Time flies when you’re not building
For some strange reason, I recently remember one of the most exciting policy announcements in recent times in Nigeria. I remember thinking at the time that this was one of those unsexy and seemingly boring things that could prove transformative if successfully followed through.
It was announced by Babatunde Fashola, as Housing Minister, 7 years ago:
“Our plan requires us to evolve agreeable housing types, between 2 to 4 designs that have a broad, national cultural acceptance.
“Our plan requires us to standardize these designs so that we can then design moulds to accelerates the number that can be built. Our plan requires us to standardize the size of our doors, windows, our toilet and bath fittings, our lighting fittings and other accessories so that our small and medium enterprises can respond to supply all the building materials, create diversification and jobs; and ensure that projects are completed with a steady supply of materials.
He said this about 6 months after taking office when he had had a chance to review various housing policies that came before him. He also used the opportunity to deliver some pointed criticisms of previous policies. For example:
“I acknowledge that there is, for example, a national housing policy of 2012. Some have chosen to call it a plan.
“To the extent that it is a broad statement of intent about providing housing, it is a policy statement. A plan is what is needed and it is what we are currently developing, to make the housing policy a reality. Our plan requires first a clear understanding of who we want to provide housing for.”
He went on to reference Singaporean public housing models (probably the best in the world) and the UK.
The announcement I really liked at the time was about standardisation. ‘Game-changer’ is a phrase that is used too cheaply but in this case I think it’s apposite. In manufacturing and building, standardisation is the thing that unleashes scale and, even more importantly, drives down costs.
One of my favourite books in recent years is Robert J. Gordon’s The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The U.S. Standard of Living since the Civil War which chronicled, in painstaking detail, how the US became the economic juggernaut that it is today. It is, to my mind, probably the most relevant text on economic development for any Nigerian policymaker to read.
A recurring theme in the book is how an explosion in production (or productivity) in a particular sector was preceded by standardisation. Some quotes to illustrate the point:
In the 1920s, Herbert Hoover, secretary of commerce from 1921 to 1929, achieved in the business world a standardisation of sizes, from nuts and bolts to automobile tyres and plumbing parts. Together with the assembly line, introduced in 1913 by Henry Ford, the standardisation of component sizes is a little-known factor that facilitated the enormous expansion of weapons production achieved by the United States as the Arsenal of Democracy between 1940 and 1945 (Page 313)
Further in the book:
One of the most important improvements in American industrial efficiency was the establishment by Herbert Hoover of the National Bureau of Standards. Its aim was to create a system of uniformly sized parts, down to screws and bolts, aimed at “simplification of practice, elimination of waste, conservation of materials, minimum training of workers, reduction and savings in supply purchasing and unwieldy inventories, defeat of confusion [Me: LOL], and speed in production.”
One of the triumphs of standardisation was the production of millions of universal joints during World War II, required to transform uniform velocity from the driving to the driven shaft of high-speed vehicles. Standardisation of parts allowed the Bendix design for these joints to be manufactured by twenty-three additional companies that had no previous experience. An enormous improvement of industrial efficiency was made possible by standardisation of such mundane components as nuts, bolts, and screws and the drive to standardisation that had begun in the 1920s [Pages 561–62]
Earlier in the book, there was a discussion of the problems brought about by a lack of standardisation:
Electric household appliances were quickly invented but were slow to reach the average household. Adoption was initially held back by the flimsy electric wiring initially installed in houses, sufficient only to supply light. The heavier electric drain of stoves, refrigerators, washing machines, and irons required wiring and faced the obstacle that during 1900–1920 there was as yet no standardisation of electric plugs and electric outlets. In fact, there was not even standardisation on today’s alternating current, for some electric companies offered direct current as late as the 1930s. Moreover, voltage varied [Page 120]
I recommend this book as a development economics text because many African countries, not least Nigeria, are struggling to overcome the problems that the US got around in the early 20th century. You can, I am sure, imagine how excited I was at the thought of standardisation as a policy drive of a new government (which I supported) with a mandate for change.
What is the thing that can cause a standardisation policy announcement to come to nothing? On the face of it, it does not appear to be the most complex policy idea to push — research and agree the new standards, publicise them thoroughly and then use the government’s buying power to enforce them by saying the government will only purchase doors, windows and toilets in the standard sizes. For good measure, the standards can be included as part of building approvals. The hardest part is probably the will to sustain the implementation drive.
I used to regularly check for announcements from the minister and the ministry for any updates, especially the publication of the new standards. To the best of my knowledge, they were never published and Fashola seemed to just get bored and move on to something else.
The story has no happy ending as you might expect. The week before Fashola left office in May this year, he, to my amazement, launched a 10 year National Housing Policy. I have not been able to track down this document if only to amuse myself with the contents.
Separately, in his valedictory speech listing his achievements as Housing Minister for almost 8 years, here’s what Fashola said:
Federal Government says it has delivered 8,938 housing units across 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and constructed 9,290 kilometres of roads nationwide.
The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, said this on Monday in Abuja while presenting the scorecard of his stewardship in the eight-year administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The theme of the scorecard was ‘Tour of Duty as HM of the Federal Republic of Nigeria: A Time and Economic Resource Report (2015–2023)”.
I had to read that multiple times to be sure. Less than 9,000 homes built in 8 years. He went on to say:
Fashola added that the ministry issued 1,262, building contracts, while 6,685 Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) were signed from 2015 to March 2023.
These are astonishing numbers for a minister to put out let alone proudly as his achievements after 8 years in office in a country of 200 million people. Standardisation would surely have gotten those numbers up significantly.
I have a very dim view of the APC as a party. My view is that it is so dysfunctional that it cannot possibly operate at anything more than 20% of its ‘carrying capacity’. But maybe standardisation is something that whoever is appointed to succeed Fashola as Housing Minister can pick up.
One can dream.