The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Mr Ahmed Dangiwa, has said that the ministry is being positioned to function optimally in the delivery of quality housing to Nigerians.
Dangiwa said this when a delegation from the Nigeria Institute of Architects (NIA) paid him a visit on Tuesday in Abuja.
” We are positioning the ministry to perform optimally as the organ that can provide policy directions to the housing sector,”he said.
He said that most of the housing policies are under review to ensure that they are in tandem with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
The minister said that reviewing these policies would create the enabling environment that could lead to economic growth and would be a catalyst for job creation.
He assured that the ministry would look into the issue of housing collapse in the country.
Dangiwa said that with the collective inputs of the professionals in the building sector and Commissioners of housing, the ministry will come up with policies on how to curtail the menace.
Earlier, the President of Nigeria Institute of Architects, Mr Enyi Ben-Eboh, urged the minister to look into areas impeding the practice of architecture in Nigeria.
He called for the creation of unit to solely deal with the regulation of building materials coming into the country.
Ben-Eboh also said that reviewing the National Housing Policy would be beneficial to Architects;
He solicited for a policy that could make funding available for housing, and also urged ministry of housing to come up with a policy to regulate the activities of private developers in Nigeria.
The president urged the minister to ensure that architects are involved in the National Development Plan (2021-2025), to help the Federal Government to achieve the mandate of providing 500, 000 – 1 million houses yearly.
He called for the resuscitation of the regular meeting of Chief Architects of Nigeria which, he said would enable positive practice of architecture in the country.
Eboh proposed the establishment of the Office of Architect General of the Federation to oversee the activities of members and their operation in Nigeria.