By Mashe Umaru Gwamna
The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa has disclosed that a Housing Reform Team of experts and stakeholders has been constituted in order to ensure that housing agencies under the supervision of the Ministry are enhanced to deliver on the Ministry’s target of providing affordable homes to Nigerians.
This was contained in statement signed and issued by Badamasi Salisu Haiba
Director Information .
The Minister made this disclosure during a meeting with a delegation from the Housing Development Advocacy Network (HDAN), led by Ugochukwu Obiora Chime, yesterday at the Ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.
He explained that the reform team would be made up of representatives from HDAN, Agencies, professional bodies, as well as academia, to develop a robust framework for the reform of the housing sector by thoroughly reviewing relevant laws and facilitating necessary legislative amendments such as the Land Use Act, 1978, National Housing Fund (NHF) Act,1992, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) Establishment Act, 1993, Federal Housing Authority (FHA) Act,1973, among others.
“The team will be tasked with streamlining all previous reform blueprints, whitepapers for the agencies and outlining areas requiring reform, with a focus on enhancing efficiency, transparency, and accountability”, he further explained.
While recalling a special Agenda Setting Dinner that was organized in his honour shortly upon resumption in office, Dangiwa was delighted to acquaint the delegation about the prioritization of some key concerns that were raised by the stakeholders at the event.
On DATA, he informed that a Ministry Taskforce has been set up, and is actively working with the National Population Commission to design survey instruments that would address housing-related questions during the upcoming population and housing census exercise, which would in turn establish the actual housing deficit in the Nation.
Earlier in his remarks, the leader of the HDAN delegation, Ugochukwu Obiora Chime acknowledged that the Ministry serves as the blueprint that would bring about massive socio-economic development to the country, giving its potentials as the greatest engine room for employment generation.
