Nigerian Federal Government social housing scheme, Family Homes Funds has started the process of fashioning a working relationship with the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute NBRRI.
The MD/CEO of Family Homes Funds, Femi Adewole and his team paid a courtesy visit to the research institute’s headquarters in Abuja on Monday to identify areas of cooperation that will help achieve the delivery affordable housing to millions of Nigerians in need of it.
They were received by the NBRRI team led by Professor Samson Duna, (Acting Director General) and all Heads of various departments of NBRRI.
The courtesy call according to Femi Adewole, is to explore opportunities of working together.
‘’We are in an age of information and knowledge for delivering change. And for the Family Homes Funds, we are absolutely clear that if we are going to deliver change in the way that housing is delivered in Nigeria, knowledge has to be a critical part of that, and I think the nation’s leading building research institute therefore becomes a key partner and I think we agreed today that we will work together,’’ he said.
The outcome of the courtesy meeting was the setting up of a bilateral team that will explore concrete areas for collaboration with concrete results. The committee, according to Adewole, will report back in a month, after which they would reach an official partnership agreement with NBRRI.
‘’I am really hopeful that this will deliver some significant step change in how we deliver housing in Nigeria,’’ he added.
Speaking on behalf of NBRRI, Prof Samson Duna, said they were delighted about the visit from Family Homes Funds.
‘’They came with a good intention, and a good framework of trying to bring houses to the doorsteps of those that cannot afford. They come with good ideas, and the ideas will lead into collaboration; where they need our assistance we come in to provide that; where we need theirs, they too will come in to provide that. So it is a win-win situation for all. But the most important thing is to ensure that we work together to have a cost friendly and affordable housing system in Nigeria,’’ he said.
The Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI) is responsible for researching and developing road and building materials for the Nigerian Construction Industry. The institute is under the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology of Nigeria.
What they do, according to Duna, is to identify a problem in that sector and provide solutions from research point of view.
Family Homes Funds is in trust of up to N500 billion to deliver 500, 000 affordable houses by 2023. As at today, over 10, 000 and many more houses are in the works in several parts of the country courtesy of the Fund.
