CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF HOUSING POLICY IN NIGERIA VIS-A-VIS THE UN HABITAT GLOBAL HOUSING STRATEGY

Abstract

The 3 basic needs of man are food, clothing and shelter. Among the 3, shelter whose scope has over the years increased to the term housing remains the most relevant on the global scale. Shelter refers only to the building while the concept of housing is inclusive of the quality of the environment in which such a shelter is located and the availability of necessary facilities and infrastructures that will make the shelter worth living in. The concept of housing therefore can tremendously affect human health and well-being of the people. Several efforts have been made by the Nigerian government towards making housing available for all. These efforts have been better redefined by the UN-Habitat for a Better Future through a comprehensive global housing strategy (GHS) framework document which is meant to serve as a guide to ensure all member states develop their National Housing Strategies with an overall goal to support governments of various member states in promoting sustainable urbanisation and adequate housing for all.

This research paper shall review the UN-Habitat Global Housing Strategy framework document. It shall also examine the historical trend of housing policy in Nigeria. The aim of this research shall be to determine the level of progress the Federal Government has made in policy making towards achieving the housing goal as documented in the Global Housing Strategy framework document by the United Nations Habitat. The research method shall be a review of previously published related literature.

The paper concluded that Nigeria still has a long way to go in formulating a workable housing policy and that the government has a notable role in achieving this goal.