By Matthew Denis

The President Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s Administration has geared towards focusing on boosting the Natural Gas (CNG) in the ecosystem which is a gradual shift away from the petrol dominated economy.

This development has offered a veritable opportunity for the federal government to encourage the use of gas, particularly Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), which is cheaper and more friendly to the environment.

Though both natural gas and petrol are fossil fuels, gas is less carbon-intensive than other fossil fuels, which emit much carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) that cause indoor and outdoor pollution.

Apart from making the environment more acidic, the combustion of petrol and other high carbon-intensive fossil fuels also causes respiratory problems such as asthma.

Nigeria targets the deepening of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) usage in the country, eying as much as five million metric tonnes consumption per annum by 2023.

In its bid to actualise the target, the government has promised to continue to support the LPG industry with fiscal policies and incentives.

But with the desire to deepen usage in the country is another challenge that many say must be confronted with greater vigour.

The spate of gas explosions across the country is a cause of concern for many, which regulatory bodies, however, are also not unmindful of.

Just four days into the new year, tragedy struck at Sabon Tasha in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State where a gas explosion occurred.

The afternoon gas explosion left six people dead, including the Director General of the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission, Prof. Simon Mallam, and destroyed property valued at millions of naira.

On Feb. 2, at least seven persons were injured and property worth millions of naira were destroyed after a cooking gas cylinder exploded and kindled a fire in Onitsha.

A nationwide survey conducted revealed concerns across the country, by consumers, retailers and even regulatory bodies.

Opinions are diverse on all sides as to what has been left undone and what needs to be done better to reverse the tide and curb avoidable losses.

Users of domestic Liquefied Petroleum Gas (also called cooking gas) in the South East called on regulatory agencies to beef up awareness campaigns on its proper use.

Just recently, the Ogun State Government has sealed off Gasco Marine Ltd, the company whose truck was involved in an accident that caused an explosion in the Ita-Oshin area of Abeokuta North Local Government Area on Saturday.

Addressing journalists after sealing off the premises of the company located at Onijoganjogan, Abeokuta, the Senior Special Assistant to the Ogun State Governor on Environment and chairperson, Special Task Force on Environmental Matters, Farouq Akintunde, said the accident occurred due to the negligence of the company.

“Two days ago, Ogun State was in a tumult with the news of a fire incident that occurred around Ita-Oshin. We can authoritatively confirm that the truck that was involved in that fire is from this company.

“It was a sorry case because it involved loss of life and destruction of properties. Our preliminary investigation shows that it was due to an act of negligence from the company as they did not do the needful as regards the truck.

“As a regulatory body which is in control of all these matters, we believe there is a need for us to conduct safety and audit tests on all their trucks to prevent future occurrence. In doing so, we have to shut down the premises. After that, all other procedures will follow.”

In a proactive step towards ending the menace of gas expulsion, The Federal Government says it will stop granting licences to gas companies with no capacity to build pipelines for gas distribution.

This, the government said, became necessary to discourage the transportation of compressed natural gas through the roads. The Minister of State for Petroleum (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, made this disclosure when he was in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital on Wednesday.Ekpo had visited Abeokuta for an on-the-spot assessment of Saturday’s CNG explosion at Ita Oshin.

…Harps on swift implementation of new minimum wage as previous one expires April 183

By Sodiq Adelakun

In a move to clarify its demand for a new monthly minimum wage of N615,000, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has released a detailed breakdown of the expenses that inform its proposal.

According to a statement released on the NLC official X (formerly Twitter) account on Friday, the estimated monthly expenses for an average Nigerian worker reveals the harsh economic realities faced by workers in the country.

The breakdown revealed that housing and accommodation expenses amount to N40,000, while electricity and power expenses are N20,000. Utility water expenses are N10,000, and kerosene and gas expenses are N35,000. Food expenses, calculated at N9,000 per month for a family of four, amount to a staggering N270,000. Medical expenses are estimated at N50,000, while clothing expenses are N20,000. Education expenses are N50,000, sanitation expenses are N10,000, and transportation expenses are N110,000.

