🚨 LAGOS HAS A HOUSING CRISIS, AND TELLING YOUNG PEOPLE TO LIVE WITH THEIR PARENTS IS NOT THE SOLUTION!
Lagos Deputy Governor (KOH) reportedly advised young workers and recent graduates to live with their parents or relatives, or share accommodation, rather than rush into expensive apartments they cannot afford.
His advice has a financial logic: young people should avoid spending excessively on rent.
But here is the bigger problem: WHO WILL SOLVE THE HOUSING DEFICIT?
When a young graduate gets a job but cannot afford a decent apartment, the problem goes beyond personal financial management. It also raises questions about housing supply, rental affordability, wages and urban planning.
Telling young people to share accommodation may help them cope, but it does not:
❌ Build more affordable homes.
❌ Reduce construction costs.
❌ Increase the supply of reasonably priced rental apartments.
❌ Make serviced land and housing finance more accessible.
As Lagos approaches the 2027 governorship election, voters deserve answers from every candidate.
Where is the plan to increase affordable housing supply? How will private developers be encouraged to build for lower-income earners? What will be done about planning costs, infrastructure and access to long-term mortgages?
Hamzat's proposed mortgage initiatives and housing projects deserve scrutiny too. The real test is not the announcement—it is how many affordable homes are actually completed and occupied.
Young Nigerians should learn financial discipline. But they should not have to wait indefinitely for decent housing simply because they are young.
Lagos needs more than advice on how to cope with its housing crisis. It needs a practical, measurable plan to solve it.
What do you think? Is telling young workers to live with their parents a sensible temporary measure—or an inadequate response to Lagos's housing crisis?
Back
