Buhari’s housing omission
According to him, the covenant is to “provide a bird’s eye view” of how he intends to bring about the change that Nigerians have been yearning for. Buhari’s covenant, largely derived from the APC manifesto breaks the three broad issues of National Security; Economic Development; Food, Health & Social Security into 12 sectors. Namely: Corruption, […]
According to him, the covenant is to “provide a bird’s eye view” of how he intends to bring about the change that Nigerians have been yearning for. Buhari’s covenant, largely derived from the APC manifesto breaks the three broad issues of National Security; Economic Development; Food, Health & Social Security into 12 sectors. Namely: Corruption, Access to justice & respect for fundamental human rights; National security (with particular emphasis on the Boko Haram insurgency); Niger Delta issues; Diversity issues, Health; Education; Agriculture; Economy; Power; Sports; and Culture.
One’s guess would be that whatever detailed plans Buhari’s government begins to unfold in the coming weeks and months, they will all fit into the afore-mentioned “log frames”. But there are obviously omissions in the sectorial listings. Housing, for instance is not mentioned, despite the very serious need that exists in that sector, as well as the vital role that housing plays in the three broad areas of National Security, Economic Development, Food & Social Security. Over the next couple of weeks, I intend to lay out the basis for a draft housing plan for the incoming government in the hope that ordinary Nigerians this time around, will get a better deal in the area of housing.
Indeed, it is hoped that the incoming government will not, as its predecessors had done, relegate housing issues – so fundamental to human existence – to a secondary position. This is evidenced by the fact that unlike the ministries of Defence, Finance, Power, Agriculture, Education & Health, seldom has much attention been paid to the Ministry of Housing. Ministerial appointees have more often than not only “accidentally” found themselves posted to its headquarters at Mabushi, completely devoid of any vision or even, knowledge of the needs of the sector.
The Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing & Urban Development (FMLHUD) has arguably experienced the greatest number of ministerial changes amongst its fellow departments since it was created more than 14 years ago. There have been a total of eight ministers to that ministry alone. Ministers literally come and go “as you change your headgear”! We have hardly witnessed continuity in policy thrust neither has there been programmatic consistency in this ministry.
Despite the glaring omission of Housing in Buhari’s acceptance statement (though the APC manifesto gives it some mention), it is important to state that housing will indeed play a critical role in ensuring that his 12-point agenda (if I may call it that) is achieved. Over the next few weeks, I intend to go into more depth, outlining what role housing plays specifically in Economic Development, Social Security and not least, National Security. The housing card may well be the ace that connects the Nigerian socio-economic puzzle together and acts as underlying catalyst to the unleashing of the greatest economic miracle that Africa – and indeed the world has ever seen. Through housing, we are not just building homes, we are actually building a new Nigeria.
Odia ([email protected]) is a National Director of The Fuller Center for Housing, a worldwide non-profit organization working to ensure that everyone has a simple, decent and affordable home in which to live.