This revelation comes as no surprise, given the NLC’s stance that the current minimum wage of N30,000, signed by former President Muhammadu Buhari, can no longer cater for the wellbeing of an average Nigerian worker.

The union’s demand for a new minimum wage is based on the dire reality of workers’ expenses, which far exceed the current wage.

Recall that President Bola Tinubu while speaking as the Special Guest of Honour at the 2024 Workers Day celebration on Wednesday brought a message of hope and relief, declaring that their days of worrying are finally over.

He hinted at his administration’s willingness to introduce a national living wage, a move that could revolutionize the lives of millions of workers across the country.

He said, “The committee’s mandate was to provide counsel and suggest a national minimum wage that aligns with our current economic conditions. Since then, the committee, in collaboration with labour leaders, has been diligently working towards proposing a new National Minimum Wage.”

According to the Statement by NLC, “It has become imperative at this point that we inform Nigerians who may not have already known the foundations upon which our initial demand for a N615,000 (Six Hundred and Fifteen Thousand Naira) new National Minimum Wage is based upon.

“The figure was a product of a painstaking effort through which we captured the cost of living of Nigerian workers and masses in all parts of the country.

“It was essentially an outcome of an independent research conducted by the NLC and TUC on the cost of meeting the primary needs of an average family around the country.

“Our research was based on a family with both parents alive and four children without the burden of having other dependents with them.

According to the recent statement released by NLC, “A questionnaire was designed and sent to all the State Councils of NLC and TUC from where these questionnaires were sent to our members in all the Local government areas in the country to gather the monthly cost of living for the average family as described above.

“Below is a summary of our findings and we hope that this will enable Nigerians to understand what propels our demand so that better clarity is made to create better engagement around the ongoing National Minimum Wage negotiation process.

“However, it should also be noted that we have not included things like expenditure on calls and data, offerings in churches and Mosques, community dues, entertainment, savings and Security etc.

“These are therefore just for the bare necessities. It should be noted that we arrived at this figure before the increase in electricity tariff and the recent scarcity of Petrol across the nation leading to the appearance of long queues with attendant increased transport fares.”

Meanwhile, the NLC called on the government to meet its demand for a new national minimum wage, warning that any further delay could have negative consequences.

He noted that the previous minimum wage expired on April 18, 2024, and a new one should have taken effect the next day.

However, due to the government’s failure to initiate negotiations six months prior to the expiration of the existing wage, as required by law, the process has been delayed.

Ajaero expressed the union’s understanding and sacrifice in making reasonable demands, urging social partners to accept the proposed figure without delay.

He also appealed to well-meaning Nigerians to join in calling on the government and to meet their demands, emphasising the importance of justice, equity, and national development.

By Fatai Kasali

According to the Collins English dictionary, housing deficits is a deficiency or lack in the number of houses needed to accommodate the population of an area.

Housing deficit also refers to the number of shelters which do not have adequate conditions to be habitable, plus the number of housing units that need to be built to shelter all families who currently lack one and as a result, share a shelter with another household in overcrowded conditions (Caros, 2012).

It can also be measured as the difference between the number of households and the number of permanent dwellings.

.The deficit can be estimated for a given period of time (flow), for example, an annual deficit, or it can be at a given date in which case it is sometimes referred to as housing backlog (stock). It has been estimated that 75.0 percent of the housing deficit in Nigeria is concentrated in families earning less than three times the minimum wage (World Bank 2013).

It is pertinent to note that like food and clothing, housing ranks first among the three [3] basic human needs. Its availability is very crucial to the

welfare of every human

The performance of the housing sector is one of the yardsticks by which the health of a nation is measured. Housing markets and housing construction in various economies have served as an engine of growth.

The housing sector has typically played a leading role in the process of economic recovery from depression.

