People live in different types of houses. The following are some of them.
- The mud house:
This has mud walls and a mud roof. The roof is usually flat. The entrance to the house is usually small. It is the traditional type of house in the northern part of Nigeria, where rainfall is not much.
2 The thatched house:
This is usually round and built in groups in a compound. The walls are built with grass. The roof is also made of grass. This is the traditional type of house of the Fulani people
3 The pointed-top house:
This is common in the eastern part of Nigeria. The roof is made of raffia palms or grass, and the walls are built with mud and sticks.
- The storey building:
A storey building is a house with more than one floor. It usually contains more than one flat. The first floor in a storey building is called the ground floor, and the second becomes the first floor. Some buildings have about twenty-seven floors. A very tall storey building with many floors is called a skyscraper or high-rise building.
5 The duplex:
A duplex is a storey building for use by a family. The ground floor usually contains the sitting room, the kitchen, one bedroom, a toilet and a bathroom. There is a staircase inside the house, which leads up from the ground floor to the top floor. The first floor usually contains only bedrooms, toilets and bathrooms. Some duplexes have another sitting room on the first floor, and this is used by the family.
6 The oblong house:
This is narrow and long, and is divided into several rooms. Almost all the rooms lead outside.
- The bungalow:
A bungalow does not have another building on top of it. Only one family usually lives in a bungalow. It has several rooms, and the toilet and bathroom are either inside or outside.
8 The brick house:
Brick houses are built with burnt bricks. They are not like the traditional mud houses. They are very modern. Sometimes, they are actually built with cement blocks, but the bricks are used to make them fanciful.
9 Glass and steel houses:
These are found mostly in large cities like Ibadan and Lagos. In many cases, they are used as offices by banks and other private organizations.
Housing agencies
Some people own houses and live in them. Some people own houses, but because they work in other places, they live in other people’s houses. People who do not yet have money to build their own houses rent houses built by either the government or other people.
Our government knows that people need to live in houses, yet many do not own any. This is why state governments and the federal government have agencies which help to provide houses for people.
These agencies build houses in certain towns. People rent or buy these houses, and pay a little amount of money at a time. These government agencies are called housing corporations in some states, property development corporations in other states, and the development and planning authority in other states.
The federal government has a bank called the Federal Mortgage Bank
. This bank gives loan to people who want to build houses. The loan is paid back gradually, with a little interest. Interest is a small amount of money, which is added to the actual amount borrowed. Loan enables people who have no money to build their own houses.
Some large banks lend money to their customers and workers to build houses.
The United Bank for Africa and the Union Bank of Nigeria are examples of such banks. Some other finance houses also lend money to their customers to build houses. Such finance houses are usually owned by individuals.
Solving the problems of housing
Government cannot provide houses for everybody. However, government can help more people to build their own houses. Government can also help to improve the quality of houses. There are several ways of doing these two things.
They include the following:
1 Duties on building materials should be reduced, to make them cheaper.
2 People should be encouraged to use local materials, which may not cost as much as imported materials.
3 Government should provide land for people where there are already roads, gutters, water and electricity. This also lowers the cost of building houses by individuals.
4 The Town Planning Authority should draw good plans and enforce them. This way, people will build good houses set out in good order, with playing and recreation areas.
5 People can form building groups to help one another to own houses. For example, cooperative societies can give loans to their members for building purposes.
6 Some of the existing houses are not fit for people to live in. Some have no good windows, while others are built along rivers. Also, some other houses have weak foundations. Such houses should be pulled down and rebuilt with adequate facilities to fortify their foundations.
Strategies& Activities
Step: Teacher revises the previous topic.
Step 2: Teacher introduces the new topic.
Step3: Teacher explains the new topic.
Step4: Teacher welcomes pupils questions.
Step5: Teacher evaluates the pupils.
Assessment & Evaluation
- Name five different types of houses.
2 Explain how houses in some parts of Nigeria are different from those in other parts.
3 List some factors that affect types of houses.
4 Explain the need for houses.
5 Mention three agencies that help people to own houses
ASSIGNMENT
Choose the best answers for the following questions
- Early men and women lived in _____________.
A palaces B caves C kingdoms D skyscrapers
2 The differences houses they live in.
A Climate B Food C Water D Plantation
4 In areas where earthquakes are common, people build houses with _____________.
A climate B hot materials C light materials D clayey materials
5 All of these are types of houses except _____________.
A mud house B thatched house C oblong house D rubber house
6 A _____________ is a house with more than one floor.
A storey building B terrace house C pointed-top house D bungalow
7_____________ houses are common in the eastern part of Nigeria.
A Bungalow B Oblong C Skyscraper D Water
8 Government agencies who build houses for people to rent or buy are called _____________.
A housing corporation B property development corporation C development and planning authority D all of the above
See also