Investing in housing will reduce unemployment rate by 50% - Expert

A real estate expert, Festus Adebayo, has advised the federal government to invest the unclaimed dividends in the Pension Fund in the housing sector.

Adebayo believes that investing in the real estate sector would reduce Nigeria’s unemployment rate by fifty percent.

Addressing journalists in Abuja, the legal practitioner and coordinator of the Abuja Housing Show noted that the real estate sector could improve Nigeria’s economic fortunes if given the needed attention.

“If government can focus on the housing sector, unemployment rate in Nigeria will go down by at least fifty per cent,” Adebayo announced.

"We have been hearing of it diverted, if those monies were put in housing, we call them idle funds, there are unclaimed dividends, in that account that it is kept, who is benefiting from it. They should look into the unclaimed dividends and use it for housing.

“On every housing estate that you see there are different category of workers that you see; the professional, architect, engineers land surveyors are all there. You will also need the artisans like the carpenter. You will even see somebody that is riding okada. You will also see the women selling food for the workers. Then when you look at the effect of housing on the economy, you will also discover that the effect is multiplying.

“What we are saying here is that housing is the new way to gear up Nigeria’s economy. In the last three years that Buhari government came I can tell you that housing has not witnessed so much increase in terms of performance.

“The kind of attention we are saying is that there are laws in the National Assembly that are waiting for attention. If these laws are not passed like the Land Use Act which is still in the hands of the National Assembly, how do we work on these laws so that the problem of access to land, problem of mortgage can be addressed? Once we don’t address the issue of land, we can never witness an effective mortgage system in Nigeria,” he added.

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Speaking on the forthcoming Abuja Housing Show scheduled for July 16, 2018, at the International Conference Center Abuja, Adebayo noted that this year’s event which is the 12th in the series would bring together players from the World Bank, over 250 exhibitors from about ten countries.

The 12th Abuja Housing Show, according to Adebayo, is also expected to address mortgage refinancing and how Nigerians can leverage on existing opportunities to own their houses.

This event which is expected to focus on the of provision of affordable housing for all Nigerians would be declared open the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Speaker Yakubu Dogara, other top government functionaries and other dignitaries are expected to grace the event.