Former Managing Director of the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company, Professor Charles Inyangete, says Nigeria needs 363 billion dollars, about N111.08 trillion to meet current housing deficits in the country, The New Diplomat has gathered.
According to Inyangete while speaking at a Facility Management forum in Abuja, on Tuesday to mark the World Facility Management Day, the country would also require N3.65 trillion to increase housing stock by 730,000 units annually.
This, he said would go a long way to forestall the housing crisis in the country in the next couple of years,
He added the country currently had a housing stock of 21 million units, adding that going by the current growth rate in Nigeria, there would be a significant housing deficit unless efforts are geared towards addressing the gap.
According to him, the country is faced with poor infrastructure not only in the area of inadequate housing, but also in access to electricity and internet facility and poor road network.
“Only 25 per cent of our population has access to electricity; 51 per cent of Nigerians have access to internet; while only 18 per cent of Nigerian roads are paved.
“These poor infrastructures pose serious negative ramifications for the country.”
“Specifically, the poor infrastructure facility is reducing national economic growth by two per cent and business productivity by 40 per cent,” he said.
To this end, he said facility managers had a crucial role to play in addressing these challenges.
He said that professionals were expected to enhance their contribution to the sustainable cities agenda and also develop tools for the purpose of monitoring the performance of facilitie
He noted that efforts should be geared towards opening the capital market to enable facility managers raise fund seamlessly, as this would deepen their contribution to building sustainable cities.
He added that “Government cannot do it alone. There is increasing need for Public private partnership to address Nigeria’s economic growth.”
Also speaking, Mr. Lawal Magaji, Chairman, IFMA, Abuja Chapter, stressed the need for facility managers to be involved at the conception and design stages of any building or facility project, to ensure cost-effective management and maintenance of the facilities.
He further highlighted the need to commercialise some facilities in the country to help raise funds that would ultimately be used for the maintenance of the facilities and also generate funds for the government.
In addition, a communiqué issued at the end of the forum described facility management as a multi-disciplinary function that integrates people, place and process within the built environment with the purpose of improving the quality of life of people and productivity of the core business.
According to the communiqué, facilities management is expected to be not only on the operational level but as well as the strategic level wherein facilities managers should also be on the C-suite board room.
It noted that facilities management activity is expected to increase within the public sector, especially as the private sector is already progressing at a considerable and appreciable rate.
The document added that facilities managers are to be involved in infrastructure planning, design, construction and eventually in the operation of such infrastructure, especially as they are expected to be value creators within their respective organizations.
