9th Meeting of National Council on Housing Opens in Jos The ninth (9th) meeting of the National Council on Lands, Housing and Urban Development has commenced in Jos, Plateau State, North Central Nigeria, Monday, April 26, 2021. The four-day meeting has the theme, "Housing Delivery in the Covid -19 Era and Beyond: The Strategies for Affordability and Accessibility." The meeting which is taking place at Kwararafa Multipurpose Hall, Elim-Top Suites Limited, Gulf Course, Mai-Adiko, Rayfield in Jos City, Plateau State Capital is an annual meeting of stakeholders in the built industry being organized by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, whose mandate among others is provision of affordable housing for Nigerians. Participants at the meeting include: State Commissioners and Permanent Secretaries for lands, housing and urban development, General Managers of housing corporations, Surveyor -Generals, professional/regulatory agencies in the housing sector and other stakeholders in the built industry. In an introductory remark, the Director Planning, Research & Statistics, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Olajide Ode-Martins disclosed that the National Council on Lands, Housing and Urban Development is an annual event and the highest policy making organ of the Housing Sector which affords stakeholders in the sector an avenue to deliberate on issues concerning the growth of the sector. In a welcome address, the Permanent Secretary, Plateau State Ministry of Housing, Engr. Alfred Datoel, noted that Land, Housing and Urban Development were the life wire of all towns and cities of the world. He said "Land, Housing and Urban Development are the life wire of all towns and cities of the world. We know that no land, no house, no comfort and security of life no urban development no beauty of towns and cities." Noting the importance of developing slums to towns and cities and their proper management, Engr. Datoel urged all the participants to come up with policies for implementation by practitioners in the public and private spheres of lives with a view to improving the standard of lives of the average Nigerian. He added that new ideas and policies generated from the meeting would combat the challenges of increasing slums within towns and cities across Nigeria. He further appealed to government to implement very important resolutions which could have good bearing on improving the quality of life.   ...

Budget 2021: Our Priorities Remain Completion of Ongoing Housing Projects - Fashola Works and Housing Minister Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN has stated that the priority of the Housing Sector of his ministry in the 2021 budget is completion of ongoing projects. Mr. Fashola stated this during the 2021 budget defense of the Housing Sector of his ministry before the Joint Senate and House Committees on Housing, Thursday, November 12, 2020. "The basis of the 2021 Budget will be anchored on the following priority areas; completion of the construction of the remaining 2140 units of houses under the National Housing Program in 34 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)," he said. Other projects prioritised for completion in the 2021 budget according to the Minister are; completion of the construction of ongoing Federal Secretariats in six (6) States of Anambra, Bayelsa, Ekiti, Nasarawa, Osun and Zamfara. Fashola also listed, building and maintenance works for other MDAs nationwide, upgrading , completion and running of Building Craft Training Schools in Harvey Road , Yaba and Onikan , Lagos State and Design and Installation of Solar Power PV Microgrid System and Energy Retrofitting of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing Headquarters Mabushi Abuja as amongst the priority projects of the Ministry. The Minister told the committee that the ongoing projects under the Housing Sector includes the construction of 3,926 National Housing Projects across the six geo-political zones of the Federation and FCT, out which he said 1,786 units have been completed. He also mentioned that eleven (11) Federal Secretariats are being rehabilitated, while six (6) in Bayelsa, Anambra, Ekiti, Osun, Zamfara and Nasarawa are under construction. Accordingly, the Minister reminded the Committee that, President Muhammadu Buhari had during the presentation of the 2021 budget proposals repeatedly emphasised the necessity to focus the Budget on completion of projects. Speaking on the challenges, Fashola said: "The major factor militating against the timely completion of projects is insufficient budgetary provision for projects to sustain annual cash-flow requirements levels." He suggested that MDAs should provide a sum representing 2-10  percent of Capital Budget annually as maintenance provision, pointing out that the peculiarities of public buildings and dynamics of indigenous operational imperatives warrant greater flexibility, necessitating a more robust and pragmatic provision. The Joint Senate and House Committees on Housing led by Senator Sam Egwu suggested that to address the issue of insufficient budgetary provision for projects and to be able to sustain annual cash-flow requirement levels, the Ministry should key in the 2020 outstanding liabilities into the 2021 budget proposal or any other future budget appropriation. His suggestion was informed by the huge outstanding liabilities to the tune of N69.9 billion as against the N76.4 billion 2021 budget proposal. He pointed out that if the 2021 budget proposal is used to defray the 2020 liabilities, nothing would be left to execute and sustain 2021 projects.   ...

Housing Development: A Tool for Poverty Alleviation- Osinbajo The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has identified housing development as a veritable tool to eradicate poverty among Nigerians. This was revealed by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo who was represented by the Minister of State for Works and Housing, Engr. Abubakar Aliyu, FNSE while declaring open this year’s National House Fair 4.0 at the International Conference Centre, Abuja. Acknowledging the aptness of this year’s theme, “Gateway to better life: Affordable housing solutions,” to Nigeria’s housing journey, the Vice President disclosed, “President Muhammadu Buhari is determined to uplift 100 million Nigerians from poverty in the next 10 years and housing has been identified as a major tool for its realization due to its multiplier effect.” Prof. Osinbanjo noted that in line with the Federal Government Sustainability Plan, the Central Bank of Nigeria has approved the sum of N200 billion for 300,000 households to enable Family Homes Funds Limited (FHFL) finance the construction of social housing units for low-income earners. In addition, he disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing had unveiled a programme titled “Affordable Housing Development and Management Initiative" (AHDMI).  According to the Vice President the programme was designed for the purpose of reducing the housing deficit through collaboration with public and private   entities by creating a robust housing management of public buildings, hostel accommodation, redeployment of unoccupied houses for either rental or rent –to- own initiative, urban renewal/regeneration and community upgrading. Prof. Osinbanjo further revealed the pilot project of the Affordable Housing Development and Management Initiative (AHDMI) would commence in October, 2020 in Gwagwalada with the construction of 2500 mixed housing units under the Public- Private Partnership (involving Family Housing Funds Limited, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria and private developers. Reminding the States and Local Governments that they are the custodians of Land in the country due to the Land Use Act, he appealed to state governments to reduce the bottlenecks associated with the issuance of Certificate of Occupancy (C-of – O) and quicken same because government has identified it as a tool for stimulating the economy. In his words, “As a Government, we have identified “Land Titling” as a rapid tool for economic development as it creates basis for land taxation, access to credit, increased market value and investment stimulation amongst others. I therefore wish to appeal to the State Governments to ease-up and quicken the process of the issuance of Certificate –of –Occupancy (C-of O) and other title documents as this is a sure way of stimulating economic activities and improve the lives of the citizenry and lift them out of poverty." The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, in his remarks called on the Federal Government to make policies that would enhance the provision of affordable housing for Nigerians, noting that national development could only be possible when basic needs are given to humanity. Oba Ogunwusi enjoined traditional rulers in the country to work very closely with   government and the private sector in the development and provision of affordable housing for the citizenry, adding that by their status they are natural custodians of land and therefore relevant in the development of their communities through the provision of affordable housing for their citizens. The event was organised by Bstan Group. It is a group of companies headed by Engr. Becky Olubukola. Bstan group has various departments of housing development which includes: construction, mortgage and cooperatives as w ell as homes and properties. The House Fair has become a yearly event since 2017. ...