From TCNEWS
The Chairman, Nigerian Society of Engineers, NSE Umuahia branch Engr. Romanus Enyinnaya has observed that housing deficit in Nigeria has remain a complex issue that would require collaboration between the government, the Engineers, private sector and financial institutions to ameliorate.
Enyinnaya, interacted with our correspondent in Umuahia, Abia State capital, as some countries across the globe celebrate the year 2024 Housing Day, which comes up on November 18.
According to the records available, Housing Day first appeared in 1998 with the determination to establish homelessness as a national disaster.
The NSE boss who also observed that homelessness has also remain a serious problem in the various communities, believed that Housing Day was established as part of a movement to combat it all over the world.
Enyinnaya, appreciated Governor Alex Otti administration’s which has succeeded in eliminating the once existing bottleneck procedures associated with planning permit and issuance of Certificate of Occupancy and to an extent poor housing policies in the state, however decried that Nigeria still face major factors inhibiting access to affordable homes, which include high cost of land, building materials, lack of access to good infrastructure, frequent building collapse, lack of affordable mortgage, lack of virile mortgage sector, poor housing finance and high banks’ interest rates.
He enjoined wealthy Nigerians and other Corporate bodies to look into organizations in their Communities on Housing Day, and see what they can do to make a difference in the neighbourhood.
While observing that Housing Day works to help change the perception of homelessness, and to provide a home for those who are currently suffering from homelessness, he encouraged the Nation’s leadership to establish homelessness as a national disaster.
It was gathered that in the United States, alone there are 643,000 homeless people, and 200,000 in Canada according to a 2008 study, and in many locations homelessness is treated as a criminal problem. Also it was gathered that despite several initiatives namely; the National Housing Fund (NHF), Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company, Family Homes Funds (FHF), Association of Housing Corporation of Nigeria (AHCN), and Federal Housing Authority (FHA), the nation’s deficit is estimated at 22 million units, while many Nigerians live in slums/unhealthy environment.
Engr. Enyinnaya therefore suggests that the government should make Housing Day work to help change this perception, and to provide a home for those who are currently suffering from homelessness.