The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has urged state governors to provide Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) with at least 10 hectares of land in their domains to build a minimum of 200 housing units for workers.
President of NLC, Ayuba Wabba, made this appeal in Abuja at the weekend when he visited FMBN Managing Director, Ahmad Musa Dangiwa. Wabba told journalists that there were ongoing FMBN-financed housing projects in 14 states now in two phases, charging other state governors where the projects have not commenced to allocate lands to the bank to flag off such projects.
He explained that the Phase 1 of the two planned housing projects for workers, which is ongoing in 14 project centres with Abuja and Lagos as special centres, is aimed at addressing housing deficit among members of NLC and TUC across the nation.
The labour leader listed Jigawa, Nasarawa, Kogi, Enugu and Akwa-Ibom among the states where the first phase of the project had been completed and would be ready for commissioning next month. While fielding questions from journalists after his visit, Wabba said the workers who contributed 2.5% housing fund from their salaries are beneficiaries of the scheme.
He said, “The programme is planned to provide 100 houses in each state of the federation starting with 14 pilot project centres in phase 1 with 2 projects in each geo-political zone with Lagos and Abuja as special centres. The purpose is to assist Nigerian workers to have houses of their own that are decent and affordable. “The phase one of this project is in various stages in 14 pilot centres where construction works have since commenced.
We have also attained 80% completion in those centres with some of the centres presently awaiting commissioning. “The following sites are now fully completed and ready for commissioning by April 2020: Jigawa, Nasarawa, Kogi, Enugu and Akwa-Ibom. “The second phase of the programme is about to take off. We are therefore using this medium to appeal to State governors where this programme has not commenced, to provide the bank with 10 hectares of land to enable us implement the programme with 200 units in their respective states for the benefits of their workers.
“We also like the governors to provide infrastructure to the estates in order to make the houses more affordable as a way of subsidy. The bank is presently reviewing the building designs as well as the bill of quantity to further enhance affordability and conformity with building cost”, Wabba pleaded.
In his remarks, the FMBN managing director, Dangiwa confirmed that members of NLC and TUC had been captured in the mortgage scheme, promising to collaborate with the NLC, TUC NECA to reduce the existing housing deficit and ensure all the projects embarked on are completed.
