Housing Deficit: There’re Too Many Empty Houses Across Nigeria – Fashola
BY GLORIA USMAN, ABUJA – The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola SAN, has called on the newly inaugurated Board of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), to proffer solutions to urban housing deficit in the country.
Fashola, who stated this while inaugurating the Board on Thursday in Abuja, said that it is not true that the country has 23 million housing deficit, stressing that it rather a case of many empty and locked up houses across the country.
According to the minister; “The talk that Nigeria has 23 million housing deficit is a lie. We have no scientific or logical basis. The housing problem is an urban problem, let’s be honest about it.
“Many of the people who are renting houses in the cities have big empty houses in their villages. So, let us understand this. In the urban centres, whether it’s Lagos, Port Harcourt, Owerri, Kaduna, Kano or Ibadan, there are empty unoccupied houses.
“So, one of the things you need to begin to do is to rethink and understand how to solve that problem, how do we bring those empty and locked houses to light?
“Because, if there are empty houses that people are not living in, does it make sense to say there is a deficit? And there is no city in this country where you won’t see an empty house.
“So, don’t be locked by the definition of the past, reappraise the situation with your own understanding, professionalism, understanding and let us benefit from your experience,” he said.
The Works and Housing minister also said that one of the key things that the Buhari administration wanted was to use infrastructure as a way of rebuilding and expanding the Nigerian economy.
Fashola said that the government also wanted to build a globally competitive economy by investing in the people through access to affordable housing, financial inclusion and generally a better way of life for citizens.
The minister urged the board members to quickly acquaint themselves with the Act that set up the board in order to carry out their responsibilities in guiding the agency.
He said; “So, I would want you to situate your contributions to this board around the parameters of what the government wants to achieve. Essentially, your role will be as defined by the law of the Federal Housing Authority Act”.
Responding, the Chairman of the Board, Senator Lawal Shuaibu assured the Federal Government through the minister that they would give their utmost best, saying that given the composition of the new board, “you have a machine to move the FHA forward”.
Some of the members of the board include; Mrs Chinere Omokoro, Mrs Olajumoke Akinwunmi and Mr Adamu Mayadafe.
Present at the inauguration were the Minister of State for Works and Housing, Mr Abubakar Aliyu and the Permanent Secretary, Mr Babangida Hussaini, who is also a member of the 12-man board.
