stall, as his meagre income from hawking cannot get him a decent accommodation. In the case of Musa Ibrahim, a resident of Kaduna State, the desire to enjoy good amenities in a city apartment has made him seek an alternative accommodation in a sprawling area of the metropolis, but not after he paid through his nose for the property located in the Romi extension of the state. And for Uche Eze, who recently got employed in an Abuja branch of a new generation bank, he would remain a squatter with his uncle in the Garki Area 11 region of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) longer than he thought due to the high cost of renting a house in Abuja.

    Ibrahim and Eze are two of the several people who find it tough to afford a decent accommodation in the city due to the rising cost and shortage of houses in most urban areas.

    Indeed, for many Nigerians, living in urban places has become a nightmare owing to the high cost of rent being charged by landlords and their estate agents. A survey of rents in some areas was quite revealing. For instance, in Ikeja, a two-bedroom apartment goes for as much as N700, 000 per annum; while the same apartment goes for N800, 000 in some parts of Surulere. In Abuja, it is a different ball game entirely as a two-bedroom apartment goes for as much as N1.2million per annum. Yet, the increase in house rent in the urban areas in Kaduna State is quite alarming.

    In places such as Malali, Ungwan Rimi, Rabba road, a standard three-bedroom flat, which was about N250, 000, costs N500, 000, depending on the amenities in the house. A room and parlour self-contained apartment goes for about N170, 000, while a two-bedroom flat is N350, 000.

    In Kaduna south, places such as Barnawa have the most expensive houses. In that area, a two-bedroom apartment, which was N180,000, costs between N300,000 and N400,000, while a three-bedroom costs between N500,000 and N700,000. In Romi extension, it is N300, 000 for a two-bedroom flat in the GRA, up from a N150,000; whereas in the “local” sections of Romi extension, houses which cost N80, 000 now goes for as much as N200,000.

    Chairman, Faculty of Housing, Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, (NIESV), Kola Akomolede, agrees that there is an urban housing challenge in the country. This, he said, is evident by the high rents, street sleeping and squatter settlements. Several factors are said to be responsible for this development. In Kaduna State, for instance, house rents were said to be moderately priced until the Boko Haram insurgency which has made a lot of people migrate from where they felt was insecure to where they consider secured.

    A property consultant in Kaduna, Oladipupo Olorundami, told The Nation that this development has affected the cost of rents because many people want to stay in the urban areas because of the presence of security personnel. “The situation is pitiable. Those in urban centres spend more on accommodation, depleting their salary, and making life more difficult for them. Maybe if we had good roads and good transportation system it would have been better since people can live in far places and still make it to the city centres early,” he said.

    Akomolede, who put the housing deficit at 17 million, warns that if the trend is not checked, it may lead to a demand for higher rents, demand for more years rent payment in advance, and the emergence of fake agents and dupes. For him, the problem is also not unconnected with the cash liquidity problem prevalent in the country as most people cannot afford to buy a house much less afford the rents.

    “Lack of a well-defined mortgage system has contributed seriously to urban housing challenge in the country. Without mortgage, many people cannot buy a house. In civilised countries with responsible governments, nobody buys houses on cash and carry basis,” he said.

    But while Nigerians are complaining about the high cost of renting houses, estate agents are gaining and smiling to the bank. Bunmi Omoya-Solomon, a resident of Kaduna, recalls her experience with an estate agent while trying to get a new accommodation. And for her, the agents have constituted themselves into a cult, making things very difficult for people. “Imagine that the estate agent was asking me to pay almost 30 per cent of the rent charged. He gave all sorts of charges which were ridiculous,” Omoya-Solomon said. Besides, she was angry that most times, basic amenities were lacking in most houses in spite of their high cost.

    The surrounding suburbs are also benefitting from the development. This is because with the cities becoming too expensive, prospective tenants now look towards nearby areas, especially around border towns. For instance, for Lagosians, areas, such as Ibafo, Akute, Alagbado, Ofada Town, etc, have become their second choice; and following the laws of demand and supply, houses in these areas have become rather more expensive than even what obtains in their capital city like Abeokuta. For instance, in Alagbado, a two-bedroom goes for N400, 000; it is the same thing in Akute, Lagos border town.

