PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN ( R ) UNVEILING THE PLAGUE TO COMMISSION THE FMBN AVIATION VILLAGE IN ABUJA. WITH HIM MIDDLE IS PRESIDENT, REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA CHIEF BODE AFOLAYAN, AND CHAIRMAN COMMITTEE ON HOUSING SEN. BUKAR ABBA
BEVERLY HILLS, February 13, (THEWILL) – Barely 48 hours after the Federal Government unveiled the National Industrialisation Development Plan amid fanfare in Abuja, President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday continued with the giant strides of his administration as he inaugurated the N2.4bn mass housing scheme financed by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) known as the Aviation Village . He also unveiled the National Housing Fund (NHF) e-card at the same occasion in Abuja.
Speaking at the ceremony, President Jonathan said his administration was determined to provide housing for all Nigerians.
“As for this administration, I assure you all that improving the living standards of Nigerians is an imperative which we are resolutely pursuing,” he said, as he disclosed the inauguration of the 270 flats Abuja Aviation Village was one of the results of the housing retreat he hosted in Abuja three years ago.
According to President Jonathan, the National Policy on Housing had ensured that finance institutions with interest in housing are more strengthened and relevant to low income earners.
President Jonathan, who also inaugurated the National Housing Fund (NHF) e-card scheme at the event , said it will greatly assist NHF in assessing and monitoring their contributions and transactions with the Fund.
Stressing the need for defaulters to comply by paying their contributions promptly, President Jonathan said:
“Our intention is not to create a government monopoly but to encourage the private sector to drive the process while we provide the right policies and environment.”
According to the President, “What makes a change is not the big things we do but the little things we do and to do them well.”
Minister of Solid Minerals and Supervising Minister of Housing, Lands and Urban Development, Musa Sada, in his speech at the occasion , disclosed that the FMBN would soon be privatised and advised the institution to continue its great work in the area of estate construction across the country.
Sada also disclosed that the new National Building Code would soon be rolled out, saying housing for all Nigerians is feasible.
The Minister said the NHF e-card is a modern technology and a welcome development as it will ensure online access by NHF contributors.
However, the Chairman , Senate Committee on Housing, Bukar Abba Ibrahim, who congratulated President Jonathan on the efforts being made to tackle insecurity in the North-east, urged him to reverse what he described as the marginalisation of the region. He also advocated the replication of the Aviation Village across the country.
In his remarks at the occasion, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President, Abdulwahab Omar, told President Jonathan that “we are witnessing true transformation, nobody should discourage you when we invite you to come and commission more houses or even for ground-breaking ceremonies at new sites.”
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