On Tuesday, the federal government inaugurated four Reform Task Teams to fast-track the realisation of the presidential deliverables for the country’s housing sector.
Inaugurating the committees, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, said the aim was to unlock the sector’s massive potential for catalysing inclusive economic growth.
Mr Dangiwa listed the committees as the Housing Institutions Reform Task Team, the Multi-Agency Project Delivery Team, the Land Reform Task Team, and the Building Materials Manufacturing Hubs Task Team.
He tasked the committees to work diligently and deliver their recommendations within eight weeks.
“This means undertaking comprehensive housing sector reforms that will ensure that systemic and prevalent issues that have caused under development are fixed, and all legal impediments are removed.
“The institutional framework of housing agencies necessary to ensure that they deliver optimally on their mandates, to deliver decent and affordable housing to Nigerians are reviewed and upgraded.
“Mr President has demonstrated a strong political will and an unmatched boldness to take steps toward breaking the jinx of underdevelopment in Nigeria in line with his Renewed Hope Agenda,” he said.
Mr Dangiwa said that apart from other steps taken by President Bola Tinubu to revamp the housing sector by demerging it from the Ministry of Works, the inauguration of the task teams was a major step toward actualising the Renewed Hope Agenda for the sector.
He explained that the Housing Institutions Reform Task Team and Multi-Agency Project Delivery Task Team would develop a framework to ensure agencies are optimised to deliver decent and affordable homes to Nigerians.
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“The Land Reform Task Team is tasked with developing a blueprint that will aid sustainable implementation of much-needed reforms necessary for streamlining land administration and ensuring easy, cost-effective and efficient access to land in Nigeria.
“The Building Materials Manufacturing Hub Task Team’s primary job is to conduct a thorough assessment of the current state of the building materials manufacturing sector in Nigeria, including existing facilities, capacities, and key players.
“They are to also identify challenges and opportunities within the sector,” Mr Dangiwa said.
The minister said the federal government would provide all the resources the committees needed to ensure they delivered within the timeline stipulated in the terms of reference.
“I look forward earnestly to your recommendations in the coming eight weeks so we can begin the process of implementing them towards building a vibrant and efficient housing industry that delivers decent and affordable housing to Nigerians,” Mr Dangiwa added.
He urged the Federal Housing Authority to scale up operations since they have all the government’s support to meet their mandate and charged the Federal Mortgage Bank to provide mortgages for Nigerians to own their own houses.
Also, Marcus Ogunbiyi, the ministry’s permanent secretary, said the tax teams were necessary to address the multi-faceted challenges of effective housing delivery in the country.
He said the chairmen and members of the committees were of proven integrity and competence.
Adedeji Adesemoye will head the Housing Institutions Reform Task Team, and the Land Reform Task Team has Ugochukwu Chime as chairman.
The Building Materials Manufacturing Hubs Task Team and the Multi-Agency Project Task Team will be chaired by Nuhu Wya and Brig. Gen. Tunde Reis, respectively.
