The Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi has articulated strategies for the realisation of the housing for all program of the federal government, stating that “effective Implementation of the roadmap for the Housing and Urban Development Sector, after approval, will give effect to the National Housing Policy and the National Urban Development Policy, in terms of coordination and coherence as well as impact and sustainability.” FRANCIS ADINOYI KADIRI reports.
Upon noting that housing is universally accepted as the second most important human need, after food, the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs Akon Eyakenyi explained that Nigeria is enjoined by Section 16(2)(d) of the 1999 Constitution under the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy “to direct its policy towards ensuring that suitable and adequate shelter …. are provided for all Citizens.”
While saying that it is in pursuit of providing shelters for citizens that the transformation agenda of the present administration captures the needs of the housing sector, she noted that
“Under the Transformation Agenda and Vision 20: 2020, the provision of accessible and affordable housing is one of the strategic national imperatives for guaranteeing the well-being and productivity of the citizenry,” the minister said, adding that it is in pursuit of realising the objective that the agenda captures the needs of the country’s housing sector.
According to the minister, the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development was established as a free-standing Ministry in April 2010 as the institutional champion and national focal point for the realization of these strategic imperatives in the housing and urban development sector.
Articulating the strategies for the realization of the ministry’s objectives, Eyakenyi said restructuring of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) for the effective and efficient discharge of its mandateis in progress, stating that supporting the implementation of the mortgage liquidity facility through the operationalization of the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) will also assuage the provision of affordable housing for Nigerians.
According to her, the recapitalization of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), and the use of additional sources of funding for housing development such as pension funds, unclaimed dividends and dormant accounts as proposed during the Presidential Retreat held on 12th Nov. 2012 is doing much to provide decent and affordable houses to Nigerians.
She said the federal government is promoting mixed housing development for all income groups and also adopting various housing delivery models for mass housing development. “To mention but a few of these progressive initiatives; New Towns Development; Cooperative Housing; Public-Public Partnership; Public-Private Partnership (PPP); Regeneration (including completion of abandoned houses); Rental Housing; and Sites and Services schemes,” she said, stating that the administration has also adopted the use of alternative technologies in housing development.
“Government is also building capacity to bridge the gap in skilled labour by upgrading existing trade centres, crafts schools and vocational training centres. More so, we are establishing new training centres and reviewing the curricula in tertiary institutions offering building related courses,” she said.
She said there are reputable foreign agencies which are in partnership with the government of Nigeria in the interest of housing provision for Nigerians.
According to her, the government is ensuring that Nigeria benefits more from the activities of Shelter-Afrique based on Nigeria’s equity shareholding in the Company.
Nigeria is currently championing the African Urban Agenda, in collaboration with UN-HABITAT, in view of the need to deal decisively with the rapid population growth and deteriorating living conditions of human settlements in the continent, the minister said, noting that the action is instructive, bearing in mind that by 2025, more than 60% of Nigerians will live in Cities.
The minister disclosed that as a strategy for realisation of its mandate on housing, the ministry is playing a critical role in spearheading the National Consultative Process for the post-2015 Development Agenda and the Habitat III Conference while also designing and implementing a National Programme on Making Slums History as part of a global challenge for 2020.
Speaking on strategies aimed at institutional strengthening, the minister said the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development is partnering with the UK Department for International Development (DFID) in a repositioning drive to improve its efficiency, effectiveness and service delivery. “The repositioning of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) is on-going under the guidance of a technical board led by the Minister,” she said adding that the operations of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) are being reviewed and consolidated through an institutional strengthening programme (ISP) in order to enhance the role of the bank as a secondary mortgage institution in the financial market.
According to her, a private sector-led approach has been adopted as the new policy for mass housing delivery in Nigeria. In this regard, the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development is primarily concerned with facilitating the adoption and replication of best practice models in housing development through the implementation of pilot schemes as well as site and services and public-private partnership (PPP) schemes in the country.
The minister said in view of this new policy direction, during the period July 2010 to September 2014, a total of 43,126 housing units were added to the national stock through various interventions by the Ministry and its two parastatals, namely the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) and the Federal Housing Authority (FHA).
“These include710 housing units under the prototype housing scheme;7,869 housing units under public-private partnerships;3,302 housing units through the Federal Housing Authority (FHA); 5,007 housing units through mortgages created by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN); 17,240 housing units through estate development loans provided by the FMBN; and8,998 housing units through contractor finance initiatives,” she said.
“We are intensifying action on the completion of all housing units within the purview of the ministry and its parastatals, including the prototype housing scheme, PPP scheme, FMBN-funded housing scheme, and the FHA housing scheme, all targeted at the low and middle-income earners.
“A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed between Shelter Afrique and the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN) in June 2014 in support of Housing Development in Nigeria. With the signing of the MOU, the capacity of REDAN to participate more effectively in the delivery of the 10,000 housing units under the first phase of the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) mortgages initiative, has been greatly enhanced.