The Federal Government, Tuesday, inaugurated four Reform Task Teams for the realisation of the presidential deliverables for the housing sector and scored the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) and Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) low in their performances.
The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Architect Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, who inaugurated the committees in Abuja, described as disheartening the underperformance of the country’s housing finance development agencies.
He said: “It is disheartening to know that the housing finance development agencies have been performing suboptimally. If you look at FHA for example, it is an agency that is expected to provide houses for all segments of society including low-income, middle-income, and high-income. They have received tremendous support from the government to carry out their mandate.
“On each occasion that the FCTA opens new districts in Abuja, a large portion of land is always reserved for the Authority. While they request land from the state government. They are always obliged. And for this, there is no reason why they should not be able to build houses in large numbers. They also have options to approach the capital market for housing development.
“The FMBN is expected to lead mortgage financing in the country. They should meet the needs of Nigerians for easy access to mortgages. They should also explore capital markets but their performance leaves much to be desired. Our reforms will therefore be very comprehensive’’.
On the newly inaugurated committees, Dangiwa said the aim was to unlock the massive potential of the sector for catalyzing inclusive economic growth and urged them to deliver their recommendations within two weeks.
He said apart from other steps taken by President Bola Tinubu to revamp the housing sector by demerging it from works, inaugurating the task teams was a major step to actualising the renewed hope agenda for the sector.
According to him, the four teams are the Housing Institutions Reform Task Team, the Multi-Agency Project Delivery Team, the Land Reform Task Team, and the Building Materials Manufacturing Hubs Task Team.
“First is the Housing Institutions Reform Task Team. It aims to develop a robust framework for ensuring that housing agencies under the supervision of the ministry are optimized to deliver effectively decent and affordable homes to Nigerians
“Second is the Multi-Agency Project Delivery Task Team. The aim is to ensure that all housing agencies under the supervision of the ministry work collaboratively towards optimizing their strengths to deliver decent and affordable housing to Nigerians.
“Third is the Land Reforms Task Team, tasked with developing a blueprint that will aid the sustainable implementation of much-needed reforms necessary for streamlining land administration and ensuring easy, cost-effective, and efficient access to land in Nigeria.
“The Building Materials Manufacturing Hubs Task Team’s primary job is to conduct a thorough assessment of the current state of the building materials manufacturing sector in Nigeria, including existing facilities, capacities, and key players. They are to also identify challenges and opportunities within the sector,” the minister said.
The minister said the government would provide all the resources the committees need to the best to ensure they deliver within the timelines stipulated in the terms of reference.
“I look forward earnestly to your recommendations in the coming eight weeks so we can begin the process of implementing them towards building a vibrant and efficient housing industry that delivers decent and affordable housing to Nigerians,” Dangiwa said.
The four committees are chaired by Mr Adedeji Adesemoye (Housing Institutions Reform Task Team), Dr. Ugochukwu Chime (Land Reforms Task Team); Architect Nuhu Wya (Building Materials Manufacturing Hubs Task Team); and Brigadier.General Tunde Reis (Retd.), (Multi-Agency Project Task Team)
