By Mashe Umaru Gwamna
The Minister of Works and Housing,Babatunde Fashola, has said that state governments could apply on behalf of their residents and indigenes for the houses currently being subscribed to from the National Housing Programme across 34 States of the country.
This was contained in a statement signed and issued by Special Adviser, Communications to the Hon. Minister,Hakeem Bello.
Speaking at the Executive Session of the 11th meeting of the National Council on Lands, Housing and Urban Development, with the theme “Housing our People By All of Government and All Our People”, which was held in Sokoto, Sokoto State from Monday, July 25 to Friday, July 29, 2022.
Fashola explained that the State Governments could apply to fund the acquisition of parts of the National Housing Programmes constructed in their States should they desire to do so .
He added that after the acquisition, the State governments could then allocate to interested residents and indigenes.
“Let me use this platform to inform the meeting that state governments can apply on behalf of their residents or indigenes to fund the acquisition of parts of the National Housing Programmes constructed in the states should they be so desirous”.
The minister expressed delight that the National Housing Programme that was initiated by the Ministry under the Muhammadu Buhari administration is now delivering on its objective.
“Apart from stimulating the economies of the 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory in the communities where work is being undertaken, the construction sites have become and remain centres of supply for building materials and other commodities.
The Minister, however, pointed out that whatever the Federal and State Governments could do by way of housing construction was limited compared to what the private sector could do adding that the evidence out there showed very clearly that the bulk of housing in the society and across the world was delivered by the private sector consisting of individuals and corporate bodies.
“In this regard, I am happy to report a visible increase in the participation of the private sector in Nigeria’s housing sector”, he said adding that the evidence of the development of estates across the nation could be seen, read and heard on the many media platforms in the country. “This is most welcome and must be encouraged”, he said.
On the theme of this year’s Meeting, Fashola, who said the message emphasized the need for the collaboration of all levels of government and the private sector in housing delivery, declared, “From what I have said so far about what the Federal Government is doing, what the states are doing and what the private sector is doing, the Nigerian housing sector is heading in the right direction even if there is more work to be done”.
The Minister said even with this realization, there was need for consciousness that not everybody wants a house built by government adding that there are those who would wish to build their houses themselves and only seek access to land.
“We must, therefore, reform the process that governs the allocation of land and issuance of title documents such as Certificates of Occupancy” he said adding, “While the Federal Government has land mainly acquired from the States, the bulk of the work that needs to be done lies with the State Governments because of their almost total control of land by virtue of the Land Use Act”.
Dismissing the argument in some quarters that the Land Use Act is the problem about access to land, Fashola pointed out that if there were such problem it would be with the administration of the law adding, “How much have we automated our land administration processes in order to make them efficient before complaining about that law? States that have made this type of investment will report an improvement in their land administration system”.
“Today I can tell you that since 2017, when the President delegated his power under the Land Use Act to grant Consent and issue Certificate of Occupancy to the Ministry we have issued over 5,000 Certificates of Occupancy and granted 2,738 Consent to land transactions”, the Minister said, adding that there is need to pay attention to the documents to facilitate housing delivery and housing finance.
On the issue of rent, the Minister, who urged that Housing supply and demand be seen beyond ownership alone to include rental housing, said that the federal government has introduced, at its own level, the Rent-to-Own system into its acquisition,sale model for the disposal of the Houses in the National Housing Programme.
He acknowledged that majority of the houses belong to the private sector who “expect legitimate income from rent for the properties”, but added that asking for two to three years rent in advance from working class people (as distinct from corporate tenants who may prefer to pay in advance) does more harm than good to all concerned and to the economy.
Fashola, who also conceded that rent is a local matter over which the Federal Government has no constitutional authority, however, added, “I use the platform of this meeting to challenge and provoke all state representatives to thoughts and action about how we can make the payment of rent easier and comfortable for both tenants and landlords”.
“This would be a most revolutionary intervention when working class people can pay their rent when they receive their salaries. This is possible if we try and this will give the fullest possible expression to the theme of this meeting which is “Housing Our People, By All of Government and All Our People”.
