TheCable

Babatunde Fashola, former minister of power, works and housing, has called for the review of tenancy laws in states to compel landlords to collect rents monthly.

Fashola spoke in Lagos on Thursday at the launch of his book, “Nigerian Public Discourse: The Interplay of Empirical Evidence and Hyperbole”.

The former minister said advanced payment of rents, up to three years or more is overburdening tenants.

Fashola noted that many houses are unoccupied due to the way rents are being collected.

He called for the utilisation of accurate data for better planning in the country.

He added that data is the “most important currency in the world, which no central bank could print”.

“That is not the only reason, but if you do not understand how dramatic and painful that three, four or five years rent has become to our nation, we have not consciously done anything to it,” NAN quoted Fashola saying.

“Can we bring it down from three years to one year? Can we hopefully bring it down to six months? Can we let it coincide with when people get paid? At the end of the month instead of in advance?

“So accurate data will help us determine how many we are, what amount of water we need, what quantity of food, data makes this very important, accurate data therefore will be beneficial for us.

“Life without shortage of basic needs, like food, like water, like shelter and energy will be a good life, and data is critical to this objective.”

Opeyemi Agbaje, an author and academic, who reviewed the publication, said Fashola wrote a thoughtful and analytical book, which sought to annihilate hyperbolism, fallacies and myths.

Agbaje said the 16 chapter-book buttressed on issues of corruption, poverty, the Nigerian constitution, minimum wage and governance, among others.

He encouraged Nigerians, especially the media, to seek correct facts, statistics and data, noting that hyperbole could thrive if the people were undereducated with the right facts.

He said Fashola, in the publication, agrees that there is misconstrued information out in the public domain, which the book seeks to correct.

Present at the book presentation were the wife of the author, Abimbola Fashola, representatives of federal executive council, Obafemi Hamzat, deputy governor of Lagos and Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, former senior special assistant to the president on sustainable development goals.

Others were Moyosore Onigbanjo, a former commissioner gor justice and attorney general of Lagos, Ibukun Awosika, a former chairman of First Bank of Nigeria,  traditional rulers, Lagos white cap chiefs, among others.