In order to ensure the effective creation and implementation of relevant policies, housing sector professionals are pushing for the establishment of a separate Ministry of Housing.
They said that the inability of the administration to close the housing gap in the nation during the previous four years necessitated the separation of the housing ministry from the works ministry.
Toye Eniola, the executive secretary of the Association of Housing Companies of Nigeria, claims that significant attention must be given to housing and that fair concentrate on its operations would result in the desired transformation.
He said, “At this point, separation seems to be the best option. Housing is a large department and requires serious attention. Merging it with the Ministry of Works has not given the best results.
“In the last four years, concentration was only on roads with little on housing. If the ministry is standing alone, it will give reasonable concentration on activities that will improve the sector.
“If the Ministry of Housing stands alone, it will be better positioned for service delivery. The failure of the past year is enough reason to demand a stand-alone Ministry of Housing, and the incoming government should brood over that if they want to resolve some of the issues bedevilling the industry.”
On his part, the Managing Director of COPEN group, Ugochukwu Chime, noted that “The creation of a substantive Housing Ministry is critical to any progress in the humongous area of our national life.
“Housing and related matters, including real estate, are big enough to be a full-fledged ministry and not subsumed under the Ministry of Works in any country.”
He explained that the creation of housing ministry would give room for a clear mandate for superintending over any issues related to housing directly and indirectly.
