The Interview Editors
The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola says the ministry is poised to initiate a National Housing Bond towards addressing housing deficit in the country.
Fashola disclosed this on Tuesday, in Abuja while addressing newsmen during a tour of Federal Housing Authority’s and Cosgrove’s Estates, said the scheme would help developers provide houses for all categories of Nigerians .
He said that different people had different needs in the housing economy in the country, and that government or one organisation could not serve them all.
Fashola said that some people just wanted land and infrastructure and they would build, whereas some others wanted high apartment and wanted someone to build it for them.
Yet another group, he said, wanted a lower type and considerate property and that that was where Cosgrove came in.
“There is Cosgrove Estate in Mabushi which is purely private sector driven; the one at Guzape is partnership with government (Federal Housing Authority), ENL Consortium and Bauhaus International Limites. The one in Zuba is government driven.
“We will be working to create a National Housing Bond that housing developers can access at a very reasonable rate. That is something I will be engaging my colleague, the Minister of Finance.
“And hopefully, she would be able to engage the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria who controls our monetary policies. This is because, fiscal and monetary policies can help the sector.
“This tour to estates at Mabushi, Guzape and Zuba is to show you that a lot of things are going on in the housing economy of the country,” Fashola said.
He noted that there were different types of houses for different categories of Nigerians and that the government could not do enough until it involved the private sector.
The Managing Director of Federal Housing Authority (FHA), Mr. Gbenga Ashafa, said they wanted people to occupy the estate at Zuba, while specifying the number required.
“But we only have 24 occupants and it is because, they decided to bring in their own facilities like generator sets and many other things.
“The Injector Sub-Station for electricity has not been completed yet and that is one of the prerequisites that would make the estate habitable.
“It is 80 per cent complete. Very soon, it would be completed and most people would move in,” Ashafa said.
Meanwhile, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cosgrove, Mr. Umar Abdullahi, has said the company built both Premium and affordable houses.
“However, we are collaborating with the government to see how we can extend payment period that is flexible and affordable for the ordinary man, and we are planning to build houses for those at the very lower class,” he said.
(NAN)
