The Minster of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio has lauded the Ministry’s Staff Multi-Purpose Co-operative Society for developing 500 Housing Unit Project to promote staff welfare in the Ministry.
The Minister’s commendation was conveyed on Friday in a statement by the Director of Press and Public Relations, Deworitshe Patricia in Abuja.
TheFact Nigeria reports that the initiative is coming at a time when experts in the housing sector had predicted that Nigeria will experience a 22 million housing deficit in the next ten years if nothing is done to curb housing deficit in the country.
Currently, There is an estimated 17 million housing deficit in the Federal capital Territory,Abuja.
Senator Akpabio who was represented by the Minister of State, Senator Omotayo Alasoadura said, “President Muhammadu Buhari Government has shown greater concern for the welfare of its citizen as every good Government will naturally endeavor to promote welfare policies of which, housing is an important one”.
He expressed delight that the Head of Service of the Federation has keyed into the initiative of the President by building and distributing houses to Civil Servants through the Federal Integrated Staff Housing Project (FISH), which without doubt is a motivating factor to all Federal Civil Servants.
According to him, the housing units being jointly developed by the Ministry’s Cooperative Society and Haleem Integrated Limited would avail the staff of the Ministry the opportunity to live in their own houses before their retirement.
He further stated that an independent monitoring committee would be set up by the Ministry to ensure that the houses built for the Staff are of good quality adding that the Ministry will encourage, advice and support the society as it undertakes the project.
He therefore advised members of staff of the Ministry who are not part of the initiative to join accordingly because it would bring great succor to staff of the Ministry who would soon become proud house owners.
In her speech, the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, represented by the Permanent Secretary (HOS) Dr. Ngozi Onwudiwe stated that, “the project strikes the right cord with our Reform Flagship-the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 1&11 (FCSSIP) as staff welfare is one of the priority areas of FCSSIP and provision of befitting houses is key under this plan”.
She noted that the objective is to enable all civil servants to exit the conundrum and hassles associated with tenancy to become proud owners of houses while enjoining the developers to establish a high sense of professionalism and ensure that the houses that would eventually be delivered would be of good quality that will stand the test of time.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs who reiterated the importance of housing development for shelter in the life of humans, explained that the Ministry in conjunction with her cooperative society through the housing project is making a bold contribution in helping to alleviate hardship and unpleasant situations associated with housing particularly for civil servants in Abuja.
He opined that the scheme is a worthy one, as Off-Takers (mainly civil servants) will only contribute a little while the bulk of the payment to the Developers will come from the Federal Mortgage Bank. The Off-Takers will enjoy the leisure to easy payment, as this will spread over the number of years they have in service.
The Chairman of the Cooperative Society, Mr. Okechukwu Nwagbara expressed gratitude to the Management of the Ministry for their relentless support and assistance to make the project a reality.
