By Jude Njoku

Built environment stakeholders have faulted the N26.49 billion allocated to housing in the 2012 budget estimates released last week by President Goodluck Jonathan, describing it as grossly inadequate to solve the myriads of housing problems facing the country.

The experts who reacted to the provisions for the housing sector in the 2012 budget now before the floor of the National Assembly, told Vanguard Homes & Property in separate interviews that the government is yet to come to terms with the pivotal role played by housing in national development, hence the sector is continually under funded.

President of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, NIESV, Mr. Bode Adediji posited that “this budget cannot address the housing problems”.

“But my submission on this matter is not even what the government has done, but that Mr President means well in his opening speech, in his vision for this budget and in the purposes that he wants this budget to serve. But one thing is missing, if housing and construction sector is actually understood by this government, it should have formed a major platform for implementing the vision of fiscal consolidation, inclusive growth and employment generation which Mr. President stated.

“How are you going to ensure that growth permeates to all sectors of the society when the budget on housing and construction is very very negligible. How do you create employment when the budget does not seek to activate or reactivate the down scaling housing and property sector?” the NIESV boss queried.

Speaking on the bogus budget to security, Mr Adediji explained that allocating “a huge amount of money on Security and Defence and starving other critical sectors of necessary funding is counter productive”

“My take on this is that Mr President has emphasised the understanding and concern that everybody has vis- a -vis the insecurity in this nation. Let’s call a spade a spade, no nation can make any progress under an atmosphere of insecurity.

That is that, but as you rightly pointed out, if the allocation of these various subheads are not harmonised, any money spent on security as a single item without looking at how such concentration has hemorrhaged allocation to other sectors, will not be able to realise the central policy of generating inclusive growth and employment for the youths,” he said.

Also reacting to the budget proposal, the Registrar, Quantity Surveyors Registration Board of Nigeria, QSRBN, Mr. Godson Moneke said: Housing needs more funding; It is evident that we don’t appreciate the role of housing in National Development and that accounts for why the housing sector is underfunded. Housing deserves at least an allocation of N300 billion,” he said.

The QSRBN Registrar who described the over N921 billion allocated to Security as outrageous declared: “they have succeeded in blackmailing President Jonathan to allocate almost the same amount of funds for capital projects to security.

“It makes the whole thing very curious and one begins to think that something is wrong somewhere. What we need is intelligence – human resources to prevent certain things. We are not at war. Security should not be given more than N300 billion; power deserves more than was allocated to it,” he said.

In his budget presentation, President Goodluck Jonathan raised the expectations of Nigerians when he stated that “the Government recognises the provision of affordable housing as a social need and, also, a veritable source of socio-economic development and job creation. Owning one’s own home is a basic aspiration of every human being, and our people are no different”.

He declared: “To this end, based on a new housing policy, Government is working with our development partners to create an effective mortgage finance system in the country and to develop value chains in the building materials segment.

This will give the necessary stimulant to the sector to accelerate its development and also help to reduce the cost of construction, thereby energizing the construction industry.