Monday
The intermittent petrol scarcity which started a couple of months ago seems
to have gathered momentum as queues at petrol stations seem to getting longer by
the day despite the governments assurances that there is nothing to worry
about! On the back of this is the misery of persistent power cuts which also
seem to be getting worse. Estates are stocking up their diesel supply for fear
that the fuel scarcity might hit the diesel supplies as well. I may have to
work from home next week if I can’t get petrol for my car.
A survey showed that Nigerians spend about N796.4billion on generator
fuel every year! That is approximately £3billon or $5billion. The average
generator using Nigerian spends between N200k-N2m a year on personal use of
their generator. The cost of running personal businesses is a monumental drain
on the profits of that business.
Tuesday
The electricity problem seems to be getting worse daily. The repeated promises
of increased electricity provision have all amounted to nothing. There has not
been any electricity in parts of Lagos in the last week. Generators are being
run round the clock, noise and air pollution are major problems that are not
even acknowledged.
Diesel tankers have taken over most of our major roads as storage
depots, causing accidents, traffic and damage to the roads. The Lagos Ibadan
Expressway and the Airport road being classic examples
Wednesday
The rains have started again and every year without fail causes a lot of
setbacks to building works. Of course as I have mentioned repeatedly, this is a
good time to rent and buy as it exposes a lot of problems with the property and
the surrounding area. Property and road construction works are delayed during
the rains, sites and roads turn into rivers and lakes which need digging again after
the rains have subsided, gutters overflow into roads and drains and plumbing in
homes get blocked. It must seem like a lost cause to contractors whose workers
seem to spend more time when it rains sleeping and taking time off with
illnesses, thereby delaying further the project handover dates.
Thursday
Going round to a lot of building sites is quite interesting, as works are
being undertaken at varying speeds depending on the flow of funds available for
that project. For some, works have either halted or slowed down considerably.
The ones that are continuing are reviewing their spending on materials and
fittings, which in many instances may mean compromising the quality of the
finished property. At the best of times it is rare to find a really good
finished property, but with these cut backs it will be even rarer to find a
fairly well finished property.
Friday
A lot of builders, artisans etc apprentice off workers who in the first
instance just picked up the trade from some poorly trained electrician,
painter, builder, plumber etc therefore never fully mastering their trade and
as a result constantly churn out substandard quality of work which to them is
what it should be. Developers are desperate to complete their projects and will
often take on these artisans through recommendation from a friend, brother or
uncle. The finishing in a lot of properties is as a result terrible; something
as simple as fitting light switches is a challenge for these workers as the
switches are never aligned properly or straight. Don’t mention plumbing works,
which is a major concern of which I have had personal experience, and the
misery that shoddy work can cause to the lives of inhabitants.
There is a serious lack of training for these workers which needs to be
addressed urgently or else we are at risk of our roofs and walls collapsing
around us. More regulation needs to be brought into the property building trade
Until next week
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