As part of efforts to address the housing deficit in Nigeria, a Committee to review the current trend and explore alternative building materials and technology that will facilitate the provision of affordable housing has been inaugurated.
Addressing the 11- man committee, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mr George Ossi, said the initiative has become imperative in in order to align with the Ministry’s mission statement to ” facilitate the provision of adequate and affordable housing for all Nigerians, in both the urban and rural areas, in secure, healthy and decent environment”.
He noted that this lofty mission of the Ministry was yet to be realized because the houses provided through the Public Private Partnership(PPP) arrangement, the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) as well as those provided through the Ministry were not affordable largely due to exorbitant cost of building materials, source of funds and cost of labour, stating that the issues must be holistically addressed to make the desired impact.
The Permanent Secretary said the Committee’s assignment was timely in view of the fact that a new administration will be coming on board, adding that the Ministry ought to provide a blue print for dealing with the housing deficit in the country. He expressed the hope that the alternative initiative will apart from creating jobs, make the Ministry more relevant on housing delivery.
The Committee’s Terms of Reference include:
1. To review the current approaches for provision of houses to Nigerians and the impediments militating against mass housing.
2. Explore alternative building materials/technology that would facilitate the provision of affordable houses
3. Propose implementation guidelines for the alternative approach to housing delivery
4. Make necessary recommendations on the required measures for provision of affordable housing for most Nigerians.
Chairperson of the committee and Deputy Director in the Ministry, Mrs Faith Onakoya assured the Permanent Secretary that the Committee will do its best to come up with implementable report which will assist the Ministry to provide affordable housing to Nigerians. She said the emphasis on “affordable” was key in the committee’s mandate as the high cost of housing has remained the bane of accomplishing government’s determination in bridging the housing deficit.
The committee has one month to conclude on its assignment and submit its report.
Eno Olotu (Mrs)
For: Director, (Press)
