First City Monument Bank has concluded plans to partner with the Ogun State Government to provide loans for interested subscribers in the state’s housing schemes.
The Group Chief Executive of the bank, Mr Ladi Balogun, disclosed this when he led the management of the bank on a courtesy visit to Governor Dapo Abiodun at his office in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, the state capital.
Balogun said the financial institution was ready to support the state government through its Corporate Social Responsibility by providing credit facilities to residents who desire houses of their own.
He described 2021 as a difficult year for everyone, explaining that the meeting with the governor was aimed at opening a channel of engagement that would promote the quality of lives of the people to owning a home
While lauding the state government for its giant strides, especially in the areas of infrastructure, the bank’s CEO said the institution was prepared to lay a solid foundation for the state in order to achieve its future dreams.
“We are willing to do more with the present administration in the state in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility. The bank is focused on how it can elevate the quality of lives of the people they serve and work with”, he added.
Abiodun called for a more robust relationship between his administration and the management of the bank in its quest to make more people become landlords.
He divulged that despite his administration’s efforts at providing over 1,000 homes in the last 30 months, the effort seemed not enough as people have continued buying faster than what is currently on ground.
The governor stated that efforts to make homes available to the people through direct labour had created employment for artisans, thereby reducing criminal activities among youths in the state.
“The direct labour programme is part of our economic sustainability plan to engage youths and build affordable houses for the people. The plan, no doubt, has made it more difficult for most of our youths to delve into crimes as they are busy working to earn their wages through the direct labour programme.
“We must get our people from being tenants, particularly people who are civil servants. It also allows us to create employment. we are using direct labour to build those homes and we have done about 1,000 in 30 months and they are affordable homes of N6 million. We can’t even build fast enough. People are buying them faster than we are building them. They are either paid in full or paid in part, those are areas that you can work with us,” he stressed.