{"id":21821,"date":"2014-01-22T12:19:13","date_gmt":"2014-01-22T11:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=21821"},"modified":"2014-01-22T12:19:13","modified_gmt":"2014-01-22T11:19:13","slug":"that-jonathans-housing-initiative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/that-jonathans-housing-initiative\/","title":{"rendered":"That Jonathan\u2019s housing initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"
One of the challenges facing an average citizen of this country is shelter.\u00a0 Previous administrations, since independence, have attempted, to no avail, tackling the matter. The establishment of Mortgage Banks to deal with the challenges of providing shelter to the citizenry by the previous governments has not yielded the desired results because of lack of sincerity of purpose. This made it impossible for even those who are gainfully employed to own their own houses.<\/div>\n
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However, teeming under-privileged Nigerians believe in God that the Messiah they need for actualizing their dream of having their houses will emerge one day.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0For them, President Goodlcuk Jonathan is the fulfillment of their hope and belief.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He has put in place mechanisms for answering the shelter question.<\/div>\n
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Barely two years in office as president, has Jonathan made good his promise just as he has done in all other sectors of the economy?\u00a0 Yes, he has, and it is on this score that I am not apologetic to highlight the promise made good in the area of providing shelters to average Nigerians.<\/div>\n
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Jonathan recently boosted the housing for all initiative with a N50bn Mortgage Refinancing Company.\u00a0 The difference here is that, unlike before when the whole business of providing house to the citizenry is left in the hands of the government of the day, the administration of Jonathan is introducing an innovation that is going to be a masterstroke that will permanently solve the shelter problem in the country.<\/div>\n
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With the launching of the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NRMC) Plc, allowing private participation in the whole exercise, there is end in sight to the problem of shortage of shelter especially in the cities and even in the rural areas.<\/div>\n
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This is why it is imperative that forward-looking citizens of this country should, as a matter of urgency, support the re-election bid of Jonathan in 2015.\u00a0 With the establishment of NRMC, a total of 2 million houses would be built every year in the country.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Imagine what 2 million houses will do in solving the problem of shelter in this country.<\/div>\n
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This is not praising singing as would be erroneously believed in some quarters by those who come in touch with this piece but a statement of fact that standing in the sun in April 2011 to vote for Jonathan as president is not in vain, and I think we should do it again in 2015 because one good turn, as they say, deserves another.<\/div>\n
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Speaking at the event of the launch of NRMC, Jonathan said that his administration had embarked on creating a stable macroeconomic environment that had lowered inflation from 12 per cent to 8 per cent last year as well as reducing all impediments to a sustainable and dynamic housing market.\u00a0 Can you beat that?<\/div>\n
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Read him: \u201cThe Nigerian Mortgage Refinancing Company is being established to support our objective and making housing affordable to the people.\u00a0 The housing sector is a key component of this administration\u2019s transformation agenda. That is why we conveyed the presidential retreat in May last year.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIn November, I asked the Coordinating Minister for the Economy to host a roundtable on housing finance.\u00a0 The objective was to take a critical look at the sector and recommend ways they could be harnessed to provide shelter for Nigerians and create jobs for our teeming youths.\u00a0 The housing sector is known worldwide as an avenue for job creation and economic stability; that is why we are focused on the sector and the concrete action we have taken in alleviating the major constraints to its rapid development.\u201d<\/div>\n
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To me, I think this is not a political talk but a statement by a man who believes that the betterment of the lot of an average electorate is his primary concern.\u00a0 The new house financing company which has been mandated to hit the ground running in the provision of shelter to an average Nigerian will definitely change the shelter situation in the country in matter of months.<\/div>\n
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By the time the N50bn is deployed in the provision of shelters to Nigerians, it will not only solve the shelter problem but will create jobs, in the construction and building business for the citizens who are jobless.\u00a0 I can hear somebody say that is how they used to say, and at the end of the day they would end up doing nothing.\u00a0 Far from it!<\/div>\n
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\u00a0Consider: most of the things Jonathan told Nigerians he would do he has done and he is at other things that are outstanding.\u00a0 Take the issue of power sector, he has made good his promise and the citizenry are better for it; this is an issue for another day.<\/div>\n
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Let us focus on housing which is the theme of this piece.\u00a0 It is obvious that the launch of NRMC is a most pragmatic approach ever embarked upon by any government to solve the problem of shelter in the country, and I think that we should support the government to see to the realization of these laudable policies of his administration geared towards the uplift of the economic wellbeing of average citizens of this country.<\/div>\n
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Let us look at the spiral effects of the establishment of NRMC.\u00a0 It will not only give a boost to those who are into manufacturing of building materials but will also encourage the companies involved to go ahead and employ more hands because there is market for their products.<\/div>\n
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That apart, by the time building of the 2 million houses takes off, it is going to be a good source of jobs.\u00a0 The benefits of this laudable initiative cannot be exhausted in this piece.\u00a0\u00a0It is a thing of joy that, for once, we have a president who is listening and is ready to tackle whatever problem that is facing the electorate.\u00a0\u00a0Indeed, if 2 million houses are provided every year for the citizen who says the problem of shelter will not be a thing of the past by 2019?<\/div>\n
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