By Chris Ochayi, Abuja

An estate magnet and Chief Executive of First Rotech Group, Chief Austin Oguejifor has called on the Federal Government to expedite action on the N100 billion recapitalization required by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, FMBN, to enable the bank tackle the issue of acute shortage of housing accommodation facing the country.

Chief Oguejifor, who made the remarks during the flagging off of construction of 850 housing units at the Luxury Place Estate being handled by the firm in Abuja, said that housing delivery in the country would remain a mirage if there is no vibrant and robust mortgage system to drive the sector.

Oguejifo argued that with the nation’s current deficit of over 16 million houses, the FMBN’s current N2.5 billion capital base was insufficient and cannot make any reasonable impact in tackling the housing challenges confronting Nigeria.

First Rotech Group has being into real estate development, infrastructure development and Private Public Partnership, PPP, scheme in the country over the last few years. The group which has  foreign partners, is investing in affordable low-cost housing estates, planned to be executed in phases within the federal capital.

Oguejiofor further challenged the management of the bank to ensure that it commences the process of integration of the informal sector into its National Housing Fund, NHF, using Cooperative Societies’ structures as is in practice in the other parts of the world.

“It is expected that under this scheme, Nigerians in the informal sector like the akara seller, bricklayers, commercial drivers as well as the road side motor mechanic will have the opportunity to own their residential houses,” he said.

Describing the housing shortage in the country as monumental, Chief Oguejifor was irked that a nation like Nigeria with all its resources,  cannot house its citizens adequately. He called for a concerted collaboration between the government and the private sector and the beneficiaries to reverse the ugly trend in the sector.

He said that it is the responsibility of the government to provide infrastructure linking the estate with the highways.