By Stella Odueme
In a bid to bolster inter-ministerial collaboration in achieving national development goals, the minister of State, Federal Ministry of Regional Development Uba Maigari Ahmadu, has met with the minister of Housing and Urban Development Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa to explore ways of enhancing service delivery to Nigerians.
The meeting, which is designed to come up with modalities for a robust partnership between the two ministries, took place in Abuja when Dangiwa played host to Ahmadu on a courtesy call.
A statement by the Head, Press & PR Unit, Abdulrashid Y. Safana on Thursday said in his presentation, Maigari Ahmadu called for an alignment between the two ministries most especially in their common area of focus which is housing and urban development, stressing that “housing is one of the cardinal objectives of Ministry of Regional Development”.
While underscoring the critical role of housing in regional development, the minister pointed out that an alignment with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development is essential in achieving shared national objectives.
He recalled his recent facility inspection tour of a 1,000 housing-units in Ngwom, Mafa Local Government of Borno State, and opined that the project would have been better curated and implemented if it were to be handled in collaboration with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
He highlighted his ministry’s commitment to accelerating development of the three northern regions regions under his purview and
emphasised the urgent need to forge a strategic partnership as a panacea to addressing the key challenges in housing, urbanisation and infrastructural development in the regions.
The minister further outlined some of the components and key areas expected to be impacted by the partnership to include areas of ‘affordable housing and urban renewal initiative’ which seeks to provide low-cost housing for the vulnerable populations, exploring innovative financing model, and identifying opportunities for urban renewal in key cities across the three northern regions. Others include infrastructure development and smart cities; capacity building and knowledge sharing.
He posited that the partnership will go a long way in helping to save time and money in project execution, leading to timely and efficient mandate delivery; as well as help in avoiding project duplication.
In response, Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa appreciated the proposal and pledged to partner with the Ministry of Regional Development, describing the alliance as one “that would see to the enhancement of the respective ministerial deliverables”.
Dangiwa emphasised that the collaboration would facilitate the exchange of ideas and allow both parties to leverage certain privileges available to both for the enhancement of the expected deliverables both ministers swore to deliver.
The courtesy visit marks a significant step towards strengthening collaboration between the Ministry of Regional Development and other key stakeholders in an effort to achieve the administration’s vision for inclusive, sustainable development across the three northern regions in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
