Former Minister of State for External Affairs, Chief Dubem Onyia, has faulted the housing policies and programmes of the Federal and State Governments, insisting that they were meant to favour the elite, particularly the political class.
Chief Onyia also blamed the retarded growth in Nigeria’s Housing sector on the domination of the sector by touts rather than professionals.
Onyia, who was a member of House of Reps, spoke Wednesday during the 2016 1st Enugu Housing/ Real Estate Development Forum, organized by the Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA).
He said he regretted that anytime governments talked about building a real estate, it was for the elite and not the lower class.
According to him, “ You don’t build for the lower class people. I am happy that the Commissioner for Housing in Enugu State is here. I want to see that by the end of this programme, the common man in Nigeria will have hope for affordable housing.”
Also speaking on the occasion, President of ECCIMA, Rev. Ugo Chime said the chamber working with Real Estate Development Association of Nigeria (REDAN) chose to invite all stakeholders not only in improving housing in the country but creating employment in the country.
Rev Chime explained that they were offering training to artisans with the support of UKaid because they believe that artisans were key stakeholders in the housing sector.
Citing the experience of South-Africa and United States where the real estate sector contributes 60 percent and 65 percent respectively to their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the ECCIMA President expressed the belief that housing development could save the country from recession and put her back to the path of economic growth and sustainable development.
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