FG not committed to affordable housing provision: REDAN
National President of Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria, REDAN, Chief Olabode Afolayon, who revealed this shortly after a meeting of the stakeholders in Abuja at the weekend, said the government has reneged on its several promises to recapitalize the bank to the tune of $200 million. He said the implication is just for us […]
National President of Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria, REDAN, Chief Olabode Afolayon, who revealed this shortly after a meeting of the stakeholders in Abuja at the weekend, said the government has reneged on its several promises to recapitalize the bank to the tune of $200 million.
He said the implication is just for us to continue to believe and act and do business in the act that housing in Nigeria is going to be 99.9 per cent private sector driven, and to forget about the government.
According to him, “you can see in the last three years the federal government has been talking everyday about housing. It is talking about recapitalization of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, FMBN. So we are tired. We don’t want to believe Mr. President anymore.
“I read it over the pages of the newspaper about two weeks ago during the flag-off of housing estate for the paramilitary, the president repeated it that they are going to recapitalize FMBN. For goodness sake how can you be saying the same thing for three years?
“Each time people like us and others in the sector listen to the president talking it help us to sit down and reappraise yourself because we see it as a direction of the government but these days we are tired. We don’t even want the government to talk about recapitalization anymore.
“The last time we were with the president during the Presidential Retreat in December and the issue of mortgage refinancing came up the government said they want to enhance the bank by encouraging MRC for them to enhance demand through the provision of mortgages but that was the last we heard about it.
“We all see that the FMBN is doing a good job within the means of what they have. Stakeholders in housing we will not believe a thing from the government except something is done within the next couple of days because we have for three financial years. The government is really not doing anything about it.
“I think that account for a whole lot of building in Abuja up for sales, even the ones within the affordable bracket people are not coming up for it. To even worsen the whole thing every day the issue of title, the issue of ownership to land is never resolved. For how long will it take the government to resolve the Lugbe crises for instance?”