Changing housing policies and housing provision in Jos, Nigeria

Nigeria's housing problems have persisted regardless of changes in policy, strategies, actions and instruments. This study examines housing policy changes and factors that influence housing supply outcomes at the local level. The study reviews the state of housing provision in the national context. The focus is then turned to the city of Jos in north-central Nigeria, where institutional arrangements for the provision of housing are critically examined. Primary data was obtained through interviews with industry role players (government officers and house builders) and the views of people were sampled through a questionnaire survey. This data was then combined with secondary source material to examine financial mechanisms, subsidy provision and local-level organisational frameworks for partnership. The findings suggest that a shift from a state-led to an enabling approach for housing did stimulate the activities of private house-builders and primary mortgage institutions. However, their activities are not spread across the regions of Nigeria. The issue of equitable allocation of public housing across the regions of Nigeria by the federal agencies has not been addressed by the enabling policy framework. Further, the idea of decentralisation of housing provision was introduced but did not result in the formulation of strategies by the local authorities in Jos. The national housing policy itself appears to be ambiguous and difficult to implement by the authorities in Jos. The ambiguities arose because there is a lack of policy enforcement mechanism, political commitment, and a poor local organisation and coordination framework. These failures create uncertainties and risks for private house builders that partnered the government to access finance and subsidies for the provision of low-income housing in Jos. Also, there is limited participation of households due to lack of awareness on public policies. On the basis of the study's findings, some policy recommendations are made

Public housing delivery in Nigeria: problems and challenges

Paper presented at the XXXIII IAHS World Congress on Housing, 27-30 September 2005,"Transforming Housing Environments through Design", University of Pretoria.In Nigeria political, economic, social and environmental factors and the huge foreign exchange accumulated from the rise in oil price in the 1970s have forced previous civilian and military government to intervene in the urban housing crisis. The initial intervention took the form of rent control. The failure and abandonment of the rent control policy led to the policy of public housing production in the urban centres. The debate on public housing programme in Nigeria has been abandoned largely on the guise of the exercise being a luxury, the economic pressure brought about by the structural adjustment programme of economic recovery of the 1990s and the inefficacy of the previous public housing programme This paper attempts to examine the problem and challenges of public housing delivery in Nigeria. It highlights the nature and dimension of Nigeria’s housing problems. The various government responses at solving the housing problems are identified. The achievements of government past housing governments are examined. Finally factors inhibiting public housing delivery and the challenges of housing in the future are presented.Authors of papers in the proceedings and CD-ROM ceded copyright to the IAHS and UP. Authors furthermore declare that papers are their original work, not previously published and take responsibility for copyrighted excerpts from other works, included in their papers with due acknowledgment in the written manuscript. Furthermore, that papers describe genuine research or review work, contain no defamatory or unlawful statements and do not infringe the rights of others. The IAHS and UP may assign any or all of its rights and obligations under this agreement

Non specific immune response in the African catfish, Heterobranchus longifilis fed diets fortified with ethanolic extracts of selected traditional medicinal plants and disease resistance against Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The efficacy of supplementing diets with ethanolic extracts from three medicinal plants (Arabic gum; Acacia arabica, Water lily; Nymphaea lotus, Iron weed; Vernonia ambigua) on the innate immune response and diseases resistance in Heterobranchus longifilis challenged with Pseudomonas aeruginosa were studied. H. longifilis juvenilles (20.4 ±3.8g) were fed diets containing 0% (control diet C), 1.5% extracts of; Acacia Arabica (diet 1), Nymphea lotus(diet2) and Vernonia ambigua (diet 3) 100g-1 of feed at 5% biomass daily and the innate immune response parameters were examined after the end of the experimental period (42days). The blood leukocyte phagocytic activity was enhanced in fishes fed diet 2 and diet 3 from the 14th day while those fed diet 1 showed no significant(P>0.05) increase until the 28th day. Serum lysozyme activities were stimulated in fish fed diet 2 from the 14th day while significant increase were recorded from the 28th day in those fed diet 1 and diet 3. Significantly (P<0.05) increased leukocytes respiratory burst activity were only observed from the 42nd day in all the experimental diets but there was no significant change (P>0.05) in any of these parameters in the control group. A challenge test with virulent strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa following 42days of feeding showed 100% mortality in the bacterial infected H. longifilis in the control group by the 15th day, while mortalities recorded for the fishes fed the diet supplemented groups; diet 1, diet 2 and diet 3 were 52% (relative percent survival (RPS) 48%), 44% (RPS=56%) and 68% (RPS=32%) respectively at the end of the challenge experiment (24days). The cumulative mortality index for the control group was 130.8 which was equated to 1%, while the lowest mortality of 0.26% was obtained in the D3 diet fed group and were significantly different (P<0.05) in all the treatment groups. These results suggests that the dietary inclusion of these plants extracts may elevate the innate immune response and enhanced disease resistance in H. longifilis.Keywords: Heterobranchus longifilis, innate immune response, plant extract, Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Urban housing crisis and responses in Nigeria: the planners’ view point

Paper presented at the XXXIII IAHS World Congress on Housing, 27-30 September 2005,"Transforming Housing Environments through Design", University of Pretoria.The relevance of housing in urban and rural environment cannot be over-emphasised. It contributes to the attainment of physical and moral health of a nation, stimulates social stability, the work efficiency, and the development of the individuals. This paper attempts to examine the urban housing problem and responses in Nigeria. The paper explores the fundamental root cause of the housing problem in Nigeria. The past and contemporary official responses to the urban housing questions are critically examined. The paper asserts that previous responses to the housing problems had failed in Nigeria largely due to institutionalized mechanisms of decision making and implementation process. Finally the authors posit their viewpoints as a way of solving the urban housing problems in Nigeria. All correspondence to: Dr. L.M. Olayiwola Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Tel: 234833379719 E-mail: [email protected] of papers in the proceedings and CD-ROM ceded copyright to the IAHS and UP. Authors furthermore declare that papers are their original work, not previously published and take responsibility for copyrighted excerpts from other works, included in their papers with due acknowledgment in the written manuscript. Furthermore, that papers describe genuine research or review work, contain no defamatory or unlawful statements and do not infringe the rights of others. The IAHS and UP may assign any or all of its rights and obligations under this agreement