Prof. Muhammed Al-Amin’s tour of duty at FHA

The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) was created in 1973 via Decree 40 now CAP F-41 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004. It’s a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing and became partially commercialised in accordance with Decree No 25 0f 1988. Accordingly, the FHA is mandated to prepare and submit proposals for national housing programmes to the government; execute such housing programmes as may be authorised by the government; develop and manage real estates on both commercial and profitable basis across the Federation; provide site and services scheme for all income groups and make recommendations on urban and regional planning, electricity, transportation, sewage and water supply to enhance the wellbeing of the people.

However, the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) is increasingly becoming unable to carry out this mandate. In the last few years, the Authority has not initiated any worthwhile housing project or completed one. Under the watchful eyes of a government sworn to ensuring efficiency, the FHA is not stagnating, it is regressing.

In December, 2014 or so, one Professor Muhammed Al-Amin was appointed the Managing Director of the Federal Housing Authority and since then, its fortunes have seriously diminished. Rather than build houses, insiders say Professor Al-Amin is busy selling off what he met on the ground, perhaps in line with the directive said to have been given to him by his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) sponsors to privatise the place into the hands of their handpicked boys. No wonder, the MD is reported to have sold FHA guest houses to himself and other shadowy figures using third parties.

There is serious lack of transparency in the way FHA is run. Professor Al-Amin has been accused of failure to keep proper records of sale of land and the proceeds therefrom. Currently, the MD is busy selling green areas as well as recreational areas in flagrant violation of both the FHA and the Abuja master plans. The different parcels of land designated as water stations, over a dozen of them, have also been sold off illegally and nobody knows what Professor AlAmin has done with the millions of Naira realised. In place of the green areas and water stations, new buildings are emerging to add to the congestion in FHA’s existing housing estates. Very soon, a place like Gwarinpa for example, will have no green area. Already, this large housing estate is lacking in recreational areas. This is sheer wickedness and selfishness on the part of Professor Al-Amin’s leadership.

Professor Al-Amin is also well known for excessive travelling that has no bearing on the duty assigned him. According to his colleagues, this explains why files and mails could remain in his office for many months without being attended to, a big bloat on efficiency.

Staff motivation is at its nadir because for a long time now there has been no promotion for both the junior and senior staff. In the past, the MD has shunned all entreaties to promote staff and this has killed morale.

It is such a shame that the Minister of Power, Works and Housing has given the FHA no role in the nationwide housing project the ministry has embarked on. The reader may recall that the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said in its manifesto that it will provide affordable housing for the citizens and for this reason is currently building thousands of houses across the country. Ordinarily, the FHA, as the implementing agency of government’s mass housing scheme, should be part and parcel of this development but because of the unprofessional conduct of its management is forbidden from participation.

Insiders also say there is infighting and division along ethnic, regional and religious lines not only inside the management but also among staff, thanks to Professor AlAmin’s polarising and uninspiring leadership.

It stands to reason that a government committed to delivering mass housing to its citizens, as part of its manifesto, necessarily requires a functional body like the Federal Housing Authority to do this. Unfortunately, Professor Al-Amin’s FHA has proved itself unworthy of the confidence of being enlisted into this vital plan. People are nostalgic of the important role that the FHA played in the delivery in 1990s of Gwarinpa, regarded as the largest housing estate in West Africa, and wonder why this cannot be replicated in this hour of need.

Informed sources say that although the current MD of the FHA, Professor Muhammed AlAmin, lacks ideas to move the place forward, he delights in continuing schemes to remain in office at the expense of the staff and the organisation. Apparently, he has no further role to play at FHA save returning to his teaching job. Such a vital establishment like the FHA should not be left to the whims of a leadership that doesn’t understand its mandate or how to execute it. The government is invited to audit the administrative and financial activities of the Federal Housing Authority, clean the place and reposition it in the interest of the country. The Buhari government will also do well to end Professor Muhammed Al-Amin’s hopeless tour of duty at FHA by discharging his irresponsible management team, just like it did his PDP masters in 2015, and replace him with a purposeful leadership. Let change come to the Federal Housing Authority quickly.