On a quiet day, when the markets are closed and the “Gbagba” buses and “keke” tricycles are off the road, a good driver in a good car can drive around Enugu, the capital of Enugu State and political pivot of the South East in a couple of hours. It is not Lagos with its over 20 million people. Neither is it Ibadan with a million brown roofs, nor is it Onitsha, the commercial heartbeat of the region with its ubiquitous six-story buildings.
Enugu is a serene place whose name literally translates to “a city on a hill.” Approaching the town, one will notice the lush green slopes and then start seeing the houses sprawled across the landscape. It is beautiful scenery. Once inside, one can’t help but notice the well-designed road networks and architectural roundabouts. The city is not really massive, because you can tour the entire area in a couple of hours; the different neighbourhoods have a way of being interconnected, which adds to its uniqueness and makes it appear like a small town, yet it holds a substantial footprint.
Enugu is generally regarded as one of Nigeria’s safer urban centres. Recent 2026 security data from the Nigeria Risk Index indicate a decline in reported security incidents in the state. The state government says violent crime has fallen significantly following investments in surveillance technology, patrol vehicles, and other security measures, such as the deployment of DRS police patrol vehicles and the installation of CCTV cameras at traffic lights, which have given residents a high level of confidence. 
A trend has been in motion for a bit more than a decade now. Many families have started relocating to Enugu, especially when most parts of Nigeria became riddled with insecurity; thus, the city became a safe haven. Enugu has a beautiful balance of calm and serenity. The nightlife is moderate and there is a young, youthful vibe all around the town because of the many higher institutions. A popular saying is that you make money elsewhere and spend it in Enugu.
The city had its original layouts like Old GRA, Trans Ekulu, Abakpa, Emene, Achara Layout, Iva Valley, Railway Quarters, etc. With the advent of constant migration, new layouts sprang up including Golf Estate (carved out from Old GRA), the T-junction area, Golf Annex, Golf View, Thinkers Corner, Phase 6 Extension, Maryland, and some other new layouts towards Emene and Achara Layout. The sale of land started booming, and new housing estates quickly sprang up as well as new residential buildings. Enugu went from its characteristic red-painted storey buildings of basically four flats to high-rise blocks of flats, and of course, the rents soared in an unprecedented way.
Not only did the rents soar, but a new trend of additional charges also cropped up and eventually seems to have become the norm. Real estate in Nigeria has always been accompanied by agency and legal fees, which were traditionally 10% each of the annual rent. Till this day, no one can say the exact reason Enugu took off on a different trajectory.
Agents and lawyers have established their own businesses, so to speak. In the local dialect, “they have opened office on top of residents’ heads”. The days of 10% house rental commissions are long gone, and right now, each of them fixes the additional charges as they deem fit. The charges are also fixed according to areas. For example, a low-cost area whose annual rent is ₦300,000 may have the agency fee as ₦50,000, legal fees as another ₦50,000, and caution fees as ₦30,000, which gives an additional ₦130,000, which ordinarily should have been 10% of agency and 10% of legal fees totalling ₦60,000.
On the contrary, which is where it gets interesting and absolutely ridiculous, the high-brow areas also have the landlords pitching in to make a killing and ensure that the intending tenant is squeezed to almost his last drop of blood. In these areas, in addition to agency and legal fees which shoot up to ₦200,000 or ₦300,000 each, one is compelled to pay caution fees, maintenance fees, and service charges. These fees can become as high as an additional ₦1.5 million for a house whose annual rent is ₦2.5 million. It is worrisome enough that the annual rents are very high, especially for a city that has always been known to be nice, calm, and moderate, and then the landlords, lawyers, and agents “do not have any joy,” according to another local lingua. Residents are groaning under the weight of these exorbitant rents and charges, and the end is not in sight.
Adverts such as the one below are the new normal in Enugu’s rental space:
“Sharp 3-bedroom, 6 flats ON THE TARRED ROAD, upstairs and downstairs, still available. Location: Thinkers Corner Landmark: INFRA fuel station Rent: ₦1.6m Legal: ₦200,000 Caution: ₦200,000 MGT: ₦200,000 Agency: ₦300,000”
A resident in Achara Layout laments that he cannot move his family to a better house. “I have lived in this two-bedroom house with only one toilet even before I got married some 15 years ago. The house has become too small for us. I am just trying to do small, small maintenance, but for now, we are stuck here. The problem is not the new rent but all these other charges—where will I get them from?”, he lamented. A whole lot of other people have a similar experience, and even when where they are living is no longer convenient, most stay on in a vicious cycle of “managing, suffering, and smiling”.
We hear that other southeastern cities have followed suit, but it seems that Enugu is still leading the race. All this was brought to the governor’s attention sometime in 2025, who promised to look into it and put up better policies, but till now, those that have gone house hunting still have the same story to tell. Some residents conclude that the best thing is to look for money, buy land (no matter how small), and build. But is that really the solution, especially since not everyone can afford to embark on such plans? The Capital Territory and Urban Planning authorities will have to engage with the governor more seriously to put a stop to this alarming and outrageous trend, which is at best a cankerworm eating deeply into the fabric of this nice city that has been a calm shelter for many from many parts of the country.
Let us hope that one day the migration of people into Enugu, which has opened up a lot of areas, brought many businesses and innovation, and improved lifestyle, will not stall and the movements be diverted to another city where there is sanity and less greed in providing living accommodations.
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