NIA Advocates Grassroots Implementation To Unlock Housing Access

The Nigerian Institute of Architecture (NIA) has said that for Nigeria to bridge its housing gap, the government and stakeholders must concentrate on grassroots implementation, with a focus on urban design quality, sustainability, and equitable access.

President of the NIA Arc. Mobolaji A. Adeniyi said this in an interview with LEADERSHIP correspondent in Abuja, after calling for a robust inter-agency synergy, particularly with state governments to unlock housing access at scale.

Adeniyi who is also the CEO and Principal Architect of MA Associates, urged governments at all levels to shift from making only high-level policy talk to more practicable approach that can bring immediate results in the built environment.

The renowned architect stressed that one of the major challenge confronting the nation’s housing environment is the. shortage of skilled artisans.

She explained that the decline of structured vocational training coupled with migration of skilled labour, and the infiltration of untrained individuals have undermined construction quality and site safety.

The president said to address this, there must be a national-scale, industry-led skills development framework, supported by certification, retraining, and recognition of prior learning.

While commending the minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa on the ministry’s plan to train artisans nationwide in order to boost the capacity of builders, she emphasised the need to also strengthen technical colleges, retool building trade schools, and collaborate with professional bodies to standardise training modules relevant to modern construction demands.

As part of the NIA’s activities to boost artisans’ capacity, Adeniyi revealed that the Institute is actively collaborating with institutions such as ARCON, NUC, and NBTE to streamline architectural training and differentiate between trained professionals and quacks.

“Through our Continuing Professional Development (CPD) sessions, we are also strengthening knowledge among graduate architects while supporting the Young Architects Forum (YAF) to promote mentoring and practice integrity”, she said.

“We are developing a National Artisan Registration Framework in partnership with regulatory agencies, aimed at registering, certifying, and monitoring artisans who work under architects, especially in design-build projects”, Adeniyi added.