• Darma unveils aggressive housing reforms, targets urban renewal
The Federal Government is strengthening its collaboration with China to accelerate the delivery of affordable housing and address Nigeria’s growing housing deficit by adopting innovative, scalable construction solutions.

This was as the new Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Muttaqha Darma, declared that his regime would pursue aggressive reforms in housing delivery, urban renewal and slum upgrade, promising to run the ministry with discipline, teamwork and measurable performance targets to reduce the hardship Nigerians face.

The government’s move follows a high-level technical study visit to Guangzhou led by the Director-General and Global Liaison of the Nigeria–China Strategic Partnership, Joseph Tegbe. The delegation included officials of Family Homes Funds Limited, notably the Managing Director, Abdul Mutallab Mukhtar, and the Executive Director (Operations), Henry Inegbu.

During the visit, discussions centred on integrating modular and prefabricated housing technologies into Nigeria’s construction sector. The approach is expected to reduce construction costs, speed up project delivery, and improve building quality on a large scale.

The meetings were facilitated by Joerno Conceptions Limited and E-Link Group, with additional support from the Executive Deputy Director of the China-Africa Economic and Trade Enterprises Working Committee, Zou Gang.

Speaking during his assumption of office in Abuja, Darma said he was not coming as a “boss” but as “captain of a team”, stressing that every member of staff would have a role in repositioning the ministry to deliver on President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

He said the ministry would immediately begin a comprehensive review of its operations, with directors expected to present detailed briefs on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOTs) facing the sector, beginning from today.

According to him, the outcome would form the basis of a strategic work plan with clear Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to be submitted to Tinubu.

“We are team players and we are set to win. I am just the captain of the team, not the boss,” Darma said, adding that every officer would have direct access to him to discuss ideas that could move the ministry forward. “If after three months we fail to meet our targets, then it means we are failing the President and Nigerians,” he said.

The minister vowed to strengthen the built industry, tackle urban slums and improve the nation’s housing system beyond political rhetoric, insisting that sabotage of agreed reforms would not be tolerated. He said the ministry would also engage critical stakeholders across the built environment sector to ensure broad ownership of its policies and programmes.

Earlier, the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, Yusuf Atta, said the ministry had made major strides in housing delivery through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), with projects across more than 17 states generating over 300,000 direct and indirect jobs.