Stakeholders in the building industry will this week attempt to tackle the 16 million-unit housing deficit in the country.
The occasion will be a summit powered by Nigerite limited, a leading building-component manufacturing company, in conjunction with Redwood Consulting, which will hold in Lagos.
The summit with the theme, ‘Bridging the 16 million national housing deficit: The Dry Construction Solution,’ will help create a new platform for discussion and education on the challenges of realising the dream of housing for all by the year 2020.
The Marketing Director, Nigerite, Mr. Toyin Gbede, said stakeholders at the summit would take a holistic look at the present challenges posed by wet construction and proffer appropriate solutions.
Presently, wet construction is in vogue in the country’s building and construction industry. The system, which is capital intensive, according to experts, does not hold much prospects for resolving the 16 million-unit national housing deficit, hence the need for collective efforts towards a search for a better option.
Gbede said, “The proposed summit will enable industry operators and practitioners to rub minds together and adopt alternative building processes, while also proffering a word of mouth solution on the benefits of dry construction in the sector.
“The summit is also intended to reveal and offer opportunity to compare the wide array of advantages of dry construction.”
Commenting on the summit, the Managing Partner, Redwood Consulting, Mr. Femi Olaiya, said it was no longer news that Nigeria had over the years suffered from the dearth of adequate housing due to the current building process, which is majorly wet construction.
“With a population of well over 160 million, and a deficit of over 16 million housing units already, we need a new construction technology that is faster and more reliable, not only to overcome the deficit, but to provide houses for all by the magic year of 2020. This is why we are facilitating the meeting of minds to consider dry construction as a possible alternative to what we have now.”
Facilitators at the forum, according to the statement are a renown Professor of Architecture, E. A. Adeyemi; past President, Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, Mr. Segun Ajanlekoko; President, Nigeria Institute of Building, Mr. Chuks Omeife; Principal Partner, Kenning Homes, Mr. David Majekodunmi; and Head, Department of Estate Management, University of Lagos, Prof. Olugbenga Nubi,.
Others are the Chairman, Nigerian Institute of Architects, Lagos State chapter, Mr. Ladi Lewis; Chairman, Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, Lagos State chapter, Mr. Olayemi Shonubi; Chief Executive Officer, Vantage Habitat, Mr. Taiwo Iluyomade; and Managing Director, Lange and Grant Commodities, Mr. Tunde Okoya.