Shelter is one of the most basic needs of man, second only to food and clothing, it is therefore sad that a lot of Nigerians cannot boast of adequate housing and the recent increase in the price of cement has further dwindled the chances of this happening. It came as a total shock to landlords, tenants, developers, contractors etc when the cement price was increased by about 44% in few days thereby increasing the retail price from #1,600 to #2,300.

The reasons for the increase in the price of cement are not farfetched, one of the most prevalent being the poor power supply that has become like the normal status quo in the country. The power situation is so bad in Nigeria that most cement plants have to generate their own power and this adds greatly to the cost of production, manufacturers have had to contend with dwindling capacity of their plants due to disruption in gas supply.

Secondly, the states of roads in Nigeria are deplorable, thereby adding to cost of transportation of the cement and more often than not, these manufacturers have no access to loans to purchase or import the machinery needed for the smooth operation of the plants.

Cement is one of the key requirements in building construction so the price of cement plays a key role in determining the number of houses that can be built and even after construction, the price in cement will, in no small measure, affect the cost of the accommodation price.

The new hike in cement price has lots of implications. Contractors will have to sit and renegotiate with their clients on on-going projects and people who are about to commence new construction projects will have to go back to their drawing board and review their costs.

If the price hike in cement persists for a long time, housing projects will be delayed with increase in the cost of accommodation units. This compounds the problem of affordable housing in the country because it will eventually trickle down to block manufacturers and other commodities suppliers. Developers might have no other choice than to limit housing construction activities and also increase rent prices just to stay afloat. The effect of low construction activities will invariably lead to laying off of construction workers and this further worsens the state of the economy.

To stem homelessness in Nigeria, there is an urgent need for government to channel resources into the provision of infrastructure, construction of roads, access to loans, etc.

Cement plays a big role in construction because without it, no good building can be constructed hence the recent hike must be looked into urgently if housing for all is to be achieved in Nigeria.