President Bola Tinubu on Friday swore in Muttaqha Darma as the new Minister of Housing and Urban Development at the State House.
The swearing-in ceremony took place at the president’s office in the State House, Abuja, marking a key transition following the recent Federal Executive Council reshuffle.
Speaking to State House Correspondents shortly after the oath-taking, the minister outlined his commitment to excellence across multiple stakeholders.
Asked how he felt assuming the role, he replied, “Well, I feel that I have been given responsibility, and I know that if you are given responsibility, there are three classes of people who will judge you on that responsibility, and I want to satisfy all those classes. For example, I will most satisfy myself that the work I’m given, I’m doing it well. Then the people around me, people around me, close to me, will be satisfied that what I’m doing I’m doing it well, and then the general public will become satisfied that what I’m doing, I’m doing it well. At the end of it all, God Almighty will also judge me. So I’m aware of this as I took the oath of office and I tell you that I am going to deliver to the best of my ability, and you will see changes in no time.”
On sector challenges, Darma acknowledged Nigeria’s dire housing deficit. “I know there are so many challenges in the housing industry in Nigeria, not only because Nigeria now needed about 20 million units of housing to occupy more than to get accommodation to more than 100 million people that are unhoused. So that is a tremendous challenge, even if you say you are going to build like 15 million house in the next 10 years, it’s going to be difficult, and it’s going to consume a lot of money.
“We know all of that, but we are strategic. We are focused. We are forward looking. We are people who actually think much, much faster than the time we are in, and I am telling you, we will bring a lot of innovation and creativity to ensure that we did well, and so many people who are unhoused will be housed inshallah.”
Addressing funding hurdles, he highlighted a paradox in the private sector’s success versus government struggles. “Okay, let me tell you one thing. I have not gone to the ministry to know the many challenges the ministry is facing. If I know the challenges, I will definitely find ways to solve them. But I can give you an example in this country now, as we are some of the richest people that we have, even in Abuja here, some of the richest people are estate owners. They are property people. They are doing property business. Now. Why are they building houses, selling them, and government houses are being abandoned. Nobody is coming close to the government houses. There must be something.
“If you start property today, by tomorrow, you become rich in your village, they will start titling you. And that is the truth. So there must be something, there must be some constraint. There must be something that we are not and see what is happening and why we are having those challenges.”
