The escalating housing crisis in Nigeria is not entirely a result of growing population and rapid urbanisation. Investments and interventions that can change the narrative and create the needed impact are still lacking; hence, the kind of partnership between the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) and the Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board (FGSHLB) on workers’ housing scheme should be encouraged, even at the private-sector level, writes CHUKA UROKO, Property Editor.
Lack of easy access to affordable housing is one of the most intractable social and economic problems Nigerians, particularly low-income workers, have been contending with over the years.
Many of these workers, who work in the city centres, find homes in far-flung and unimaginable locations outside the city, spending quality man-hours commuting to work daily. This has grave implications, not only for productivity but also for the health of the workers.
This explains why the N10 billion partnership for affordable housing fostered recently between the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) and the Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board (FGSHLB) is not only a good example of what to do to lift Nigerian workers, but also a potential changer of the affordable housing story in the country.
