MASS HOUSING SCHEME FOR NIGERIANS

After 40 years, the federal government is embarking on housing projects which are affordable, writes

When was the last time the federal government built mass housing for Nigerians? How many Nigerians remember today that the last time government at the centre actualized homes for the common man was about 40 years ago during the time of President Shehu Shagari in the early 80s? A spirited attempt by Alhaji Lateef Jakande to resuscitate mass housing during the Gen. Sani Abacha era never came to fruition.

This is why Nigerians have cause to rejoice on the news of the on-going process to allocate thousands of low cost houses built across the country under President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

It is indeed promise made, and promise fulfilled recently as Mr. Babatunde Fashola, Minister for Works and Housing presented the online allocation portal to Nigerians at a press briefing in Abuja. Fashola said: “We converge here just to introduce a portal on which the National Housing Programme pilot will be offered for sale to the public. What that means is that we will not be selling printed forms, the forms are online and this allows for more openness, limits human intervention and any disposition to underhand practice.”

Available for allocation are 5000 Housing units already completed in the phases one and two of the NHP pilot scheme in 34 states of the federation (Rivers and Lagos are yet to provide land for the project). The houses are in categories of one, two and three-bedroom flats. They are bungalows and blocks of flats. Information on the portal shows that purchase prices of the buildings range from N16m+ for the highest cadre to N7m+ for the lowest categories. The portal also notifies that there are opportunities for mortgage or outright purchase.

Fashola being aware that fair allocation of public housing is as important as the very provision of the houses reiterates the need for fresh thinking in offering the houses to the people thus: “Decision to sell online is to bring credibility to the exercise and reduce human intervention as well as give all categories of buyers a level playing field.”

Allocation of government mass housing in the past had been fraught with fraud and all sorts of malpractice. The common citizen was always left frustrated as greedy civil servants and the moneyed class end up coveting and converting the entire houses for their own benefits leaving the people in the lurch. It’s for this reason the minister and his team devised a digital process which has been recommended to the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) and the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) to adopt in their allocation processes.

The thinking process that brought the NHP to this delightful realization has been something of a quiet revolution. Recall that the Buhari administration’s housing programme was conceived in 2016 when the economy was in recession. So this is one way to implement the federal government’s Economic Recovery Growth Plan (ERPG).

Consider that over 1000 contractors were engaged on the 34 construction sites across the country. These are all indigenous contractors. Locally produced building materials were insisted upon. For instance doors, windows, tiles, roofing and ceiling materials, paints, wood finish, plumbing materials, cables, electrical fittings, etc. All these have helped to galvanize the economy if we follow the trail of their long value chains.

On the worksites, thousands of direct and indirect jobs were created. According to statistics from the ministry, engaged in the course of building the 5000 Housing units were over 37,000 skilled labour, 423,000 unskilled, 440,000 direct jobs, 41,000 food vendors and 20,000 suppliers. Fashola captured his experience about job chain on the sites most graphically: “Whenever I visit the sites of the pilot National Housing projects being undertaken across the 34 states, I see an ecosystem of commerce, employment and entrepreneurship... from the contractor/ construction company who wins the bid to the labourers on site who earn N3000 a day, (N18,000 a week, for six days, and approximately N72,000 a month); to the owner of the concrete mixer I met in Oyo State who charges N20,000 a day, to the suppliers and vendors of building materials and employers of companies that manufacture paints, tiles, roofing materials, the federal and state governments collaboration provided a step up towards the ladder of prosperity. “

Before embarking on the current housing production, it was important to do preliminary research on previous schemes to know why some of them failed. As have been observed, some of the houses in previous projects were never occupied because the structures were not suitable for the culture and environment in which they were situated. Studies done this time revealed that there are peculiar housing needs and designs preferred in the north as well as the south of Nigeria. While more compound space is required in the north which would necessitate building horizontally, the south of Nigeria have become accustomed to less space on their compounds so we build vertically by way of blocks of flats. In reaching this stage, the ministry has also been looking into both construction procedures and building materials production, procurement and management. All of these is to seek to reduce drastically, the turnaround time of start to finish of a building. There’s also an intention to standardize for mass local production, building materials such as doors, windows, roofing sheets, tiles and other components especially for mass housing. When fully realized, these would be part of the adjunct benefits of the housing programme.

An improved synergy is growing between the public and private sector in the delivery if more housing projects. The FMBN has been mandated to recapitalize and open the National Housing Fund to non-government employees. Policies such as the reduction of equity contributions from 5% to 0% for those seeking mortgage loans of below N5m and reduction from 15% to 10% for those seeking loans of over N5m are helping to ease access to housing.

Further, the Ministry of Works and Housing resolved to use cooperatives as vehicles to achieve more construction in many states to expand the scale of opportunities. For example, 86 cooperatives are engaged in housing projects currently. About N36 billion have been approved cumulatively for cooperatives and 57 cooperatives housing development loans are being processed as at January this year.

SOME OF THE GOALS AND EXPECTED BENEFITS OF THE HOUSING PROGRAMME INCLUDE: IMPROVED CAPACITY BUILDING FOR ARTISANS AND TRADESMEN AND REDUCTION IN HOUSING DEFICITS IN THE COUNTRY