Hold talks with NLC, TUC, NECA on affordable housing scheme
Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, has revealed plans to meet with manufacturers of cement and other building materials in the country in a bid to stem the incessant rising cost of their products and enhance the delivery of affordable housing.
The move is aimed at better understanding the challenges in the sector, sharpening measures to mitigate the rising cost of building materials in the country and finding sustainable ways to address them.
The minister disclosed the move, yesterday, during a courtesy call by a delegation of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) to discuss the progress of the collaboration between the FMBN and the labour unions, especially as it concerns the National Affordable Housing Delivery Programme for Nigerian Workers (NAHDEP), which was initiated by the minister during his tenure as FMBN’s Managing Director.
Dangiwa queried the recurring disproportionate increase in the price of cement in particular, especially considering that cement producers in the country source all their raw materials locally.
He said: “It is disheartening to see how much Nigerians have to pay for essential building commodities like cement, with the prices rising almost on a daily basis. I don’t understand the reason for the increase, and it is not acceptable.
“I am going to be meeting with these manufacturers soon so that they can explain to Nigerians the reasons for such incessant hikes. I know that the cement producers source their raw materials in Nigeria, the limestone, clay, silica sand, gypsum, iron ore and the rest.
“These minerals abound in Nigeria and these manufacturers get them here. So, there is no justification to try and blame it all on the rise of the dollar.”
The minister assured the delegation of the commitment of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration to providing decent and affordable shelter and livable communities to low- and medium-income earners, as well as the vulnerable in society.
He said this also involves creating a conducive environment for the private sector to thrive, including ensuring building materials are affordable and accessible.
Dangiwa, who spoke on the partnership between the FMBN and organisedlabour, emphasised the need for the mortgage bank to reform and innovate its operations, calling on the NLC, TUC, and NECA to see the bank and the National Housing Fund (NHF) scheme as their own that they must encourage and support the institution to do better towards delivering decent shelter to their members.
