Health
FG Hails NMDPRA For Supporting Affordable Housing Access For Workers
By Angela Atabo
The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Mr Muttaqha Darma, has commended the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) for supporting access to affordable housing for its workers.
Darma gave the commendation at the formal presentation of allocation letters to eligible NMDPRA staff under the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates Programme.
He described the initiative as significant in view of the country’s huge housing deficit and the difficulty many Nigerians face in owning decent homes.
The minister said the Federal Government remained committed to expanding access to affordable housing through partnerships with relevant institutions and stakeholders.
He said the country needed more than 16 million housing units to address its housing deficit and accommodate the large number of Nigerians without adequate housing.
“Providing housing to Nigerians remains a major responsibility. Providing houses to 110 million unhoused Nigerians is a task, a very big one,” Darma said.
According to him, the NMDPRA initiative should not be judged merely by the number of houses being allocated to its workers.
“I consider the NMDPRA initiative beyond the number of houses being allocated.
“Forget about the mention of 450 housing units. No, I am not looking at it from that angle. I am looking at it from delivery of housing to Nigerians,” Darma said.
He stressed that every opportunity to provide housing to Nigerians was important, irrespective of the number of beneficiaries involved.
“This is because every opportunity to deliver housing to Nigerians is important,” the minister said.
Darma also drew attention to the rising cost of building materials and construction, which he said had made home ownership increasingly difficult for ordinary Nigerians.
He therefore described institutional support for workers seeking to acquire houses as an important step toward reducing the burden associated with home ownership.
The minister said collaboration among government institutions remained necessary to tackle the country’s housing challenge effectively.
Earlier, the Chief Executive of NMDPRA, Malam Rabiu Umar, said about 430 members of staff in Abuja, Kano and Lagos were receiving allocation letters under the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates Programme.
Umar described the development as a practical demonstration of how government policies could translate into tangible benefits for citizens and workers.
He said the authority considered staff welfare an important component of institutional performance.
According to him, workers who had peace of mind and confidence in their personal future would be better positioned to contribute their skills and expertise to the authority’s national mandate.
Umar commended the Authority Staff Cooperative Society, the Renewed Hope Access to Housing Committee and other institutional partners for facilitating the initiative.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the partners include the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Family Homes Funds Ltd., City Code Mortgage Bank Ltd., Renewed Hope SPV, Key Shelter Ltd. and participating developers.
The Chief Executive of FMBN, Mr Shehu Osidi, said NMDPRA staff had subscribed to 430 housing units in Karsana, Abuja, and Janguza, Kano.
Osidi said 197 National Housing Fund mortgage applications valued at about N8.3 billion were being packaged for submission to FMBN by City Code Mortgage Bank Ltd.
He disclosed that FMBN had provided a N100 billion off-take guarantee for the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates Programme, beginning with the Karsana project, alongside N19.9 billion in direct funding.
According to him, the interventions were designed to provide developers with greater certainty, facilitate construction financing and enable eligible workers to access completed houses through sustainable mortgage financing.
Osidi further disclosed that FMBN would soon introduce a Rent-to-Own product for eligible civil servants, while the bank had already launched a Diaspora Mortgage Loan.
He added that FMBN had signed a memorandum of understanding for a N10 billion housing loan scheme for Federal Civil Servants.
Meanwhile, the President of the Authority Staff Cooperative Society, Mr Abdullahi Auta, said more than 1,000 NMDPRA staff had applied for the housing initiative, although about 430 had so far been accommodated.
Auta appealed for continued support to enable more staff awaiting allocation to benefit from the scheme.
Mr Dare Makinde, Chief Commercial Officer, Renewed Hope SPV Ltd., said the first phase in Abuja comprised 365 units, including two-bedroom and three-bedroom flats as well as three-bedroom terrace duplexes with boys’ quarters.
He said Kano had 14 units comprising three-bedroom and four-bedroom bungalows, fully detached houses and three-bedroom terrace duplexes with boys’ quarters, while Lagos had 56 units comprising two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments with boys’ quarters.
Makinde said a second phase of the project would be delivered next year to accommodate some applicants who could not benefit from the first phase.
He added that additional housing projects were planned for Asaba, Enugu and Ibadan, urging other public and private organisations to support housing schemes for their workers.
According to him, rising rents had made institutional support increasingly important in helping workers achieve the goal of home ownership.(NAN)
Edited by Deji Abdulwahab
