The second vice-president of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), Emmanuel Okas, has said that the combination of Ministry of Works, Power and and Housing was slowing down the pace of infrastructural development in Nigeria.
According to him, there was an urgent need for government to unbundle those key areas into different ministries, so as to achieve efficiency and excellent service delivery, nigeriarealestahub reports.
He added that joining them together did not augur well for the nation, as far as infrastructural development was concerned, adding that to achieve desired result in such circumstance would be very difficult.
In his words, “Government should separate the Ministry of Works, Power and Housing. We have since been calling for this and I think President Muhammadu Buhari should consider this as a matter of urgency.
“Lumping them together is not good for the nation. This may have also been responsible for the snail pace at which this government is moving. There is no way we can get good results if this ministry remains as one,” he said.
Okas said that government, in this 21st century, had no business in building houses, noting that their primary concern was to create an enabling environment for private enterprises to thrive well.
He stated, “I don’t support the view that government should go into direct construction of houses, but it should encourage the private sector to take on that, while it creates enabling environment. The government should always meet and consult with the professionals for advice.
“Government, at all levels, should embark on valuing their assets with the purpose of payment of tax. The government should diversify from oil and gas to other sectors of the economy. I am convinced that if we diversify, it will boost the economy enormously,” he added.
