….says Nigerians getting more frustrated By Gabriel Ewepu As hardship bites harder, human rights lawyer Deji Adeyanju on Monday wrote an open letter demanding President Bola Tinubu declare a state of emergency in the housing sector over high and unbearable rents crushing Nigerians. Adeyanju, who signed the letter dated July 27, 2026, with ‘Subject: Declaration of a State of Emergency on the Housing and Rental Crisis in Nigeria: A Demand for Immediate Constitutional Intervention, Inclusive Urban Renewal’, lamented the negative impact high rents by landlords are having on the well-being of Nigerians. He said, “The current state of housing governance in Nigeria stands in stark contradiction to the supreme law of our land.
I draw your attention to Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), which explicitly mandates that: ‘The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.’ “Furthermore, under Section 16(1)(b) and Section 16(2)(d) within the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy, the Nigerian State is constitutionally bound to direct its policy toward ensuring that ‘suitable and adequate shelter… are provided for all citizens’ and that ‘the economic system is not operated in such a manner as to permit the concentration of wealth or the means of production and exchange in the hands of few individuals or of a group.’ “When shelter becomes an instrument of extortion, the government abdicates its primary purpose. Under international human rights law – specifically Article 11(1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), to which Nigeria is a signatory – the right to adequate housing is recognized as an integral component of the right to an adequate standard of living. “As the UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing has repeatedly declared, housing must be treated as a social good, not a speculative financial asset.
“On the reality on ground including exploitation and inclusive urban renewal, in Abuja and Lagos, the rental market has degenerated into an absolute wild west. Middle-income earners, civil servants, young professionals, and vulnerable families are routinely extorted by opportunistic landlords, real estate speculators, and unregulated estate agents. “Tenants are forced to pay exorbitant upfront demands – often two…
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