Dangiwa to FHA: Delivery of 1,000 Houses Annually Inadequate, Unacceptable 

*Wants agency to approach capital market, issue bonds

*Fashola advises FHA to run on strict corporate governance principles

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Mr Ahmed Dangiwa yesterday said that the average of 1,000 housing units built per year in the last five decades by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) was inadequate and unacceptable.

Speaking at the 50th anniversary of the FHA in Abuja, Dangiwa said the management and staff of the agency and all housing stakeholders should therefore use the moment to reflect on the enormous work that still needs to be done in the sector.
He urged the agency to wake up to its responsibilities by sourcing for long-term funding from the capital market, which could even make the organisation declare profits in the long run.

“Records show that FHA has only delivered a cumulative of just over 50,000 housing units. That shows an average of 1,000 houses per year in 50 years.
“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,” he said.

The minister recalled that last month, during the Shelter Afrique meeting in Algeria, he found out from the Algerian government that an agency like the FHA delivers between 400,000 and 1 million houses annually for that country.
He added that President Bola Tinubu was interested in seeing a reformed, more efficient, and capable FHA that would have the financial strength to deliver more on its mandate.

The minister said that the FHA has an advantage of operating across all income segments and must take advantage of its unique position to deliver more value to government and Nigerians.
 “I want to see the FHA go to the capital market, issue bonds, and raise funding to deliver mass housing projects across the country, market them, payback the loans, and declare profit.

“In the next 50 years, we expect that the FHA would be celebrating millions of homes built and successfully delivered to Nigerians,” he said.
Dangiwa stated that as the organisation which has free access to land from the federal government in all layouts and new districts,p as well as relationships with other government entities, the FHA should strive to do more.

“I am also pained to say that analysis of all the Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) that the FHA has 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 added.
To ensure speedy delivery of its agenda, Dangiwa said his ministry has  secured presidential consent to inaugurate a land reforms committee comprising state governments, traditional rulers, among others.

Also speaking at the event, former Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), noted that the FHA must begin to take a demand-driven approach to embark on sustainable housing delivery.
He said: “Perhaps, unknown to members of the public, the resources available for housing at the federal level are insignificant and not proportionate to the expectation.

“I therefore not only hope, but I also expect that there will be deliberate follow-ups on the theme of the National Council, with the objective of ensuring that commensurate and substantial funding is available for housing delivery generally and to FHA and allied agencies particularly.

“As far as FHA is concerned, I will repeat publicly my advice to them when I was the Minister for Housing supervising the authority; namely that they are owners of very large estates, and vast tracts of land which are very valuable assets upon which financing can be raised.”
However , he stated that he was not suggesting the disposal of the assets for cash, but argued that if the assets are properly valued, titled and managed, they can unlock vast financial resources.

“In this way, FHA can become a proper business run on very strict corporate governance principles that conform with global best practice and this will be consistent with previous attempts to commercialise or privatise the authority.
“It is a long and I daresay painful process which must start from within FHA and which will require some external professional support, but which I firmly believe can be done,” he stressed.

In his address, former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd), said providing shelter for Nigerians is still a priority today as it was 50 years ago, and even more so in view of rapid population growth.
Commending the FHA for its efforts and achievements over the decades, Gowon noted that there was still so much more work to do.

Earlier in his opening remarks, the Managing Director of the FHA, Senator Gbenga Ashafa, stressed that the Authority was already implementing operational reforms in the areas of digitisation and process optimisation.
He noted that the FHA must build on the successes of the past to deliver more houses to Nigerians that are decent and affordable.