Housing construction has also played an important role in urban economies of developing countries by creating employment, especially for unskilled Labour. The construction and house building industries have both constituted a “port of entry” to the urban labour market.

One of the major problem confronting Lagos State is the problem of providing shelter for the people living in the state

According to the Heinrich Boell Foundation, the housing deficit in Lagos sits at over 3 million, at the same time housing is getting more expensive and out of reach to the low and medium-income earners.

At the Conference of Directors of Lands in the Federal and State Ministries, Departments and Agencies, held in Lagos. The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has expressed worries over the increasing housing deficit in the state, which he said is currently at 17 million.

The Governor said of Nigeria’s 28 million housing gap, Lagos stood at a 17 million deficit, with an estimated 500,000 people migrating into Lagos annually.

It is pertinent to address the housing gap in the state with credence to the burning national issues. The growing housing deficit in Nigeria has risen from seven million in 1991 to an estimated 28 million in 2023.

Some notable efforts have been put in place to address this housing deficit in Lagos State.

One of such was the mass housing scheme projects across the state that are under construction through the Ministry of Housing/LagosHOMS, Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC), and Private Sector Participation.

Under this arrangement, individuals are required to pay five percent of the cost of the housing unit as a commitment fee with 30 percent of the cost of the choice property.

At the same time, the remainder will be spread throughout 10 years’ minimum tenure and a maximum of 20 years, which has produced over 1,752 family beneficiaries from the Rent-to-Own Policy.

Under the policy the owner or occupier of such a residence is expected to live there but not to be rented out. Apart from the Lagos State efforts to solve the housing deficit, more stakeholders in the housing industries have also expressed worries.

One such worries was the demolition exercise embarked upon by the Lagos state government which some seen as witch hunting exercise to deal with some set of people who are not in terdem with the policies put in place by the current administration of governor Babajide Sanwo olu

In swift reaction to counter such fallacy, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Housing, Barakat Odunuga-Bakare faulted the argument that most demolition exercises arise due to not obtaining the proper documents, approval, permits, and permit certificates from relevant ministries, agencies, and parastatals at every stage of the building process. She said some people built canals, which are unsafe for the environment.

Some dubious Nigerians under the disguise of a real estate agent have been scamming innocent citizens in the state promising to provide shelter for them where there is none.

Those who fell victims were made to cough out huge amount of money in the desperate need to secure adequate shelter for them

Recently, the Lagos State Government uncovered some rooms partitions with planks under the bridges in Lagos

According to the Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, “A total number of 86 rooms, partitioned into 10×10 and 12×10, and a container used for different illegal activities, were discovered under the Dolphin Estate bridge.”

Squatters in the room were believed to have been paying an average rent of N250,000 per annum.

Another illegal settlement was discovered under the Osborne bridge, Ikoyi. Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps #LAGESCOfficial (KAI) commenced an immediate clearance operation.

This does not portray a good image of a state like Lagos considered the centre of excellence, more still needs to be done.

According to Enisan Ologbenga Ogundiran Adekemi of the Department of Urban Regional Planning, Federal University of Technology, Akure. If Lagos State were to develop efficient strategies to encourage the private sector to develop just 1 million quality housing units in quality housing estates at market prices of about N16.5 Million each, and then adopt good property tax models as in the developed countries, then a unified property tax rate of 2.5 percent per annum for the new housing units will yield N412.50 Billion per annum to the State/Local Governments.

That is more than the entire Lagos State 2009 budget of N405 Billion, including the state’s share from the federation account. It is not by accident to note that Nigeria’s largest city Lagos is facing a housing crisis.

Affordable housing is a considerable challenge for urban areas with large populations, and this is particularly prevalent in Nigeria’s city of Lagos.

More than 500,000 people move to the city every year, and across Nigeria, there is already a housing deficit of more than 17 million units.

There are ongoing projects of varying scale trying to address the shortage; one is reclaiming land from the Atlantic Ocean to build a new city suburb called Eko Atlantic on the shores of Victoria Island.