Former President Goodluck Jonathan and Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri have advocated an effective mortgage system to meet the housing needs in the country.
The two leaders made the call in their separate remarks at the groundbreaking and foundation laying ceremony of the Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Doctors’ Estate located on the outskirts of Otuokpoti community in Ogbia Local Government Area of the state.
The Doctors’ Estate project, which is an initiative of the Doctors Welfare Cooperative, under the aegis of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa chapter, is to be funded through a partnership with the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN).
Speaking at the ceremony, Jonathan said housing was one of the basic needs of man that could be addressed through an effective mortgage system for people to own affordable houses.
The former president, who thanked the resident doctors for finding him worthy and deserving the honour to have the estate named after him, said the project when completed would not only contribute to socio-economic wellbeing of its residents but also to the entire the state.
Jonathan assured the NARD that he would give the necessary support to ensure the smooth execution of the project to bring their vision to fruition.
In his remarks, the Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, said the state government was quite elated over the project initiated by the Doctors’ Welfare Cooperative of FMC, Yenagoa.
Diri, who was represented by his deputy, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, called on the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) to review its mortgage policies and procedures to make it more inclusive and feasible for more professional groups and individuals to key into it.
Earlier in their separate addresses, the Chairperson of the Estate Committee, Dr. Divine Iroli, and state Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association, Dr. Ongowari Torunana, said the estate was named after Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, to immortalise him as an illustrious son of state and in recognition of his contribution to the development of the medical profession.
