Housing Minister, Fashola clarifies Federal Government’s stand on unoccupied buildings in Abuja, others

The Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, has debunked the news going around that the Federal Government was planning to sell unoccupied houses in Abuja and other cities around the country.

Fashola said that what the Government was saying was to encourage big house owners to break them into small units so that people can rent or buy them and start to make income from such houses.
The Minister also urged builders in Nigeria to deploy knowledge and value in building projects, pointing out that it was the combination of both that gives value to the building.

The Minister’s statement was made available on Tuesday by Boade Akinola, Director Press and Public Relations of the Ministry.
“We need to build on our knowledge and value. It is these that give meaning to the bricks and mould we use. If we build without knowledge, it will not last, ” he said.
Fashola made the remarks while receiving the Fellowship Award of the Nigerian Institute of Building in Abuja yesterday.

He also charged builders to build what people can use, instead of building big houses only to be left unused. He said, “Build to the sensitivity of the young generation by building small houses.”
Fashola thanked the institute for the conferment of the award on behalf of the Ministry, saying that it was a recognition of hard work and team spirit.
“On my own, I will do my best to live up to the responsibility of encouraging the building of affordable houses”, he stated.

Earlier, the National President of the Nigerian Institute of Building, Builder Kunle Awobodu said that “The conferment of the prestigious honorary fellowship of the institute is the highest recognition to be bestowed on an individual solely based on performance evaluation of which Fashola is a beneficiary.”
He said that the construction of buildings is a barometer of a thriving economy, adding that what distinguishes a city from a town, and a town from a village is the number and quality of buildings.
Speaking further, he stated that, ” Any nation bereft of building codes is vulnerable to inappropriate building construction.”

He, therefore, called on manufacturers of building materials, artisans and professionals that the culture of doing it right must be embraced.
He enjoined the Minister not to relent in his efforts to ensure the use of Nigeria’s building code to guide building construction in Nigeria.