FHA To Provide 106,000 Housing Units In 4 Years – Gemade

The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) is working hard to provide Nigerians with 106,000 housing units in the next four years, its Managing Director, Mr Terver Gemade, has said.

Gemade told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum on Sunday in Abuja that that was the target which the current management of the organisation had set for itself.

He said the FHA planned to execute the project with internally generated revenue, adding, however, that with government sponsorship the figure could climb to as high as 240,000 units.

The managing director said: “For the past eight years, we have not been funded by government; we source for finance from the open market.

“We do our capital projects with this, pay back the loans with interest and plough back the profit into building more houses. So, this is how we have been surviving for the past eight years.”

He said the FHA had been able to provide 37,000 housing units in its 36 years of its existence, stressing that it had not done too badly considering the limited resources at its disposal.

Gemade added: “When you now look at the quantum of production vis-à-vis the population of the nation that is yearning for housing, then you may say that we have not fared very well.

“But I can assure you that if all hands are on deck, I tell you that deficit can be bridged very, very fast; within a short period of time.’’

According to him, the FHA is not solely responsible for the country’s housing deficit as it was just one agency of government saddled with the provision of housing.

He noted that there were many other agencies that were into housing, including private companies and developers.