Surveyors ask FG to invest in mass housing for Nigerians

By Paul Effiong

The Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS) has called on the Federal Government to embark on social housing development for the civil servants and the vulnerable in Nigeria to create new urbanization.
Obafemi Onashile, the President of the NIQS made the call at the institute`s annual conference held in Abuja.
He said first, it would portray the Nigerian government as the caring government for its employees and the entire citizens of the country.
The NIQS President, who highlighted the major objectives of the workshop, said it was to help the governments to set the priorities to revamp the economy using the construction industry in Nigeria.
He said NIQS as a major player in the construction industry was prepared to partner with the government to mitigate the housing deficits, reducing high risks in the course of construction and to deliver quality services.
Onashile explained that the major aims of this year`s conference as a major player in the construction industry was that the government should look into embarking on social housing for the vulnerable, civil servants, men and women in uniforms.
According to him, such initiative would mitigate housing deficiency across the country.
“Apart from social housing, we are also saying that the government should look into urbanizations, creating new cities, while also degenerate the matured cities we already had on ground.
“This new idea will also lead to creating new cities across the nation which could enhance the quality of living by Nigerians”, he said.
The institute’s president also urged the government to revamp and re-orientate the Federal Housing Authority scheme to make it stronger and viral, so as to deliver quality services to Nigerians.
Speaking on the fundamental role of the quantity surveyors in the construction industry in Nigeria, Olusegun Ajanlekoko explained that they were meant to play important role in monitoring of every form of projects.
This, Ajanlekoko said was to ensure delivering quality services in terms of finishing such projects at the right time, reducing the cost of the projects, be it housing, road or rail infrastructure.