A human rights group, National Human Rights Commission has urged state
governments particularly Rivers and Lagos State governments to ensure that the
housing rights which are fundamental human rights of the citizens are
protected.

Chairman of the commission,
Chidi Odinkalu in a press statement stated that housing is fundamental human
rights that must be respected by every government.

According to him, “If
government will live up to its responsibility in ensuring that the housing
rights of the people is respected, then every effort must be made to provide
housing units in certain number every year.”

He said if government must
undertake development programme, even in urban renewal such that will involve
demolition of structures, that due process that will comply with international
human rights standards must be followed, as well as alternative living place be
provided.

Odinkalu expressed worries
over the state of affairs for those whose houses were demolished, without
having an alternative places for living, saying that communities affected by
the most recent instances of demolitions include those at the waterfronts in
Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Mpape in the Federal Capital Territory, and Maroko
in the Lagos waterfront, and that the number of people affected cumulatively is
said to be in hundreds of thousands or more.

He
said that most of the incidence of displacement without an alternative fell
heavily on the low income earners whose rights were not considered in terms of
housing.

The
human rights advocate therefore urged various governments to take the issue of
social housing more seriously, to ensure that the huge gap in the interplay of
demand and supply of housing are tackled.