Zamfara, Housing Ministry Collaborate on Construction of Homes for IDPs, Others

•Ministry launches performance management system

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development as well as the Zamfara state government yesterday agreed to collaborate in the area of construction of shelters, especially for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the north-western state.

Speaking during a meeting in Abuja, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, stated that with the 50 hectares of land given for housing free of charge, the ministry would henceforth make the state a priority in its housing programmes.

According to him, for the next batch of estates being embarked upon, the ministry will take Zamfara State as a strategically important state in the next budget.

He added that under the federal government initiative of rebuilding the insecure areas in the country that are affected by banditry, Zamfara State has been picked and in a couple of weeks, a groundbreaking ceremony will take place.

Dangiwa further stated that there were areas of collaboration on the National Housing Programme (NHP) houses for already built houses in Zamfara State and how they can be disposed through the state government.

“250 are the first ones to be done for the Renewed Hope Estates. For the other initiative, we are thinking of 256 housing units. So in total, we are thinking of 500 housing units within one year”, Dangiwa added.

He said  officials of the ministry had been engaging with the state’s team to begin talks regarding its interest in purchasing the housing units under the National Housing Programme at fair and reasonable rates.

“Our aim is just to recover the cost of constructing these houses so we can build more for other individuals to benefit in such. We have applied for some discounts and we do want to go up because the industry pays according to the loan use of the houses.

“ Furthermore, the government has worked to ensure that it has the vulnerable at heart because we know that the government will want to protect them”

 Also speaking, the Governor of Zamfara state, Dauda Lawal, said that considering the situation in Zamfara State, where there are serious challenges in terms of infrastructure, there was a need for collaboration between Zamfara  State Government and the Ministry.

He said that the ministry is constructing houses in the state and there was the need for the ministry to come to the aid of the state because of its peculiarity.

 “Zamfara State is an agrarian economy. Of course, within the last 12 years, we’ve been facing challenges of insecurity, but this time around, if you go round the state, you will see that there’s significant improvement in terms of farming by the people.

“The security situation is coming down drastically, and we’ll continue to do that until we achieve our aim in bringing insecurity to the minimum, to the barest level in Zamfara and Nigeria as a whole,” he added.

Separately, earlier, while launching the Performance Management Day (PMS)  for the ministry, the Permanent Secretary, Dr Marcus Ogunbiyi stated that the event  will take place every Thursday.

He described it as the beginning of a transformative journey to  heed the directive from the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, which mandates the day to be set aside for activities related to performance management system.

“ This directive is not just a routine exercise; it is a call to action for all of us to fully embrace the vision of an efficient, effective, responsive and performance-based Federal Civil Service.

“Performance Management System is a tool for goal and target setting, appraisal and monitoring of employee performance and the delivery of institutional mandates. It provides a systematic and coordinated process of planning work, setting targets, providing support to employees and measuring results.

“It also provides the framework for continuous tracking of employees’ performance in a manner that is consistent and measurable, for developing and improving their capacities to perform on their jobs and for motivating them for increased productivity.

“The institutionalisation of a functional performance management system being one of the six pillars of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021-2025, (FCSSIP25) will improve efficiency and productivity in the public service and is key to achievement of the objectives of the ongoing reform initiatives and culture re-orientation in the Public Service,” he said.