Scarcity of affordable housing options in Abuja traps poor Nigerians in slums 

There is nothing royal about the area as you will find a cluster of crowded houses too congested for cross ventilation on a rocky, slovenly path that if the bike man carrying you is not careful enough, both of you may fall off the bike.

In this community is a single mother of about 31 years old, who stays in a single room with no kitchen and where she shares a toilet with her neighbours.

Ms Omi Ede is a single mother from Benue State in her early thirties, who works as a waitress in the Wuse area of Abuja and also runs a personal business.

She is a graduate and earns an average of N120,000 monthly from her regular job as a waitress and her aside business as a crocheter.

In a country battling with high inflation where many Nigerians spend most of their income on food, it is not surprising to find her staying in the Kings and Queens area of Bwari.

When asked how she ended up in the area, Ms Ede, said, “My budget could not get any house in town because of the agent fees, caution fees, and all of that. So, I had to come to Bwari, and I got something cheaper, something I could manage for now.” 

She added that rent in Abuja town is ‘’too outrageous” for someone like her, so she ended up at her current place, which costs her N50,000 annually.

To get a place like hers in town (although with kitchen and toilet included), one may require about N500,000 to N1.2 million as rent, aside from agent fees and other accompanying expenses.

This means that someone like Ms Ede will likely need to spend more than her annual salary to rent a self-contained single room in the Abuja megacity.

But if she does that, how would she feed herself and her 10-year-old daughter? How would she transport herself to work and cater for other basic needs?

So, staying in the Kings and Queens area seems ideal, even when she struggles with access to water as she has to pay truck pushers, popularly known as mai ruwa, to get water for bathing and house chores. With a house on a hill, she has to pay more every week for her and her daughter.

As she speaks with Naijaonpoint, you can observe the exhaustion in the slouch of her body circles of sadness around her eyes, and a kind of yearning for a better environment, a better life.

Every day, she lives in fear of either her or her child falling sick from the water, the source of which she does not know, or the pile of waste that litters her environment.

A stroll around King and Queens in the hot sun of the FCT shows evidence of poor waste management and open drainage systems, which contribute to pollution and environmental degradation in an overcrowding environment.

In the absence of an efficient public waste disposal system, residents of the area have turned to hiring itinerant refuse collectors. These collectors move from house to house, transporting waste in wheelbarrows, providing an informal yet essential service to manage the growing waste burden.

In the absence of an efficient public waste disposal system, residents of the area have turned to hiring itinerant refuse collectors. These collectors move from house to house, transporting waste in wheelbarrows, providing an informal yet essential service to manage the growing waste burden.

Speaking on this with concern congealed in her voice, Ms Ede said, “Waste disposal is difficult here. Most of the time, we have to wait for all these mallam that throw dustbins. I don’t know where they throw the dustbin. But they have a truck and go street to street, looking for people that want to throw their dirt. 

“So, if you are lucky to be at home the day they come, you will just pay money. Anyway, my environment isn’t clean. You know it is a trenches kind of place, so it is very very common to see dirt everywhere, especially when it rains. People tend to throw their dirt out when it rains so that the water brings it down. You know it is hilly, and this leaves everywhere messy after the rainfall.” 

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), poor waste collection contributes to both environmental and marine pollution, while also clogging water drains.

This blockage can lead to flooding and stagnant water, creating ideal conditions for diseases like cholera and vector-borne illnesses such as malaria and dengue. It added that environmental pollution and other environmental risks lead to nearly a quarter of the worldwide disease burden.

This puts the lives of Ms Ede, her daughter and those living in places like Kings and Queens at great risk of diseases.

Uncomfortable with her stark reality, Ms Ede had hoped to move out of the house this year, but she noted that it is no longer possible for her as she can barely afford the high costs of houses in town.

Ms Ede’s case is not uncommon in the capital city, where the high cost of rent in formal housing markets has forced over 60% of the population to live in informal settlements in places like Mpape, Kpaduma, Daki Biu, Kabusa, Apo Duste and Bwari.

These areas are characterised by overcrowding, poor sanitation, and lack of basic amenities, which put dwellers at great risk of frequent health issues like cholera and respiratory diseases.

For Mrs Oluchi Eze, wife of a struggling pastor, who stays in an uncompleted building with six children in Sheriti Village, Kabusa, all she prays for is enough money for a better house and food for her family, even as her children constantly fall ill due to malaria or typhoid.

Jobless and uneducated, she goes around Abuja begging to support her family, risking getting arrested as the Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike has threatened to arrest street beggars in the city. Her husband has no other job but the work of God, which he does roaming the streets with his loud voice to win souls for Christ as his family struggles to survive.

Before ending up in an uncompleted building in a slum in Kabusa, the family was paying N250,000 for a one-bedroom apartment in the same area, where they have lived for over six years. But they were eventually evicted as they were unable to pay the rent, and now they battle sun and rain in an uncompleted building, relying on prayers and self-medication to deal with any health challenge.

With a worn-out face and body looking malnourished, she lamented, “rain beats us, we are just suffering. After it rains, we bring our foam to dry as the sun is coming. It has not been easy at all.” 

This family also struggles to get water, as she said, “no water there o. I will carry my gallons and trek to where they are selling water and buy.” Her children also supported her in fetching water from a distant borehole, which they used to cater to their necessary needs.

Affordable housing is crucial in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) globally, even in Nigeria. It is about six years to 2030, which is the target year under SDG 11 to ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums.

The hope of achieving this goal may become a mirage day by day as many struggling Nigerians like Ms Ede and Mrs Eze remain trapped in slums, unable to afford a decent house for their families.

But as seen in the stories of Kings and Queens and Sheriti, it is not only the SDG 11 target that may be a mirage, as the health, sanitation and environment targets might not be met.

Abuja is responsible for at least 10% of the housing deficit in the country, which stands at 17 million, with the likelihood of the figure increasing to 22 million by 2030.

The average cost of a three-bedroom flat in highbrow areas like Maitama, Asokoro, Wuse, and Jabi ranges from N4 million to N6 million per annum, while one-bedroom apartments are priced between N1.5 million and N2 million annually.

In contrast, satellite towns such as Mpape, Katampe, Lugbe, Karmo-Dape, Gwagwa, and Gishiri, among others offer more affordable options, with three-bedroom flats costing between N700,000 and N1.5 million, and one-bedroom apartments averaging N500,000 annually.

However, the steep cost of rent in Abuja has driven many to erect makeshift homes, resulting in the proliferation of shanty towns that disrupt the city’s master plan.

This housing crisis has contributed significantly to Abuja’s deficit, forcing many residents to live in slums or face homelessness, while numerous high-end houses remain vacant, deteriorating in upscale areas due to being priced out of reach for the average resident.

Developers and property owners often aim to attract only high-net-worth tenants, such as those in the oil and gas sector, corporate executives, expatriates, and celebrities. This leaves out a large segment of the rental market that could afford the rent but doesn’t meet the specific criteria set by these landlords.

The ripple effect is evident in increased traffic congestion, as residents from satellite towns commute daily into the city centre. Abuja’s housing deficit currently stands between 1.7 million and 2 million units, with authorities identifying over 600 abandoned buildings—most notably in Gwarimpa, Wuse, Garki, Maitama, Asokoro, and Apo.

Abuja is widely regarded as Nigeria’s most meticulously planned city. While authorities in the FCT attribute the rising number of slums to the unexpected population surge, which has led to the overstretching of the city’s infrastructure beyond its original capacity, housing experts say the economy has a role to play in the expansion of slums in the capital city.