Growing concerns have trailed the recent wave of demolitions of completed houses and estates across Nigeria, with stakeholders in the housing sector warning that the government must address the root causes of the problem rather than wasting scarce resources through large-scale demolitions.
Reacting to the trend, the executive director of the Housing Development Advocacy Network (HDAN), Festus Adebayo, lamented that government’s negligence and complicity were at the heart of the crisis.
He questioned why authorities allowed such buildings to rise over many years without intervention, only to demolish them after completion.
“Where was the government when approvals were granted by its staff and when these structures were being constructed? Why weren’t they stopped earlier? Instead, the government waited until buildings were completed, painted, and occupied before moving in with bulldozers. This is ridiculous,” Adebayo stated.
He described the demolitions as economic waste, stressing that they inflict hardship on innocent homeowners while failing to address the corruption that enabled the illegal constructions in the first place.
According to him, accountability must not stop at developers alone.
“Demolition is the punishment for the developer but hear me clearly: the criminal officers who aided the construction must also go down. Until government officers who looked the other way are held publicly accountable whether by outright dismissal or demotion, these demolitions will never end. Right now, the punishment falls only on developers, which makes the exercise one-sided and ineffective.”
He maintained that holding complicit officials responsible would act as a deterrent to others and reduce future occurrences.
Stakeholders also criticised the silence of professional bodies, particularly the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), noting that if urban planning systems are being undermined, the Institute has a responsibility to speak up.
“How can NITP be left out? If what they plan is being bastardized, the onus is on them to speak out,” stakeholders added.
Adebayo reiterated that corruption within government approval systems fuels most of the illegal structures that are later targeted for demolition, insisting that unless this is addressed, the cycle will continue.
“Enough is enough,” he declared. “This waste of resources is a direct result of corruption. The government must act fast.”
