REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PRESIDENT GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN, GCFR, AT THE MAIDEN VISIT TO THE EKO ATLANTIC CITY PROJECT IN VICTORIA ISLAND, LAGOS, ON THURSDAY, 21ST FEBRUARY, 2013.

PROTOCOLS
1. I am highly delighted to be here today on
my maiden visit to the construction site of
Eko Atlantic City. This landmark event is
continuing the good news narrative that
Nigeria must embrace permanently.
2. It took us nineteen years for us to win
the nation’s cup again; the trains that now
run from Lagos to Kano took us another
nineteen years to get them back on track.
3. And in this same year preceding our
centenary, we are gathered here to witness
the ground breaking of a modern city that
will rise from the Atlantic bed in the
commercial nerve centre of our beloved
Lagos. This is good news indeed.
4. I want to congratulate South Energyx
Nigeria Ltd, the Government and good
people of Lagos State, Messrs Dredging
International Ltd and all the financial
institutions, especially First Bank of Nigeria
Plc, First City Monument Bank, Guaranty
Trust Bank, BNP Paribas Fortis and KBC
Bank, for this most outstanding initiative.
5. The correlation between well-planned
development and good quality of life as a
bedrock for higher standards of productivity
and sustainability cannot be over
emphasized even as we note that housing
is an important sector that provides jobs
for our young men and women.
6. It is in this regard that the Housing and
Urban development sector has been
accorded priority attention by my
Administration in recognition of its huge
potential as an engine of growth and
sustainable development. To this end, the
enabling policy frameworks for kick-starting
the revitalization of this sector are now
being put in place.
7. As part of the overall Transformation
Agenda, this administration is committed to
harnessing the potential of the housing and
construction sectors as an important
growth area for the Nigerian economy.
8. All over the world, housing and
construction constitute an important
component of GDP. The sector has
extensive backward and forward linkages,
and thus can drive job creation for the
building materials industry, for artisans
such as plumbers, carpenters, and masons,
and also for those who specialize in the
interior and exterior decoration of
buildings.
9. Admittedly, there are challenges in the
housing and construction sector that cut
across a number of areas, including
property titling and high costs of building
materials among others. To resolve these
challenges I convened a presidential retreat
with a view to consulting widely and
extensively with various stakeholders so as
enable Government take the right decision
in the interest of our people.
10. I am therefore pleased to announce, as
one of the outcome of the retreat, that we
have commenced work on establishing a
Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Corporation
(NMRC) to help in providing finance for the
housing and construction sector.
11. The NMRC, which will be private-sector
led, will be established as a PPP
arrangement. The partners will include the
Federal Government, Nigeria’s local banks
and savings & loans institutions, and the
multilateral institutions, especially the
World Bank which is providing concessional
credits of three hundred million dollars.
Subsequently, the NMRC would be able to
access the capital markets to raise long-
term funds via bond issues.
12. We anticipate that the NMRC will
provide more liquidity to the housing and
construction sectors, and with its
operations, would hopefully lead to reduced
mortgage and construction finance interest
rates.
13. The e-collection platform created by
the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria
(FMBN) for a more efficient collection and
management of the National Housing Fund
(NHF) and the broadening of its products to
include provision of credit for informal
sector workers are other complementary
efforts to increase accessibility and
affordability to mortgage finance.
14. With the on-going efforts to deal with
the low capital base of mortgage
institutions through new policy measures,
we are optimistic that more Nigerians will
be provided the opportunity of having
access to home ownership.
15. The current policy measure of
Government to encourage private sector
participation in housing delivery through
the Public-Private Scheme is also yielding
good results with the implementation of a
number of pilot schemes by the Federal
Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban
Development under the contractor-finance
initiative.
16. The lessons from this initial effort are
to be factored into a larger plan to
gradually upscale the scope of
implementation in the coming years to
deliver more housing units using a variety
of alternative technologies to promote
accessibility and affordability in housing
delivery.
17. The Federal Government of Nigeria is
working with the State Governments to
reduce the transaction time and the cost of
the acquisition of land titles so that we can
meet our objective of reducing the national
housing deficit through substantial addition
to the current stock.
18. I have received briefing to the effect
that the construction of Atlantic City is
benefiting from cutting-edge technology
with special attention paid on climatic
conditions including the perennial threats
of ocean surges that has posed serious
challenge to human and property on the
coast of Victoria Island.
19. When completed, the Atlantic City will
not only benefit the promoters of this
project, but it will be an important addition
to our nation’s strive to promote tourism
and good living. The Project is a great
example of partnership, for it brings private
individuals and companies who have the
knowledge and requisite expertise to
transform land lost to erosion into a
delightful Ocean City.
20. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,
new cities are good, new cities are smart,
new cities help to improve our thinking and
our lives. We will encourage urban renewal,
and where necessary new cities to be built
to complement the old. It is in this regard
that the Federal Government has given its
full support to the construction of the Eko
Atlantic City. I want to encourage every
state government and other entrepreneurs
to emulate this noble initiative.
21. Once again, I thank the initiators for
this outstanding legacy project that will not
only benefit the present generation, but
generations yet unborn as well.
22. I thank you.