Руководитель Fame Oyster & Co. призвал правительство отказаться от регулирования цен на цемент и реформировать стройиндустрию

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Fame Oyster & Co., Mr Olufemi Oyedele, has urged the Federal Government to abandon attempts to regulate cement prices, arguing that Nigeria’s housing crisis is rooted in a faulty building production system rather than the activities of cement manufacturers. Oyedele’s position comes amid growing calls for the relevant committees of the National Assembly to summon cement manufacturers, regulators and distributors to explain the pricing chain following the sharp increase in the price of cement. A 50-kilogramme bag of cement currently sells for about N15,000 in some markets, adding to the cost pressures confronting prospective homeowners and developers amid Nigeria’s huge housing deficit. But Oyedele said regulating the price of cement without addressing the country’s overdependence on the material could prove counterproductive. “Our problem is not the cement manufacturers but the fact that our building production system is wrong,” he said. He called on the government to establish a committee to examine alternative building materials and construction technologies that could reduce Nigerians’ dependence on cement. According to him, Nigeria has abundant natural resources and construction waste that could be converted into affordable building materials, but these opportunities remain largely untapped. Oyedele said the country’s dependence on sandcrete blocks, which are mainly produced from Portland cement, had contributed significantly to the rising cost of building construction. He urged stakeholders to look beyond cement and explore materials that are cheaper, locally available and environmentally sustainable. He cited the United States, where materials such as natural wood siding, brick masonry, vinyl siding, fibre-cement siding, stone, metal siding and composite cladding are widely used in building construction. READ ALSO:  FCCPC and the suspected cement price manipulators He said Nigeria could similarly develop and promote alternative materials suited to its environment and local resources. Oyedele also identified construction and demolition waste as a major opportunity for reducing building costs. He said a large proportion of materials generated as waste on Nigerian construction sites could be recovered, processed and reused instead of being dumped. “While a serious prospective homeowner can conveniently build a two-bedroom flat from construction waste around Nigeria, demolition waste is not recycled or reused for construction,” he said. He estimated that about 34 per cent of construction costs in Nigeria goes into construction waste, describing the situation as a major source of inefficiency in the industry. He cited construction waste dumps at Oniru in Victoria Island, Lagos, and the Ogere Industrial Area along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway as examples of the enormous quantity of waste generated by the construction sector. According to him, Nigeria is lagging behind countries where construction waste is increasingly being recycled and incorporated into new projects. While 90 percent of harvested waste materials on a site in Scotland, UK, for example, are reused for building construction, less than five per cent is reused in Nigeria, he said. Oyedele further urged the government and construction professionals to exploit Nigeria’s natural building materials. He pointed to Patti shale, which is common around Lokoja in Kogi State, as a material that could be cut into bricks for construction. He also noted that clay deposits in parts of Niger State could be baked into bricks, while granite available in the South-West could be processed into building blocks. He said countries such as Malta had successfully incorporated locally available materials into their traditional construction systems, citing Maltese limestone, also known as Globigerina limestone, as an example. The real estate expert argued that greater utilisation of alternative materials would not only reduce pressure on cement prices but could also stimulate new industries, create jobs and reduce the overall cost of housing. He therefore urged the Federal Government to broaden its housing policy beyond cement-price regulation and focus on reforming the entire building production process. With Nigeria facing a severe housing shortage, Oyedele said the government needed to encourage innovation, recycling and the development of alternative building materials if affordable housing was to become a reality for millions of Nigerians. He maintained that tackling the structural weaknesses in the construction sector, rather than simply controlling the price of cement, would provide a more sustainable solution to the countrys housing affordability crisis. WATCH TOP VIDEOS FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE TV Relationship Hangout: Public vs Private Proposals – Which Truly Wins in Love? “No” Is a Complete Sentence: Why You Should Stop Feeling Guilty Relationship Hangout: Friendship Talk 2025 – How to Be a Good Friend & Big Questions on Friendship Police Overpower Armed Robbers in Ibadan After Fierce Struggle Get real-time news updates from Tribune Online! Follow us on WhatsApp for breaking news, exclusive stories and interviews, and much more. Join our WhatsApp Channel now