A house does not make a home. It takes more than a building to make a home. But without a building, there can be no home and when a person is without a building where they can make their home, that person is said to be homeless.
Homelessness goes to the heart of poverty. When a person does not eat constantly or has a few clothes, it is easier to get by. The real challenge comes when shelter is ripped off the person’s head, and they have to live life on the streets, exposed to the elements day and night.
For what is does and represents, homelessness is simply one of the most heartbreaking situations anyone can encounter. A country without an adequate and dignified housing program stemming and streaming out of proper planning is one which enlists for homelessness. When a country fails to plan for its growth, especially preparing for how growth will mean demands for more houses, it simply prepares its citizens for the streets.
With the rainy season gradually setting in, the rain, wind, cold and living things the season shakes out of their abode will abundantly remind the homeless that they lack one of life’s basics. They will be reminded in stark, watery language that they belong to the precipice of Nigeria where life is unpredictable and uncharitable.
With the impending rains set to expose families to the elements, the homeless will feel the pinch and rue the citizenship of a country that has left them to be pounded by the rains.
In Nigeria, drawing from global indicators, the markers of poverty are many. Put simply, they manifest more in chronic lack of the basics of life, which are food, clothing, and shelter. About a hundred million Nigerians who live below the international poverty line lack these basics in addition to coming short on education, healthcare and financial inclusion. This is what it really means to be poor.
Why are many Nigerians still homeless or living in houses that are ordinarily unfit for human habitation? Why are there still so many people cut off from sustainable and affordable housing despite the government’s many promises to tackle the problem?
Nigeria’s housing crisis has been around for a while. It is a much an infrastructure crisis as it is a social and human crisis. Any solutions must be integrated and tailored towards achieving maximum results, which would include taking people off the streets and giving them dignified shelter.
This would only be a first step in solving the multitude of problems that homelessness breeds. To tackle the problem of chronic homelessness, the government should take the lead while seeking active collaboration with the private sector and philanthropists.
This is an urgent task because the fewer the homeless people it has, the faster it can move towards a crime-free, clean society where people live with dignity.
There is a need to provide adequate and affordable housing for those who are homeless already and those who are in danger of becoming homeless.
Tackling homelessness is a matter of justice. It deserves all the attention necessary.
Kene Obiezu,
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