The National Economic Management team (NEMT) has  said that through the construction of 5,000 hous8ing units in each State of the Federation, including the FCT, 14 million jobs will be created in 12 to 18 months.

This   was contained in a  report  published  by the  Forum of Advocates for Social  Housing  at the 3rd  Annual National Social Housing  Seminar recently  held in Abuja.

 The reports stated that if in a year we build a 1000- housing unit estate in each of the 36 states of the federation, we would create a workforce of 2,815,000 per annum.

“An example is that the construction of a medium sized (2/3 bedrooms) bungalow is capable of directly creating employment for an average of 76 workers. The number goes up significantly when the forward and backward linkages are factored into the process. Therefore for a 100 housing units scheme of two bedroom bungalows, up to 76,000 workers will be engaged for a period of between 12-18 months,” it  states.

It  further  states  that the   labor force will  consists of all professionals in the built environment as well as skilled and unskilled labour  such as bricklayers, plumbers, carpenters, tillers, iron benders, painters, diggers, excavators, electricians, suppliers of materials, furniture makers, food vendors, block moulders, security men, drivers, horticulturists, gardeners, etc.

The housing sector of the economy has a tremendous impact on job creation, employment, security, socio-political stability, effective economic growth and development of societies, adding that governments, the world over device various strategies to meet this all important concern.

 The report  added, “Our vision 20:2020 and financial system strategy 2020 (FSS2020) have assigned special roles to the housing sector, expecting it to drive the financial system and contribute not less than 20 percent to the GDP by the year  2020.”