In 2019, 45-year-old Barnabas Benjamin lived with his wife and seven children in Yelewata, a district of Benue, one of Nigeria's north-central states that depend on agriculture for their livelihoods.
Fulani nomadic herders were beginning to graze their cattle on their crops, the crops had failed and their incomes had dwindled.
In the community, it was said that the government was trying to negotiate with the herdsmen and a certain calm reigned until the sound of a gunshot burst through the air.
Suddenly, the sound of children's laughter was replaced by gunshots and screams.
The herders invaded their lands, killed several inhabitants and the rest fled.
Benjamin, his wife, and his seven children were some of the survivors.
They took refuge in a camp for internally displaced persons in Makurdi,
“In the camp I live in a hut built with mosquito nets.
During the rainy season things get tough.
Only those who can afford tarpaulins have a real shelter,” explains Benjamin, one of the 24.4 million homeless people in Nigeria, a country of 220 million people.
Four in 10 Nigerians live below the national poverty line.
In 2019, the minimum wage in Nigeria was set at 30,000 naira (approximately 60 euros)
Nigeria is the country with the highest number of homeless people in the world, according to the World Population Review, an independent organization that analyzes the world population.
The figures of the African country are pushed by violence, floods or forced evictions.
Since 2009, Nigeria's security has been threatened by terrorist attacks by Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa (Iswap), as well as by conflicts between Fulani herders and herders.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that the number of internally displaced persons due to violence exceeds three million.
According to Amnesty International, 70% of the 14 million people who live in Lagos live in informal settlements.
Besides,
The consequences of climate change have also worsened homelessness rates in the country, which, in 2022, suffered the worst flooding since 2012. Of its 36 states, 34 were affected and some communities were totally submerged, forcing displace at least 1.4 million people, according to UN figures.
According to the World Bank, four out of 10 Nigerians live below the national poverty line.
In 2019, the minimum wage in Nigeria was set at 30,000 nairas (approximately 62 euros) and despite the fact that the prices of goods and services increase every day, the income of the majority of Nigerians does not change.
In Lagos, the country's economic capital and most populous state, one-bedroom apartments can be rented for 300,000 to 500,000 naira a year (620-1,030 euros), depending on your location.
The rent for two-bedroom apartments does not go below 600,000 naira (1,240 euros).
“Most people cannot afford decent housing, because if they earn minimum wage they will never be able to afford a two-bedroom house,” explains Abdulfatai Anofi, an expert in urban planning at the University of Ilorin in Nigeria.
Anofi believes that political will is needed to drive solutions to homelessness.
For it,
“reliable data is required to help planning.
For example, the Government needs to know the total number of homeless people, the total housing needed, and the cost of providing housing not far from their livelihood,” he cites.
An upward trend in many African countries
Other countries on the continent are experiencing similar situations, such as Cameroon, where there are around one million homeless people, out of a population of 28 million, or Egypt, with some 12 million homeless, out of a total population of 109 million people. .
In an attempt to reduce the housing deficit or make it more affordable for citizens, the governments of many African countries have resorted to building houses and renting or selling them at prices below those of the free market.
In Cameroon, Michael Miko, a 32-year-old businessman from the Anglophone region of the country, had started building his own house in the town of Kumbo, but in 2018 he was forced to flee due to violence in the region.
He was able to find refuge with a friend in Yaoundé, the capital, before moving to Douala, another city in the country.
Not all the friends and neighbors who fled Kumbo were as lucky: some still roam the streets, others reside in camps for internally displaced persons.
Miko worries about the price of housing in Douala and compares it to life in Kumbo, where renting any house costs seven times less.
In Africa, Egypt is the country with the second highest number of homeless people, after Nigeria, with some 12 million homeless, including those living in informal settlements.
Apart from Nigeria and Egypt, other African countries with large homeless populations include the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with around 5.3 million homeless people, Somalia with an estimated 2.9 million, Sudan with about 2.7 million, and Ethiopia.
with almost three million
In Nigeria, the era of low-cost government housing began during military rule, when houses were built and handed over to people based on their income.
With the transition to democracy in 1999, the Government began to offer housing plans that are unaffordable for the average working class.
In 2021, the National Housing Program portal was launched to enable Nigerians to have “affordable” housing.
Information from the portal reveals that one-bedroom apartments are sold for more than 7.2 million naira (about 15,000 euros) in some parts of the country and 9.2 million naira (18,064 euros) in others.
How can a refugee like me, who can't afford three full meals, afford such a house?
Barnabas Benjamin, displaced from Yelewata, in Nigeria
In a country where the minimum wage is set at 30,000 naira per month, these prices exclude the majority of the population.
Benjamin has heard that the government is building houses, but he can't afford them.
“How can a refugee like me, who can't afford three full meals, afford such a house?” he wonders.
Benjamin doesn't care too much about the housing the government can offer him, but rather wants it to resolve the crisis that has made him and many others displaced.
"If the government solves this crisis and allows us to return to our homes, we will live well and we will not have to ask for anything," he promises,
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