Developers in the built industry have rejected the agreement reached between the Federal Government and cement manufacturers.

At the meeting, it was resolved that prices of cement will be reduced to between N7,000 and N8,000.

In an exclusive interview with The PUNCH, the President of the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria, Dr. Aliyu Wamakko, said the reduction was not good for the economy.

He said, “I do not think that is good for the economy of this country because cement constitutes the primary product for any building construction to be done.

“The Chief Executive Officer of BUA Cement, Abdul Samad Rabiu, promised Nigerians that by January 1, 2024, the cement price would be slashed to N3,500, so what is the problem.”

According to him, most of the components of cement are sourced locally.

“Why should the price be reduced to N8,000? Anything above N5,000 is not beneficial for the economy and it would not bring any positive impact towards the reduction in the 28 million housing deficit,” he added.

Wamakko noted that the price should be brought down to N5,000 for any meaningful thing to be done.

He added, “At N8,000, most of the building projects in the country would be uncompleted. There must be a review of abandoned buildings all over the country, most especially the ones in 2023.

“90 per cent of cement is sourced locally, so I do not understand why the cement should go up to that price.”

In a similar vein, the Executive Secretary, Association of Housing Corporation in Nigeria, Toye Eniola, condemned the negotiation.

He said, “What is fair in N7,000 to N8,000, when BUA promised us a slash from over N5,500 to N3,500 and now they are negotiating N8,000? Where are we heading to?

“That negotiation is for the rich. What they are saying is with that price, housing is going not to be for the poor. With that price, there is no poor man that would be able to afford it and it would keep widening the deficit gap.

“The way forward is to go back to the basics, this is the time to embrace local building materials, for instance, we have interlocking blocks and we require about 5 per cent of cement for this which would save us a lot of money.

“Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute has done a lot of research on alternative building materials that can be used in Nigeria, for instance, they have done research on the use of bamboo as an alternative to the iron rod.”

Eniola said it was high time the country began to embrace local building materials as opposed to imported ones dictated by forex.

Also, the Chief Executive Officer, Cromwell Professional Services International Limited, Sola Enitan, said the reduction was poor.

He said, “The reduction Is still not it, the manufacturers may think they are saving people money, but it is all bullshit as far as I am concerned.

“In one month, cement moved from N5,000 to N8,000, I believe that the government would begin to feel the pinch further, because the circle goes round.”

According to him, if people are not able to build housing, and there’s an increment in rent, the later part of 2024 and 2025 would be very harsh.

He added, “Rents would go up, intervention areas of government would be to build all their bungalows without cement and use cement sparingly, so that the cement manufacturers took would feel the pinch.”

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer, Octo5 Holdings, Jide Odusolu, queried the slash in cement price earlier promised by BUA cement.

He said, “BUA made audio promises, I would like to see who or where they supplied cement at N3,500 per bag – we never got it and we tried!

“Low-income earners ought to benefit from government-funded (not built) social housing stock.”

He added, “Reading the post-meeting report, it would seem they blamed the cost of gas, bad roads, and cost of transport. Personally, the only new element that is possibly defensible is the gas cost.

“The government should engage Nigerian Gas Company and other gas producers to design a mechanism for benchmarking gas for local use in naira.

“It makes no sense that a nation that still flares gas in 2024 still makes it too expensive for urgently required local production. Secondly, we must move from reliance on bagged cement and start producing concrete.”

Cement Manufacturers had on Monday agreed to sell a 50kg bag of cement at a retail price between N7,000 and N8,000, depending on location nationwide.

“The cement manufacturers, however, asked the government to address the challenges of gas shortage, import duty, smuggling, and road network,” they said in a statement. (The PUNCH)

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