Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, has berated the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) for its poor performance and inability to provide houses for Nigerians across the federation.
He said before the agency’s commercialisation in May 2013, it managed to deliver 37,000 houses in its 40 years of existence, while10 years after, records showed that the organisation delivered just over 50,000 housing units, an average of 1,000 houses yearly in five decades.
Dangiwa, who is an architect, stated: “This is clearly not acceptable, especially from Nigeria’s foremost housing agency that has so many institutional advantages that it can leverage to deliver more results. This includes free access to land from the Federal Government in all layouts and new districts, relationships with other government entities like the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) and strategic positioning to engage in Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) with reputable developers given its recognition as a government agency.”
The minister, who spoke at the 50th anniversary of the agency in Abuja, added: “I am also pained to say that analyses of all the PPPs that the FHA entered into over the years have delivered little or no value to the country. This is also not acceptable. FHA needs to wake up to its responsibilities.”
He referenced its Algerian counterpart that delivers between 400,000 and one million houses yearly. Dangiwa continued: “In fact, in a particular year, that agency delivered 1,060,000 houses. This underscores the need for FHA to aggressively upscale its delivery capacity.”
“What we need at FHA is leadership that is visionary and can innovate, think outside the box, while tackling problems. Under the Renewed Hope Vision of President Bola Tinubu, we want to see a reformed, more efficient and capable FHA that would have the financial strength to deliver more on its mandate.”
In his address, former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd), said providing shelter to Nigerians remained a priority today as it was 50 years ago, and even more so, in view of rapid population growth.
While commending the FHA management for its efforts and achievements over the decades, he stressed that there was still much work to be done.Also, immediate past Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, urged the Authority to adopt a demand-driven approach for sustainable housing delivery.
Earlier, Managing Director of the FHA, Gbenga Ashafa, said his organisation was implementing operational reforms in the areas of digitisation and process optimisation, noting that they must build on the successes of the past to deliver more decent and affordable houses to Nigerians.
