AG Mortgage Bank Presents 3-bedroom Bungalows to Family Show Winners 

.Insists on affordable home ownership drive

Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja

A major player in the mortgage sub-sector, AG Mortgage Bank (AGMB) Plc has devised an innovative approach to bridge the gap in the nation’s housing deficit, targeting the provision of 1,000 livable and affordable homes annually.

Presenting two units of fully-furnished three-bedroom bungalows at the Grand Luvu Estate in Masaka, Nasarawa State to the winners of the bank’s 2023 edition of the  ‘Big Family Dream Show’, the Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the primary mortgage institution, Mr. Simon Ogwu stated that the bank was desirous of making livable and affordable home ownership easier.  

Ogwu said: “We are a mortgage institution and real estate finance institution and our primary goal is to make sure we provide every family in Nigeria with a livable and affordable home.

“In achieving that, we realize that people need to understand how market penetration is done. A lot of people don’t understand that they can own homes through a mortgage platform in this country.

“So, our aim and objectives is to ensure that we drive down culture of home ownership through mortgage creation and you cannot access mortgage if you don’t understand the culture of savings because there is a portion that is called the personal stake which is your equity payment that is required to access a composite sum which we called a mortgage.

“We have this understanding that we need to provide every family with a home. For instance, if a home is provided for a family consisting of a father, mother and ideally three children, it means five human beings have shelter over their head. If 100 homes are achieved in a year, 500 souls would be given homes.

“If we are able to achieve our target of providing at least 1,000 livable and affordable homes yearly for Nigerians, that means we are providing 500,000 people accommodation every year.

“AG mortgage bank is decisive about this and this is our dream in the last three years and this is what we have been pressing on to do in the next five years of our corporate existence and we want to scale up as much as possible.”

He disclosed that the bank came up with the show as part of overall measures to actualise its drive for more Nigerians to own livable and affordable homes, adding that “the Big Family Dream Show’ is a reality television programme that helps families to understand the culture of savings and financial management towards home acquisition.”

The show, categorised  into the ‘evangel’ and ‘secular’ groups started with an audition across the country and the selection of participants of the television programme, culminating in the eventual winners who won a unit three-bedroom bungalow each.

While Rev. Bassey Kalu won the evangel category, the Dickson Oyetayo family emerged victorious in the secular category.

Presenting the keys to the winners, Ogwu observed that it takes a bank with the credibility and doggedness which AGMB is noted for to keep to its promise at a time the economic fundamentals steadily headed south, contrary to the situation at the commencement of the show.

He pointed out that the bank goes with the mantra of “the partner you can trust”, adding that despite the worsening inflationary trend and other economic dislocations, AGMB still went ahead to deliver the bungalows where other players would have defaulted, using the worsening economic environment as an alibi.

Receiving the keys to his bungalow, Rev. Bassey Kalu who was beside himself with joy, said it was like a dream having to win a three-bedroom bungalow.

The highly elated Kalu stated that he would henceforth become the ambassador of AGMB, ready to encourage people to be part of the bank’s sterling operations and credibility.

“I am highly enthused. It’s like a dream, and I thank God and AGMB for being a bank that can be trusted despite the economic quagmire.

“My family is now a proud owner of a three-bedroom bungalow courtesy of AGMB Plc,” he said.

Also speaking on behalf of her family while receiving the keys to another three-bedroom bungalow at the Grand Luvu Estate, Masaka, Mrs. Dickson Oyetayo said it was commendable that AGMB fulfilled its promise at a time of a distressed economy.