REAL ESTATE MARKETERS AND CONSULTANTS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA · OFFICIAL STATEMENT
Open Appeal to the Presidency
President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigerians Are Losing Their Right to a Home.
REMCAN calls on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to confront Nigeria's housing crisis before it becomes a catastrophe an entire generation cannot recover from.
By Nnamani Ebuka Collins · President, REMCAN · May 2025
Shelter is not a privilege. It is not a reward for the wealthy or a luxury reserved for those who can afford to wait. Shelter is a fundamental human right as basic as food, as essential as air. And yet, in Nigeria today, millions of our people cannot afford a decent place to lay their heads. That is not a statistic. That is a national shame that demands presidential attention.
The Real Estate Marketers and Consultants Association of Nigeria (REMCAN) comes before the Nigerian public and before Your Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, with one urgent, unambiguous message: the housing crisis in Nigeria is not waiting for a committee report. It is worsening by the day. Families are being displaced. Communities are fracturing. And the system, as it stands, is designed whether by intent or neglect to enrich the few at the expense of the many.
— THE HUMAN COST —
Walk through Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano, Enugu and behind every gleaming high-rise development is a neighbourhood that has been quietly hollowed out. Landlords tripling rents overnight. Young professionals forced to share a single room among four. Families relocating to the fringes of cities, adding hours to their daily commute, simply because they cannot afford to live near where they work. This is not growth. This is displacement with a polished face.
Nigeria is not alone in facing this challenge. Brazil once stood where Nigeria stands today a nation with staggering housing inequality, where informal settlements swelled and the market served only those who already had wealth. The difference is that Brazil's government chose to act. Through deliberate policy, social housing programmes, and mortgage reform for low-income earners, Brazil began to close the gap. Nigeria can do the same. But first, Nigeria must decide it is a priority worthy of the highest office in the land.
"The current real estate system is making the rich richer while the average Nigerian is pushed further and further from the dream of owning or even renting a decent home." — Nnamani Ebuka Collins, President, REMCAN
— WE ARE AFFECTED TOO —
REMCAN speaks not only on behalf of the Nigerian public but on behalf of our own members, thousands of real estate professionals whose livelihoods depend on a functioning, fair market. Our members are marketers, consultants, and agents who dedicate their lives to helping Nigerians find homes. We are not speculators. We do not build or own these properties. We simply try to connect people with places they can call home.
And increasingly, we cannot do our jobs. When a client asks us to justify why a two-bedroom flat in a modest neighbourhood costs what it costs we have no answer that makes sense. We cannot defend prices that have become completely detached from the reality of Nigerian incomes. We are losing clients. We are losing trust. We are losing income. And every evening, like every other Nigerian, we return home to our own families and our own responsibilities, carrying the weight of an industry the government has left to drift without direction.
— REMCAN'S CALL TO PRESIDENT TINUBU —
We respectfully but urgently call on the Presidency to act on the following:
Declare a Housing Emergency. Elevate the housing crisis to the level of national priority it deserves, with a presidential task force that reports directly to the Presidency.
Reform Land Title Systems. Mandate all states to adopt transparent, digitised land administration — removing the bureaucratic rot that inflates property costs and enables fraud.
Extend Mortgages to the Informal Economy. Design and fund mortgage products accessible to market traders, artisans, and informal workers — the majority of Nigerians — not just salaried employees.
Build Social and Affordable Housing at Scale. Partner with state governments and the private sector to deliver housing that ordinary Nigerians can actually afford to rent and own.
Regulate the Market. Protect renters from arbitrary and exploitative rent increases through a clear, enforceable national housing policy framework.
Mr. President, housing is not a partisan issue. It is not a southern or northern issue. Every Nigerian regardless of tribe, religion, or political affiliation deserves a safe and dignified place to call home. That is the promise a government owes its people. That is the promise REMCAN is calling on you to honour.
"We are not asking for the impossible. We are asking for the will to begin. Nigeria's housing crisis will not solve itself but with the right leadership, it can be solved."
Nnamani Ebuka Collins President, Real Estate Marketers and Consultants Association of Nigeria (REMCAN) On behalf of all Members