Some experts in the built industry have expressed mixed reactions over plans by the President-Elect, Bola Tinubu, to merge Federal Government agencies saddled with the responsibility to promote homeownership.
The agencies are the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, the Nigerian Mortgage Refinancing Company and the Family Homes Fund Limited.
The experts who spoke in separate telephone interviews with newsmen noted that the move may hamper the country’s housing programmes.
They urged the incoming government to recapitalise FMBN and FHFL and reposition them to effectively cater to target segments of society, instead of merging them.
Recall that the President-elect had in his “Renewed Hope” manifesto promised that his government would ensure greater cohesion and efficiency by merging these agencies into a new, more competent body.
According to the document, the newly created agency will have a three-fold mandate to grant low-interest-rate mortgages directly; guarantee qualified mortgages issued by banks; and purchase mortgages from private banks.
The document stated that the new entity will inherit the functions of existing housing authorities and would be adequately capitalised by the Federal Government.
It added that the Federal Government housing agencies were too small and fragmented to effectively address the country’s housing deficit.
But reacting, the Chairman of the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria, Samson Opaluwah, described the planned merger as a step in the right direction if the pooling of funds would provide capital to meet up housing demand.
He further stated that the legal framework establishing the institutions must be looked into, amended or repealed to suit the public interest in housing.
He said, “If the idea is to have a larger pool of funds to support the real estate industry and enhance accessibility by Nigerians that is commendable.
“However, I am not certain that the move will result in the provision of more homes for Nigerians.
“Perhaps a more impactive approach will be to recapitalise FMBN and FHFL and reposition them to effectively cater to target segments of the society.”
He stressed the need to refocus NMRC and make it effective, adding that all the agencies needed to be repositioned to enable them to deliver housing to Nigerians who are in dire need of shelter.
Reacting, the President of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, Nathaniel Atebije, stated that duplication of objectives has made the agencies redundant adding that the merger will improve synergy, stronger focus and operational efficiency in service delivery.
“One of the challenges of many Nigerian Public Institutions is that they carry out similar schedules. This makes many people in the service redundant without effective contribution to the delivery of the mandate.
“The advantages of such merger would be an improvement in synergy, stronger focus and operational efficiency in service delivery.”
On his part, the Executive Director of the Housing Development Advocacy Network, Festus Adebayo, disagreed with the plan saying that the agencies should not be merged but commercialised for better efficiency.
“Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Family homes funds and the Nigerian Mortgage Refinancing Company should not be merged. These companies were established for different purposes under separate ministries.
“Also, 50 per cent of the shareholding in NMRC belongs to private sector investors. A merger will lead to litigation. The process of merging them which will take a long time can be used to restrengthen and restructure them for better efficiency.
“FMBN should be commercialised for more results and Family homes should be restricted to financing responsibility and stop doing direct development. it must think out of the box to get alternative building materials to enable the delivery of the mandate of social housing,” he asserted.
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