    Yet, the challenges confronting these cities have its own price. Awobodu said the desire for people to live in urban places at all cost has led to the emergence of slums, as most landlords, in a bid to make more money, have put up makeshift buildings to meet the demand and also make more cash. Also, the government have not been able to put in place adequate infrastructure as a support system for the society. Besides, in spite of the rent edict in Lagos state, The Nation’s investigations show that several landlords have failed to comply, while those that have complied now use other means to extort tenants. For instance, Sanmi Alade, a businessman, disclosed that though he paid one year rent for his apartment in Surulere, where it in the pre edict era, the amount he paid would have conveniently covered two years rent. Similarly, fake estate agents have so far increased in number, taking advantage to swindle inexperienced and unsuspecting tenants.

    Akomolede contends that the major solution is for the government to first accept housing, especially for the low income earners, as a social responsibility the same way they do for health and education and vote money for it every year in the yearly budget.

    “To address the urban challenge, there is need for mass housing programmes. Government must embark on massive housing development to be sold to low/middle income people at a subsidised price with automatic mortgage to be repaid in twenty to thirty years,” he added.

    Kunle Awobodu, a surveyor, toes this line. “When a city has expanded, the government should be proactive by introducing appropriate management in housing; housing in Lagos remains very peculiar because we don’t have enough,” Awobodu said.

    When The Nation contacted Olusola Martins, Head, Corporate Affairs and Media Relations, Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC) on what is being done to address the issue, he declined to offer any information, saying: “There is a directive that it is only the commissioner for information that can talk on behalf of government.”

    He however promised to make available to the writer a list of the corporation’s effort in addressing housing challenge in the state; but one week after, Martins is yet to redeem his promise.

    The housing scourge has continued to be a source of concern to even international bodies. The United Nations (UN) in a 2012 report, gave a timely warning that Nigeria on the danger ahead. The body predicted that by 2050, the country’s population would have hit 200 million.

    The implication is that except urgent steps are taken, this will pose a great threat to urban housing, amongst others. Perhaps this is what has propelled Kogi State government, in trying to tackle the urban housing challenge, earmarking a part of the N20 billion Bond it planned to raise from the stock market to finance 500 housing units for its civil servants and also a satellite town. The housing estate, which would be sited in Lokoja, would be allocated to civil servants on owner-occupier basis.

    Still, to tackle this menace, the Federal Government has approved N28 billion for the provision of engineering infrastructure in Wasa District of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The district, with a total land area of 367 hectares, is aimed at providing affordable mass housing to the working class in the FCT.

    “This increases the population of towns. It also leads to over population, and especially, the demand for accommodation. The effect of this is that there is always a sharp rise in the cost of housing,” he said.

    Some landlords agree that if the government can address the cost of building, there would be a reduction in the rents.

    But some tenants do not agree with them. They blame thhe development on the shylock tendencies of the landlords.

    The question is, when will urban houses be easily affordable to Nigerians?

  • Housing fund hits N118.8b

    Housing fund hits N118.8b

    In those years, contributions to the National Housing Fund (NHF) rose by N66.8billion, bringing the total amount realised since its inception 21 years ago to N118.8 billion.

    The Board of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), shot up the contribution within three years of its inauguration in 2010. The funds’ monthly average collection also rose by 174 per cent from N730, 000 to over N2 million on the average.

    Explaining the leap in fortune of the fund, Dauda Yusuf, the Head, Corporate Affairs, said the management adopted measures to improve the operational efficiency and service delivery of the organisation, deploying strategies that were aimed at strengthening and putting check and control on the activities of the bank.

    He said the bank partnered critical stakeholders to achieve operational profitability.

