Government Should Be Deliberate On Housing Policy Creation — Osilama
Kingsley U.N. Chikwendu —
The Publicity Secretary of the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), Malam Ahmed Abubakar Goringo in a real estate talkshow “One Square Meter”, aired on We FM, Abuja, said that infrastructure is the most key to housing development in the country. He also said that without basic infrastructures, housing development is would be at a zero level.
Goringo who is also the founder of Hortigraph Limited and Viewpoint Housing Media added that the country needs approximately 3bn dollars to put infrastructures into proper development.
“Infrastructure is the most key to any housing development, Goringo said.
“Without infrastructures, housing development is zero and the government needs up to 3bn dollars to put infrastructures in the next thirty years”.
He also said that these infrastructures are not meant to be concentrated in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
He called on government housing authorities to emulate former FCT Minister and present Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El’Rufai in providing mass housing for the Nigerian populace.
While calling on the government to hands off housing development and leave it solely in the hands of the private sector, he added that private developers need to be encouraged so as to meet the objective of providing mass housing for Nigerians.
“During (the tenure of) Malam Nasir El’Rufai, he test ran this mass housing. The many estates we see in this town today is because of what El’Rufai did, providing mass housing.
“If you have the capacity, come and pay one million naira and you will be allocated a land. It worked here in Abuja. So, if it can work in Abuja, it will also work in other states.
“The government need to hands off housing too, they need to encourage the private sector to make mass housing achievable. For example, when this government came in or before they came in, they promised to provide one million housing annually for Nigerians, they have not been able to achieve that.
“They tried social housing by constructing a model housing in Dei Dei and nothing much or little has been done. It is supposed to go round the country. So, what the government need to do is to hands off housing. They should try and collaborate with the private sector and if they do that, they will achieve, Goringo stated.
Also, in the same talk show, Osilama Emmanuel Osilama, the owner of Nuel Osilama Global Resources challenged the government to be deliberate on creating policies that would encourage land accessibility with the right infrastructures.
He believed that provision of affordable or mass housing can be easily achievable when the government collaborate with stakeholders in the built industry.
“What the government need to do is for it to be deliberate, there has to be a policy that allows for access to land where there are infrastructures, Osilama said.
“This can be done easily by the government working with stakeholders because, you don’t give land to speculators who are going to sell it. If you give a land worth 50 million naira to a speculator and he resells it for 500 million naira, you’ve ended up enriching someone who don’t need the raw materials. Those who need the raw materials are the stakeholders.
“So, the government need to interact with the stakeholders and give to the right persons who will produce those mass houses”, Osilama added.
