In commemoration of the 2021 workers day which holds on the 1st of May, Nigerians took the opportunity to bare their minds on the current state of housing in the country and also to comment on the National Housing Fund.
Patrick Chidi, a staff of the National Orientation Agency said “There is serious housing deficit in Nigeria and it’s not about the workers alone, the workers have some arrangement within the public service, a lot of people get to retirement age before they are able to access the properties with 30% equity, the pro-rate, spreading the money over a period of years, it is impossible to would you get the house when there are only few years to serve”.
“Before the monetization policy, houses were given to workers as at the time of employment, the difference is what we are experiencing now because whatever housing you want to have, you have your National Housing Fund in your pay, so you have a house spread over the number of years you have in your service”
Chidi however said that without monetization, government feels they have transferred the burden of getting a house to the public servants, notwithstanding what the market value of properties would be at the time.
“Although the percentage of people that can access public housing would be really small ,however if a some little changes are made here and there ,then we can say at least 90% of public servants whether at the point of retirement of active service` will have access to public housing”, he added.
“As a civil servant, we pay monthly right from the point of employment,at the end of the service, if you are lucky, you get your money”, says Congress Serah, The Chairperson of Agro and Allied Employers’ Union of Federal Ministry of Environment.
According to her, there is really no hope as the system is basterdized because the civil service in Nigeria has been relegated.
“You only try on your own to survive. Apart from the monthly take home, I don’t think there is any other thing civil servants can be proud of in Nigeria”, she lamented.
For Comrade Oba Ahmed. the policy and concept of National Housing Fund is a welcome idea and it has been working and majority of civil servants. “We have the hope that whenever we retire, we will have reasons to be happy and proud, he added.
Doko Audu is the Secretary to the Minister of Environment. He said “For most if us that do not own houses of our own, we believe we will get our own houses soon. It’s a situation whereby we pay exorbitant rates to landlords for rent; we hope government does something to improve our plights. We hope the NHF policy turns out well, although I’ve contributed but getting the property is what I do not know yet”.
Ugochukwu Francis,a civil servant in Abuja said “Being a civil servant in Nigeria has been challenging especially with the minimum wage that has not been completely implemented across the 36 states.
Franscis said with a three month contribution into the NHF , people are supposed to automatically have the requirements for a housing scheme such as mortgage.
“We have however seen little or nothing in actual implementation. Some government offices have been able to get one million naira renovation loan for government officers to renovate their already built houses but the question is how many workers have houses to renovate so a lot of people take it for acquisition”.
“We hope the Federal Housing loans board will come to the aid of workers in providing necessary housing infrastructure”, he added.
David Mbugadi, Chairman, Federal Road Maintenance Agency said “it’ s a good policy but the implementation is where the issue lies.
According to him, the Federal Government can partner with Federal housing Authority or mortgage finance to curb the issue of civil servants retiring without owning a house.
Ikenna NJoku says the houses available are so inadequate and unaffordable compared to the take home of an average civil servant. He said it’s the reason many civil servants live outside the city center in the FCT.
“They reside where they can afford, they experience a lot of traffic and difficulty getting to work every day ,government should put living wages and policies in place that will ensure civil servants have access to decent housing”, he said.