    Giving further insight into the feat recorded so far, Yusuf disclosed that the FMBN has also re-financed mortgages to the tune of over N32 billion for 13,750 buyers of non-essential residential Federal Government houses sold in the FCT. This was done through a mortgage-backed bond it put in place in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Finance for workers in Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which is aimed at making them house owners. Also, N28.3 billion and N19.7 billion were disbursed as estate development and mortgage loans in 34 months, an amount that translates to 45 per cent and 46 per cent of the cumulative loans of N64.2 billion and N45.1 billion.

    Only recently, FMBN began a housing cooperative scheme known as Cooperative Housing Finance to integrate workers in the informal sector to contribute to the NHF. The scheme is part of the government’s efforts to improve access to effective mortgage for middle and low income earners, particularly those not employed in the civil service or employed in the formal sector.

    Under the scheme, individual and professional cooperative societies can have access to the resources of the mortgage institution when they come together as a team. The cooperative will own the land, the estate, while the FMBN will provide the global title, then the individual titles will be provided by the cooperative members. With this, the bank hopes it would be promoting a more effective and efficient affordable housing delivery in the country.

    Players in the housing sector have recommended the enforcement of a law that would make contributions to the National Housing Fund (NHF) mandatory. The law, if implemented, would help to reposition the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) to help deliver effective mortgage plans to workers, while also calling for the vigorous pursuit of the N200 billion Federal Government’s intervention fund for housing.

    Also, to enhance affordable housing in the country, a mortgage refinancing company was inaugurted last month to cater for mortgage needs of high income earners, and a “rent-to-own” project, which creates room for tenants to own a home after renting for some time is also underway.

    With this development, Mohammed Musa Sada, the supervising Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, reckons that the engagement of the mortgage refinancing company would make the FMBN focus more on providing mortgage for low and middle income earners, including workers in the informal sector.

    “We are already working out the modalities and we hope that before the end of the year we would have worked it out properly,” he said.

    The National Housing Fund, which was established by Decree 3 of 1992 to facilitate the continuous flow of low-cost funds for long-term investment in housing for the benefit of workers has been plagued by some challenges, one of which is the non-remittance of contributions and also non- participation of some states in the scheme.

    Over the years, some states have stayed off the scheme, as only 28 states are contributors.

  • TUC, firm sign N200b project

    Rock of Ages Property Limited, a subsidiary of Chikason Group, a wholly owned Nigeria conglomerate in manufacturing, mining, oil and gas in Vienna and other countries, has entered into agreement with the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to build 100,000 houses in Abuja, Lagos, and other parts of the federation.

    The initial 20,000 housing units comprising two,three and four- bedroom units of bungalows, semi-detached bungalows and apartment blocks will be built in Lugbe and Dei Dei in Abuja within the next six months through a Special Purpose Vehicle called United Workers Housing Scheme under the Rock City Project.

    An Executive Director of the group, Mr. Adike Chux told The Nation that the remaining 80,000units would be spread across the states based on arrangement between the TUC and the various state governments. He said the project was designed to check the challenges faced by private and public servant workers in securing decent accommodation in many states, especially in Abuja, Lagos and other major cities.

    On the modalities to subscribing to the houses, he explained that what a contributor needs is to fill a form and pay an initial 10 per cent of the cost of the house to obtain a provincial offer while the balance would be paid in 20 years.

    He commended the TUC and the government for the initiative and their wisdom in partnering with the private sector, especially those with track record in the sector.

    He hailed the mortgage refinance programme of the government which he said will be an elixir to home ownership against the position where many people are not properly accommodated.

  • ‘Stop forceful eviction, demolition’

    The Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Wesbanch Engineering Limited, Adegoke Alani, has said he is waiiting for the time when the government would not use force to evict and demolish homes belonging to Nigerians.

    For him, it is bizzare for the government to wake up and conclude to demolish any section of the city without a proper dialogue and understanding with the people affected.

    Alani said urban renewal must evolve into a policy based on less destruction, more on renovation and deliberate investment. “If people are carried along at every stage of the urban regeneration process and are part of the programme with adequate compensation paid to them for resettlement, then it is no longer a forceful eviction,” he said.

    According to him, when people that are to be affected on any government urban renewal policy are contacted and carried along on the process, that there will be no room for grievance and agitation, since their interest will be taken care of.

