The Federal Government said on Wednesday that it would soon commence construction of 735 housing units across seven states under its Ministerial Housing Scheme.
The Chairman of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Mr Olabisi Ogunjobi, made this known to newsmen in Akure after a courtesy visit to Gov. Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State.
According to him, the arrangement will involve the bank building 105 housing units in each of the pilot states, including Ondo.
He said the scheme would be a tripartite arrangement where the state governments would provide land, the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development would provide back up while the bank would make available fund.
Ogunjobi,said that five of the benefiting states had already been identified on the basis of their performance in housing programmes, .
“We are selecting seven states as pilot for this project and Ondo State has been selected as one of the states.
“We will have detailed discussion with the states on how they will be able to benefit from the programme.
“The selection is based on performance of the states and we do hope that the states will be able to provide the required facilities and we will be able to do our own part.
“We want to ensure that every Nigerian owns a house, it is a sign of achievement.
“It is the most singular investment that any young man below age 50 can record,” he said.
Ogunjobi however expressed regret that many states had withdrawn from the National Housing Insurance Scheme.
He said the new management of the bank was determined to bring back the states into the scheme.
Earlier, Mimiko had expressed the state’s readiness to go back to the scheme, saying that its withdrawal in the first place was based on the bad experience of civil servants in the scheme.
The governor, however, said the state was ready to partner with the bank and other agencies in the housing sector to explore areas of opportunity for the benefit of the people of the state.