Post by Olatubosun David (@bosunbeloved)

Our society is surely justifying the very things it condemned.

These days, many landlords would rather rent out their houses to someone without a job who can afford to pay ₦350,000 for a single-room self-contain—often without electricity or a functional water system—than rent it to a civil servant at a more reasonable rate.

This is not an exaggeration. It is exactly what I witnessed here in Ọ̀wọ̀ when I accompanied a newly employed colleague to inspect a self-contain apartment in my area. The building was not even painted, and very tiny, can hardly allow a single chair and table after you place your mattress, yet the landlord assured us that all the necessary improvements would be made once payment was made. The problem, however, is that many of such promises disappear the moment the money changes hands.

One common saying among some landlords is: "Èèyàn tí kò bá lè tún ilé-onílé ṣe, kò ní lè tún ilé ara ẹ̀ ṣe"—meaning, "Anyone who cannot spend money to improve another person's house will not be able to improve his own." Once you hear such a statement, you can almost forget about any promise of repairs or improvements.

Sadly, what should concern us is that decent accommodation is increasingly becoming inaccessible to honest workers, while the ability to pay exorbitant rents has become the primary qualification for securing a place to live.

We know the country is bad but not as bad as what landlords are doing in this part of the country.

If you are one of the landlords doing this, you have to be sincere to yourself by calling yourself a wicked person.

- Olatubosun David.

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