Professionals advocate advancement of local building materials

For reasons that range from weak national currency against the foreign ones, especially, the American dollar, the quest for technological advancement, revitalisation of the economy and empowerment of  Nigerian professionals, among others, the need for the development of local contents, especially building materials, has become subject of discussions in the recent times.

To the professionals in the construction industry, things  will remain in the doldrums, except government at all levels and operators in the industry, as a matter of urgency, mandate the adoption of local building materials in Nigeria.

This position was canvassed by the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS), Lagos Chapter, at their Ninth Annual Distinguished Lecture, held in Lagos, recently.

From the event’s theme: “Foreign Exchange Problems, Prospects and Solutions In Nigeria: Construction Industry Perspective”, quantity surveyors urged both the authorities and stakeholders to earnestly promote the use of local building materials in the nation’s construction industry.

In his paper titled: “For The Successful Resolution Of Oppressive Contradictions In Nigeria’s Economy”, Mr Henry Boyo, a renowned economist, was of the view that it was no longer in doubt that Nigeria was passing through serious economic turbulence, asking: “Why have we become so poor despite our abundant human and material resources?”

Providing a response, Boyo stated that from a readily available evidence and in a twist of irony, there was an indication that the fundamental cause of Nigeria’s present distressed economy and precariously sliding Naira exchange rate was undeniably that of “too much money supply,” in both the Nigerian currency and foreign exchange terms.

He added that inability of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN),  to successfully manage an irrepressible surplus Naira supply, has continued to drive higher inflation rates for several years, with serious consequences for the purchasing power of all Naira incomes, consumer demand, productivity, investment and social welfare.

“Declaring inflation as an economic ravager”, Boyo said, “the nation’s economy will never flourish as long as the custodian of Naira, the Central Bank of Nigeria, persistently auctions rations of dollars against the Naira, in a money market that is undeniably suffocated with excess Naira supply created by CBN’s unilateral substitution of Naira allocations for distributable dollar denominated revenue.

“Thus, CBN’s forex interventions are in fact deliberate and suicidal approach to gradually kill the Naira, since the CBN would consciously sell its dollar stock for higher Naira bids in such auctions. Nonetheless, despite over 15 years of this writer’s advocacy against this clearly deliberate enemy action, it is still business as usual, and the banks flourish, while the rest of the economy wrestles with deepening poverty.” He argued.

Earlier in his address, the NIQS Chairman,  Mr.BamideleMafimidiwo, said that for professionals in the construction industry, Forex problems have caused a dramatic disruption to business activities.

According to Mafimidiwo,  with the economic recession, new construction projects were grounded to a halt, leaving builders and suppliers in difficult financial positions.

To transform the economy and boost industrial activity, NIQS boss said that the need for a fundamental restructuring of Nigeria’s monetary framework could not be over-emphasized.

“Construction, housing, infrastructure, manufacturing, mortgage and other business activities of tangible outputs represent the construction industry and today’s forum is to provide a platform to x-ray the industry viz-a-viz the meltdown effects and chart a way forward for the sector.”

Notwithstanding the conundrum, leaders of NIQS said the use of local materials for construction projects was the way out.

A former President of the NIQS, Mr. OluwasegunAjanlekoko, said with the use of local materials, importation would be reduced to the barest minimum.  “It is about time we stopped using blocks when it comes to affordable housing.  We have large reservoir of clay and that is far cheaper, durable and more environment friendly.  To solve the problems of exchange rate, we are appealing to CBN to give discretionary interest rates to those in the construction industry.

Similarly, Executive Director, UACN Property Development Company Plc., (UPDC), Mr. Hakeem Oguniran, said the forex challenge affected Grade A and B residential projects, saying the government should encourage building most of finished products locally.

“Government should encourage production of most of our finishing materials locally.  We also need to come up with efficient designs, as it is clear that banks are not ready to finance any real estate project.”

However, President, Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) Dr. Bola Ajayi-Patunola, was of the conviction that the problem of forex has both national and international collusion, making  it difficult to address, stating that the onus lies on the construction industry professionals to pay more attention to the economy.