The National Economic Management team (NEMT) has said that through the construction of 5,000 housing 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."