The Acting Director General of Infrastructural Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Engr. Chidi K.C. Izuwah has said that “agitations will be greatly reduced if there are enough homes in Nigeria, as construction of these homes will lead to more job creations.”
Izuwah made this assertion when he paid a courtesy visit to the Corporate Headquarters of the Millard Fuller Foundation, Masaka on Thursday, 5th October 2017.
The ICRC team headed by the Ag. DG was welcomed by the management of the Millard Fuller Foundation after which the CEO, Sam Odia took them through an audio-visual presentation of MFF projects and model.
Odia said that MFF is passionate about making sure that every Nigerian has access to affordable housing. He said, “Though there is generally no acceptable definition of the term “Affordable Housing”, MFF has adopted the definition which defines affordable housing ‘as a term used to describe dwelling units whose total housing costs are deemed affordable to those that have a median income. The median income is the income that divides the society into two and for there to be truly affordable houses in Nigeria, there needs to be a paradigm shift as creating truly affordable housing is an objective that can be met if there are deliberate efforts on the part of policymakers.”
Odia continued, “For us at MFF, economic empowerment is also very important as we have created about 4,149 temporary jobs since our inception, this is because 38 persons are engaged to construct a block of two semi-detached housing unit.”
Shortly after the presentation, the team was taken on a tour of the Fuller Projects. Visibly impressed at the level of work being done by MFF Housing, Izuwah thanked Odia and the Executive Director Projects for their contribution to affordable housing in Nigeria and also for ensuring that low-income earners in Nigeria have access to affordable housing. In his words, “Sam, what you and Funmi are doing here at the Fuller Center must be commended. You are doing a great job to ensure that the common man in Nigeria has a roof over his head.”
Making a presentation of the India PPP Model for Affordable Housing, he said further, “The reason we are here is to present to you and your organisation the PPP Model for Affordable Housing in India, and to also commend and acknowledge your good works. We are very excited at what you are doing for Nigeria in the area of affordable housing. We plan to organise an expert roundtable to crack the challenges of housing in Nigeria, and we hope that you will be a part of it, we also look forward to partnering with you to deliver the “big bang” approach to solving the housing challenges in Nigeria.”
The ICRC was established to regulate Public Private Partnership (PPP) endeavours of the Federal government aimed at addressing Nigeria’s physical infrastructure deficit, which hampers economic development.