The Nigerian Government says it will continue to prioritize the welfare of Civil Servants in the country especially by addressing housing deficit amongst them.
Head of Civil Service Of the Federation, Folashade Yemi-Esan stated this at the groundbreaking ceremony of a 116 housing unit for Civil Servants in Abuja, Nigeria.
Fashola Performs Ground Breaking of 116 FISH Housing Programme Units in Gwagwalada, FCThttps://t.co/X9U09MAY6m pic.twitter.com/Hns8Wh9ZAQ
— Federal Ministry of Works & Housing (@FMWHNIG) January 20, 2023
The Head of Service said The Federal Integrated Staff Housing programme, FISH, was established came to mitigate housing deficits amongst Civil Servants, who were not able to get decent abode after the monitisation policy.
According to her, the Ceremony is an indication of a turning point in the attainment of government’s agenda of enhancing the welfare of Civil Servants, through the provision of quality and affordable housing.
“However, while modest efforts were made to effectively drive the FISH programme from inception, a number of constraints impeded its rapid implementation. The overarching constraint among others was the absence of an implementation framework of the FISH programme, including galvanizing support and facilitating infrastructure and funding for the delivery of affordable housing to civil servants.
“This limitation, therefore, necessitated the inauguration of an Inter-Ministerial Implementation Committee on the FISH Programme to address the public sector housing deficit from a multifaceted approach. Hence, it is pleasing to note that the inauguration of the committee and its subsequent revitalisation by the Office of the Head of Service has begun yielding positive results across the various FISH Estate projects,” the Head of Service explained.
While commending the Federal Ministry of Housing for its unrelenting support towards the actualisation of the project, she noted that the Office is looking towards adopting a globally acceptable modern technologies and solutions for the construction of affordable and durable abode for Civil Servants.
Yemi-Esan expressed the Office’s readiness to engage and partner with reputable developers and other well-meaning stakeholders, especially in the areas of mortgage and alternative financing.
“From the foregoing, the key lesson to point out is that, with the right policy direction, partnership and commitment of the respective member institutions of the Committee, the FISH programme has been able to realise significant level of support which we had struggled to gain in the past.
“In essence, it is our desire to constantly witness the development and opening of new estates under the FISH Programme across Nigeria,’’ She added.
Equally, the Minister, Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Muhammad Bello, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Capital Territory Administration, Mr. Olusola Adesola noted that the infrastructural policy of the Federal Government has continually ensured that residents of the FCT and by extension, Civil Servants have decent accommodation.
Also, the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, while commending the leadership qualities of the HoCSF in ensuring that things get done at the appropriate time, promised to allocate more land, in order to achieve the infrastructural policy mandate of the Federal Government.