    Alani urged the government both at state and federal levels to carry the people along and give them what is adequate for a resettlement to forestall agitation, as well as respect their rights to habitation and living.

    “For graceful urbanisation, good access roads, hospitals, standardised schools, sewage control, leisure parks, shopping malls, and markets and other civic structures in addition to affordable housing to the people are part of an integrated and deliberate urban renewal strategy,” he admonished.

    He advised state governments to, as a matter of necessity, be determined to touch and add values to the lives of the people with programmes and policies, especially by simplifying access to land and building approval without stress through the use of a bureau comprising professionals, who are major stakeholders in real estate development.

    Alani also advised the Federal Government to collaborate with the states to enhance effectiveness in road construction and maintenance.

    “The government should explore both human and technical capacity of the states to ensure that the network of road projects fared better,” he said.

  • N2.4b Aviation Village Estate ready in August

    N2.4b Aviation Village Estate ready in August

    A mortgage firm, Suntrust Real Estate Investment Limited, will deliver its first major project- a N2.4 billion Aviation Estate in Abuja in August.

    The project comprised housing units ranging from three-bedroom detached bungalow, three-bedroom semi-detached bungalow and two-bedroom block of flats.

    The project is financed by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) under the National Housing Fund, (NHF), Scheme located at the Aviation Village District, by Kuje Overhead Bridge, on Airport Road.

    The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Suntrust Real Estate Investment Limited, Muhammad Jibrin, explained that the choice of the location is in line with its mission which is aligned with the Federal Government’s plan to develop the Federal Capital Territory into a modern, functional and peaceful territory that will meet the people’s hunger for good life.

    “Suntrust is completing the Aviation Village Estate Project in Abuja as a selection of high quality homes designed, built, and crafted with purpose. The estate is expected to foster community relationship setting where each homeowner will have a wholesome relationship with neighbours. The estate is the most modern and best finished lifestyle residential estate in the FCT,” Jibrin said.

    He listed some of the benefits available to prospective homeowners and institutional investors as good title documents, high standard finishing and secured gate community.

    Other infrastructure in the estate include a dedicated recreational centre, water supply, street lighting systems, electricity supply, interlocking pavements for each unit, adequate car park, perimeter fence, internet service for each apartment, children play ground with facilities, free unlimited estate intercom access, superior interlocking road network and CCTV for the area, among others.

    For most estates, maintenance remains a problem after completion.

    But Jubrin assured that there is an in-house facilities’maintenance management plan being put in place to cater for the upkeep and ensuring that there is no distortion to the original master plan of the estate.

  • Building a functional, low cost house

    Building a functional, low cost house

    For an average worker, owning a house is not easy because of the scarce resources at his disposal. The three tiers of government are not helping matters by not providing affordable housing. But all hope is not lost, says Elder Rufus Akinrolabu, an engineer, who is promoting the building of low cost houses. SEYI ODEWALE reports.

    ARE you dreaming of having your own house and want to be free from shylock landlords? If your answer is in the affirmative, here is an opportunity to make your dream come true.

    The dream can be realised without depleting your savings, especially where the hope of getting mortgage financing appears non-existent, a structural engineer, Elder Rufus Bambola Akinrolabu, has said. “For anyone who wants to build a house, low cost and functional house is achievable both for individuals and government. The sole reason no one or the government is ready to promote the idea is that if a house is low cost, the financial reward will be little as it cannot make anyone rich speedily,” Akinrolabu said.

    The cost of a house can be as low or relatively cheap, but this will only be possible if a combination of several factors are put in place to cut wastages. These wastages, according to him, are through procurement of materials; production; construction; source of finance and building design. “The adaptation and use of locally sourced building materials and components is not a reason good enough to bring down the cost of a house,” he said.

    Akinrolabu, who worked variously as a technical and general manager (GM), Delta Steel Structures Ltd, and Neptune Construction Company Ltd, Lagos, said factors such as good and economic building; design; efficient production systems; competitive pricing of input; site production of most components of building; good construction management; adoption of tested cost-saving technologies of building that can reduce the cost of the foundation work; walling and wall finish; flooring and floor paving works, roof cladding and roofing structure are jointly capable of drastically bringing down costs of building a house.

