If there is any thread of opinion that literarily runs across the governmental fabric of Lagos state and Edo state, it is unarguably the one that postulates  that the developmental strides that have so far been recorded in Lagos state since the All Progressives Congress, APC, began to hold sway in the state should be replicated in Edo state.

It would be recalled that ahead of the September 28, 2016 governorship election in the state that has already been won, lost and acknowledged by millions of Nigerians and international observers to be free, fair and credible that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos state was copiously quoted in the media to have remarked that the laudable developmental strides that were recorded in Lagos in the last 16 years could be replicated in Edo if the people vote for continuity. As rightly suggested by the performing governor, Edolites have voted for continuity.

Similarly, while basking in the euphoria of the victory which APC attained in the election, the Edo state deputy governor-elect, Hon. Philip Shuaibu assured all Edolites that the state would emulate Lagos by becoming a self-reliant state. Hon. Shaibu unveiled the plan while speaking to reporters at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja.

To buttress the foregoing view, permit me to cite the quote attributed to the deputy governor-elect as reported on the online edition of the Nigerian Observer issue of October 5, 2016. His word:  “We want to run this state like Lagos state. A state with or without Abuja handouts it can survive it’s workforce and also provide its infrastructure. We want to take it to a level where we can pay the workforce from the internally generated revenue.”

Against the backdrop of the foregoing quote, one does not need to be a financial guru to deduce the fact that the phrasal term, “internally-generated revenue” connotatively has to do with taxation.

However, this writer is not in this context opining that Edo state should not emulate Lagos state system of taxation or approach to internally-generated revenue. Rather, this piece is set to urge the incoming Edo state government,  beginning from November 2016 to replicate the approach of Lagos state towards the provision of affordable housing to its citizenry.

At this juncture, it is expedient to recall that the former governor of Lagos state, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN, now Federal Minister of Works, Land and Housing,  started a Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme which has the following ellipsis: HOMS.

The scheme requires purchasers to come up with 30% of the purchase price as equity contribution. However, as observed by property developers and estate managers, many Lagosians that exhibited interest toward  the housing project that was on the heel of its inauguration described as “Affordable housing units” ostensibly could not garner the 30% equity contribution.

Seemingly as a way of making the housing units more affordable for Lagosians, the incumbent governor of Lagos state, Governor Ambode has no doubt differentiated his style of administration as to the mode of selling Government developed properties,  by adopting the Rent-To-Own Approach. The details and essence of the approach was well encapsulated in his statement during a recent visit to Ilubirin housing project, situated off the Third Mainland Bridge, opposite Adeniji Adele axis. He was quoted in the media thus: “We believe strongly that people should be able to pay one month rent and live in our housing scheme. We don’t think in a recession, we should be having a situation where we allow people to come and buy when they don’t have money or to come and pay one year rent. We think the way to move forward is to allow these our younger ones to just pay one month deposit and pay one month rent and move into the houses and then more or less play up our Rent-To-Own Scheme.”

Apparently adding his voice to that of the governor, the housing commissioner of Lagos state, Prince Gbolahan Lawal, said the state had never planned to abandon the Ilubirin Housing Scheme Project as erroneously insinuated. Rather, he said the initial design to accommodate 1,260 families was remodeled to 500 housing units. He added that the government, in collaboration with a private investor which is investing about $500 million into the scheme, has devised plans to make the scheme a Live, Play and Work environment.

Without making allusion to the fact in this context that the Governor-elect promises to provide affordable housing in the state, there is no denying the fact that a robust and people-oriented policy on housing and urban development would add political value and goodwill  to his incoming administration. To this end, it is germane to say that the incoming government would no doubt be on the right track if it replicates the developmental strides that have so far been consecutively recorded in Lagos state at different political dispensations.

In fact, it would be a laudable development for the incoming government in Edo state to replicate the housing policy of a state that has the plan to build 50 units of houses in every local government area in the state. Some may argue that due to the cosmopolitan nature of Lagos state that her extant housing policy that is set to enable thousands of Lagosians become Landlords aptly befits the state. Permit me to argue that Edo state is equally a cosmopolitan state against the backdrop  of the high concentration of indigenes of the three major tribes and indigenes of diverse minor tribes in the country that currently domicile in the state, particularly in the  towns and cities that serve as the headquarters of the 18 local government areas .


Isaac Asabor, a freelance Journalist, writes from Lagos