Human rights lawyer and activist, Comrade Deji Adeyanju, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to declare a state of emergency on Nigeria’s worsening housing and rental crisis, warning that millions of Nigerians are being pushed to the brink by soaring rents, exploitative landlords and unregulated estate agents.
In an open letter addressed to the President, the former Convener of Concerned Nigerians argued that the country’s housing crisis has become both a constitutional and human rights emergency that requires urgent federal intervention.
Adeyanju maintained that the current state of the housing sector violates the provisions of Sections 14 and 16 of the 1999 Constitution, which place the welfare of citizens and the provision of adequate shelter among the government’s fundamental responsibilities. He also cited Nigeria’s obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), stressing that housing is a fundamental human right and should not be treated merely as a speculative commodity.
Describing the rental market in Abuja, Lagos and other major cities as a “wild west,” the activist alleged that tenants are routinely subjected to excessive advance rent demands of up to three years, inflated agency and legal fees, arbitrary service charges and caution fees that are rarely refunded.
He warned that the worsening housing crisis is forcing many Nigerians deeper into poverty, encouraging corruption as workers struggle to meet rent demands and driving countless families into substandard accommodation. He further argued that many urban renewal projects have prioritised gentrification over the welfare of ordinary citizens, displacing low- and middle-income earners from areas close to their livelihoods.
Drawing comparisons with Ghana’s rent control framework and international best practices, Adeyanju urged the Federal Government to implement comprehensive reforms to protect tenants and regulate the rental market.
Among his key demands, he called on President Tinubu to:
Declare a state of emergency on housing and urban tenancy nationwide.
Establish a Presidential Task Force to produce a National Housing and Tenancy Policy within 90 days.
Ensure all urban renewal projects include mandatory quotas for affordable housing.
Cap combined agency and legal fees at 7.5 per cent of annual rent and service charges at five per cent.
Restrict landlords to collecting no more than one year’s rent in advance.
Ban and criminalise non-refundable caution fees.
Create a digital reporting platform for tenants to report abusive landlords and estate agents, backed by stiff sanctions for offenders.
Expand affordable public housing through increased government investment and public-private partnerships.
Adeyanju concluded by urging the President to act without delay, arguing that history would judge the Tinubu administration not only by its economic reforms but also by how effectively it safeguarded the dignity and welfare of ordinary Nigerians struggling under the country’s deepening housing crisis.