    “Talking about site production of most components of building and adoption of tested cost-saving technologies in building, my innovation comes handy and this is building with local materials as alternative to the conventional ways of building,” he said.

    The conventional way, he said, is when blocks are made from cement and laid with same. But with the alternative, which has laterite soil as the main component to make bricks, except in cases where cement are used to stabilise the bricks, is cheaper and more economical.

    “Laterite soil, the main material used in making bricks, is often cheaply found in any market centre in Nigeria. Houses built with laterite soil are durable, aesthetically pleasant, cool in hot weather and warm in cold weather. And the production technique is easy to learn and be produced on the building site using cheaper local labour,” he said.

    With a budget as low as N2.5 million, Akinrolabu said, one can build a modest house in the city suburb. “If you must build a house with between N2.5million and N3million, you must know that you can’t acquire land in the city. You have to go to the outskirts where you can get a plot of land or half for between N300, 000 and N500, 000,” he said.

    He continued: “For a two-bedroom flat consisting a sitting room, dining room, kitchen, store, toilet and bathroom, Akinrolabu estimated that the foundation would require about 40 bags of cement, four loads of granite, three loads of sharp sand and about 420 pieces of nine-inch sandcrete blocks at a cost of about N400,000.

    For labour, clearing of the site, digging of foundation trench, concreting, laying of block walls and filling, and back filling, about N110, 000, he said, would be okay with a sub total of N450, 000 for the foundation work.

    “The brick wall to roof level will require about 5,160 blocks, 101 pieces of half-inch rods, 31 quarter-inch rods, binding wire, one load of gravel, three loads of sharp sand, 25 bags of cement, planks and nails at the cost of about N720,000, including labour. Roofing and ceiling, ground floor and screeding work are estimated at between N490, 000 and N173,000.

    “A unit of two-bedroom house, including preliminary work, foundation, lintel, beams and columns, doors, windows and lock fixing, plastering, painting, electrical works, plumbing and sanitary wares will cost about N2.8million,” he said.

    The icing on the cake for anyone who wants a low cost house, he said, is the adoption of laterite soil in molding the bricks for the house. “I use laterite in my building projects and I recommend it to whoever wants to save cost in building his house. The number of those who sleep under bridges is swelling. Those who are tenants, for sure, far outnumber those who are landlords. Even some tenants, one way or the other, find themselves homeless at some point. It is either that the landlord has ejected them, or that their building has collapsed,” he said.

    His contribution to easing housing problems in Nigeria, he said, is the fabrication of machines that can mould laterite or clay bricks from laterite soil, which are commonly found around and at no cost.”I remember at the inception of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, a committee was set up, among others, to determine how to bring down the cost of housing delivery in Nigeria. The committee concluded, among others, that cement and blocks account for between 60 and 70 per cent of the cost of a house,” he said.

    Laterite soil, according to Akinrolabu, contains gravel, sand, clay and silt. “It is commonly found in tropical countries. It is also called mud in some instances and can be used with or without cement,” he said, adding that there is another variation of laterite bricks which have a certain percentage of cement mixed with it.

    An official of the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NIBRI) said the use of laterite would be a wise choice for low income earners as it is readily available, cheap and durable. The soil is available in dry areas and can be sourced by digging wells or soak away pits.

    According to the official, all that is needed is for the user to stabilise the laterite with five per cent cement and minimal water to make it moist enough before it is fed into the brick making machine.

    “Laterite is about N12, 000 for a truck load, which can make enough bricks to build a mini flat. About four moulds from the laterite will make a nine-inch brick. Although when you decide to use laterite to construct your house, you may require lots of it, it is also available. Anywhere you dig, you will find laterite,” he said.

    Unlike cement blocks that have voids and holes, bricks made from laterite are solid and can be made within a few minutes. In addition, houses made from bricks, according to experts, are cooler because bricks are heat resistant.

