From Jimoh Ahmed, Ikare Akoko

Unless a drastic measure is taken by the Nigerian government, the dream of owning houses by many Nigerians may be a tall dream after all.
This is so as the prices of building materials have continue to soar high by the day.
Consequently, the trend has been giving prospective house owners, especially the younger ones, a source of worries.
A close monitoring of the trends of events in the building industry in the Ondo North District revealed a worrisome situation as prices kept shooting up on daily basis.
For instance, a bag of cement which was selling for N2500 two weeks ago now sells for N3000 ,a sheet of asbestos which was selling for N1500 now goes for N2000.
Roofing sheets now sells beteeen, N18,000 and N45, 000 depending on the type and quality.
In the same vein, the price of granite, laterite soil and planks have also shot up from their old prices while artisans like bricklayer, plumber tiler and others now charge between N4000 and N5000 for a day’s job.
Speaking on the development, a bricklayer, Mr Omosowon Ogunleye disclosed that the skyrocketing prices of building materials had made many housing projects to be abandoned making artisans joblless.
An architect, Mr Bayo Boluwade from Irun Akoko, blamed government for not controlling prices of building materials as using inferior or substandard materials has been responsible for incessant buildings collapse in the country
A tenant, Mr Awal Jimoh said house rents have gone up drastically due to the high cost of building materials.
Jimoh therefore appealed to government to relax import duties on building materials so that importers will be able to sell at affordable prices.a