Fashola Launches 10-year National Housing Strategy, Hands Over Reins of Office

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The outgoing Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) at the weekend launched a 10- year National Housing Strategy (NHS), which he said would unleash the power of private capital in the sector when implemented.
Fashola, maintained that government alone cannot provide the totality of housing needs for Nigerians, hence the need to create an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive.

According to the minister, the 10-year strategic blueprint was designed to harmonise all extant housing initiatives by various stakeholders into a single national housing strategy. The document which was presented in Abuja was put together in collaboration with  FMDQ Holding Plc.
Fashola explained that despite the numerous housing programmes initiated by the current administration for affordable housing, it still did not provide more homes than private enterprises, stating that the private sector remains the real driver of housing solutions in the country.

“There is nothing the government does in the housing sector that can compete and provide more than what the private sector can do, whether it is a state government building or the federal government. The real drivers at the end of the day is the capacity of private capital for providing more houses,” he said
 The minister stated that the scope of land holding resides mainly within the state governments that own the bulk of land, maintaining that the federal government does not have as much land as the collective land holding in the hands of the private sector.
Fashola reiterated the need for reliable data on housing deficit, assuring that the scheduled population census will reveal the real size of housing problems in the country.

“I am launching this document with mixed feelings and I say that because as an initiative of the private sector, the document is an alternative solution to the housing problem.
“One of the data that will be collected will be who lives in a rented house; who owns his house; those who have other houses, and what type of house people live in. So, let’s hold our breath and when the figures come, it will be very reliable and upon which we can see the real size of the problem,” he added.
Earlier, the Director overseeing the office of the Permanent Secretary, Folorunsho Esan stated that the blueprint was an outcome of the collaborative effort among the Office of the Vice President of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, PricewaterhouseCoopers and FMDQ Holding PLC.
He explained that the project working group had worked tirelessly to produce the strategic compendium being launched.

In his response, the Senior Vice President, FMDQ Group Plc, Mr. Emmanuel Etaderhi, acknowledged the support and commitment of the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and Fashola for his guidance along every stage of the drafting of the strategy document.
Fashola also signed the Value-Added Concession (VAC) under Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI, noting that it was another demonstration of the ministry’s commitment to fixing the nations’ federal road network.
He said the HDMI was created to develop and manage the federal road network with the objective to attract sustainable investment and funding in the development of road infrastructure across the nation.

The Managing Director of Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Micheal Ohiani, in his address, stated that the primary objective of (HDMI) pilot scheme was to leverage private sector investment to improve facilities and operations on selected routes.
He added that it was also being deployed in infrastructure development by applying a commercial approach that bridges the funding gaps in annual capital budget expenditure, thereby reducing the dependency on budgetary allocations.
Meanwhile, Fashola and the Minister of State, Umar  el-Yakub, handed  over the mantle of leadership of the ministry to the director overseeing the office of the permanent secretary, Esan .

Fashola argued that in the last eight years of the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, it did its best in making sure that the promises made to the citizens were kept, saying that though some may not like them, but they would like the work they did.
“There is an argument going on out there. I think it is a conversation we must have because some people don’t like the party in government but they will like the work we do,” he said.

The minister thanked the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folashade Esan who was present at the ceremony, the directors, heads of parastatals, heads of units of the ministry and all staff in attendance.
He expressed gratitude to the contractors whom he said stood in the gap and encouraged them to continue doing the best for the nation.

In her goodwill message, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Esan, congratulated the ministers for  their successes and thanked them for their  support for the civil service  programmes and activities.