By Princewill Ekwujuru

MANAGING Director of Buildcon Global Services, Mrs Bukola Gazama has called on the government to make the National Housing Scheme, NHS loan more accessible as this would help in bridging the housing deficit in the country.

Gazama who made the call at the unveiling of the company’s new corporate identity in Lagos, also called for a reduction of the interest rate on mortgages because only a few Nigerians can cope with the high interest rate of about 26 percent currently charged by banks.

According to her, making the NHS more accessible would give more Nigerians the opportunity of owning their own homes.

“We want the NHS scheme to be more accessible. If the NHS scheme is more accessible that gives each contributor N15million already and if their partner (s) are also contributing that gives them N30 million, they have paid for the house, and if the interest rate on the NHS loan is quite minimal people can cope with that as against the 26 percent per annum the banks are demanding. NHS loan is just six percent. I think that will just go a long way in helping Nigerians own their own homes,” she noted.

Buildcon is into real estate, facility management and interior decorations.

Noting that 2015 was a difficult year for many businesses, Mrs Gazama said her company is looking forward to a more robust business environment with its customers in 2016.

“In 2016, we are going to satisfy as many people as we can, because you know your customer dictates your business. So we are going to listen to what they have to say, improve on what we are doing and try as much as possible to give them (customers) what they want,” she promised.

“Last year, the company involved its customers in the finishing of their homes. They choose their tiles, windows, kitchen designs, basically we are building for them.

“So they need to have something they leave with and be happy about, and we also give our clients six months period once they move in, to fix anything that is not working properly, without collecting any extra money from them,” she said.