By Ben Atonko
Despite persistent cries by housing stakeholders against the lumping of Housing with Power and Works Ministries, President Muhammadu Buhari has still put Housing under Works.
Viewpoint Housing News recalls that Power, Works and Housing had been separate ministries until 2015 when the Buhari-led administration was inaugurated.
Buhari who sworn in 43 new ministers on Wednesday in the Federal Executive Council Chambers, Presidential Villa, Abuja however severed Power, leaving Works and Housing Ministry as an entity.
Saleh Mamman, an Engineer takes the Ministry of Power.
Babatunde Fashola who was announced Works and Housing Minister will still superintend Housing.
In the last four years, housing stakeholders have lamented poor housing policy implementation citing the merger of the Housing Ministry with two other critical ministries as the undoing.
For instance, the APC’s failure to actualise production of 1 million housing units a year as contained in its manifesto has been blamed on the placing of the Housing Ministry under Power and Works in the care of a minister who has no knowledge of engineering.
Experts have described the collapse of Housing into two other big ministries as disregard for the National Housing Policy.
They seek an independent ministry focusing primarily on housing, land administration and urban management.
According to them, joining housing sector that is crying for attention with others and given the fact that a large part of the populace has no decent accommodation, is an anomaly.
