Mrs Bukola Iluyomade is the Chief Executive Officer, AIMART, a property development firm. In this interview with CHINEDUM UWAEGBULAM, she spoke on ways to eliminate substandard materials and turn the fortunes of technical education to improve youth unemployment.
For me, reviving the Ajaokuta Steel Rolling Company will make Nigeria self sufficient in steel production just the way we are in cement production. One of the ways to tackle the influx of substandard building materials is by strengthening the manufacturing industry.Case in point, the local cement manufacturers and Nigeria Wire and Cables have extensively curtailed the use of low-grade imports of these materials.
The minister claims and rightly, so, that there are a lot of empty houses in Ikoyi, Banana Island and Maitama. The issue is that these houses are simply beyond the reach of the middle class, who interestingly makes up to 40 per cent of the population. In my own opinion, the building and construction sector is a major employer of labour in any economy, Nigeria inclusive. The government can stimulate the sector by injection of capital into the industry through the employment of direct labour for the various infrastructural projects.
The setting up of infrastructural development bank for the construction sector will be a massive boost for the industry, and also the economy. As a result, we have developed our own locally fabricated AIMART Boards, which not only reduces the cost of production but also maximises space and time of construction with reduced manpower. This is a novel product and it is the first of its kind in Nigeria.
The problem with the middle class is the bulk capital to purchase homes. Many are also ignorant of the fact that these kind of facilities exist for them to become homeowners.
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