    Houses constructed from bricks made from laterite may also not need painting, as the raw material comes in an attractive colour.

    His innovation, brick pressed machine, which moulds bricks using local technology adopted from Germany, Akinrolabu said, is a success in all ramifications. “It was my zeal to get a cheaper way of building a house that brought about the innovation. After my stint with civil engineering, I realised that I was just wasting my time with the realisation that I had nothing to show for working for others. I was curious and went into series of research and in the course of this, I stumbled on a book titled: “Small is Beautiful”, which taught me that the way to success is to start small. Also in the book, I saw a picture of a simple mud brick-making machine, which greatly reduced the cost of building houses,” he said.

    He continued: “As simple as the design looked, I could not fathom it despite my immense knowledge of structural engineering. So, I registered at the British Library where I got books to read and researched into how to produce the machine. I wrote to some research institutes in countries such as France, India, Japan, Britain and Belgium and they all replied.

    “Somehow, I was lucky. The German Appropriate Technology Exchange (GATE) replied me and sent a questionnaire to get information about what I had done before, and I mentioned all the machines I had used before. They asked me to pay one hundred Deutsche Marks, which I did and they gave me a design of the machine.”

    Bricks produced by this machine, which have further been modified to include different molds, Akinrolabu said, have tremendously helped to reduce cost of building a house.

    As a member of the Presidential Committee in Alleviation of Housing Deficit during Obasanjo’s adminstration, his innovation and cost-saving technology went a long way in reducing the deficit in housing sector, particularly in the provision of low cost houses.

    “I want Nigerians, especially low and medium income earners to look inwards and see that they can also be house owners or landlords at little or low cost,” he said.

  • NDDC ready to open mega-bridge

    NDDC ready to open mega-bridge

    |THE Niger Delta Develop-ment Commission (NDDC) is set to inaugurate one of its star projects, the 600-metre bridge in Ibeno, Akwa Ibom State. To facilitate the process, NDDC Managing Director, Mr. Bassey Dan-Abia has inspected the long-span bridge across the Qua Iboe River in the company of Etim Inyang (Jnr), who is representing Akwa Ibom State on the Governing Board of the Commission.

    Dan-Abia said it was the good fortune of the new NDDC Board to deliver the mega-bridge, and the 6.8-kilometre Iko-Atabrikang-Opolom-IwuoAchang Road. He expressed satisfaction with the quality of the road and the long-span bridge. “I am particularly impressed by the fact that it was done by an indigenous contractor.”

    He said the road and bridge have provided a major link for several communities that were hitherto, locked up in swampy terrain. He said to get the full benefit of the mega-project, “we need to embark on the second phase which will take off a lot of load from the Eket–Ikot-Abasi Road. If it was not provided for in the 2013 budget of the Commission, we would see what can be done about it.”

    The Supervising Engineer for the project, Mr. Etim Eyoette, had earlier informed Dan-Abia that the design for the second phase had been done and that work was progressing at another 36-kilometre Ikoro-Ntafra-Opolom road with eight bridges to link up the Ibeno bridge after the second phase would have been completed.

    According to him, the road would shorten the distance for travellers from Ibeno to Port Harcourt as they would no longer need to pass through Eket.

    A representative of the Ibeno community, Hon. Enyima Inyang, said they were delighted that the first phase of the project has been completed. He, however, appealed to the NDDC to quickly initiate action towards extending the road to other communities in the area.

    Earlier, members of the Senate Committee on the Niger Delta had inspected the bridge and expressed satisfaction with the quality of job done.

    Its Chairman, Senator James Manager, said it was one project which he would want President Jonathan Goodluck to open as soon as possible.

    He said: “We are happy and we have seen that the communities around here are happy too. This is a landmark project and it is very unique.”

    The project was executed by an indigenous engineering firm, Viche Nigeria Ltd. Its Project Engineer, Samuel Eruohi, assured the NDDC’s chief that the firm has completed its assignment and was ready to hand over the project to NDDC. The Ibeno Bridge is the longest bridge built by an indigenous contractor in the Niger Delta Region.