The Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development is set to deepen its collaboration with the Chartered Institute of Project Managers of Nigeria (CIPMN) to improve project planning, execution and delivery across the housing sector.
The decision followed a meeting between Muttaqa Rabe Darma, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, and the leadership of CIPMN in Abuja.
Darma, while receiving the delegation, said the Institute’s presentation had given him a clearer understanding of its mandate and highlighted the critical role of professional project management in national development.
The minister, who said his academic and professional background had exposed him extensively to project management, stressed that effective planning and coordination were essential to delivering successful development projects.
“Every blessed thing, every aspect of our life, we manage it and it is a project,” Darma said, emphasising the need for proper planning, coordination and execution.
According to the minister, the housing sector involves a broad network of professionals and artisans, including engineers, architects, quantity surveyors, contractors and other practitioners.
He said the diversity and complexity of the sector made professional project management particularly important to the Ministry’s work.
Darma also welcomed the establishment of a chartered institute dedicated to project management, noting that project management cuts across virtually every area of national development.
The minister said he would review the legal framework establishing CIPMN, particularly its institutional placement, because of the Institute’s close relationship with the construction and housing sectors.
“I will look at your Act because, to me, you are supposed to be part of this Ministry which is the Ministry that deals with all the artisans,” he said.
Darma further called for higher standards in the execution of public and private projects, saying Nigeria should aspire to become a centre of excellence in every area of development.
He stressed that stronger project management would help ensure that projects are properly planned, coordinated, monitored and completed to the required standards.
Earlier, Henry Ifeanyi Mbadiwe, CIPMN Registrar-General and Chief Executive Officer, said the Institute was established by law to regulate and professionalise project management practice in Nigeria.
He explained that its mandate includes ensuring that professionals responsible for leading projects have the necessary skills, competence and professional qualifications.
Mbadiwe highlighted several initiatives undertaken by the Institute, including collaboration with the National Universities Commission (NUC) to develop a core curriculum for project management.
He also cited capacity-building programmes conducted in partnership with the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), the Nigerian Police Force, the Nigerian Army and the Lagos State Government.
The CIPMN delegation expressed its readiness to work with the Ministry to strengthen the project management capabilities of government officials involved in housing development.
The proposed collaboration will focus on improving the planning, coordination, monitoring and execution of housing projects.
The partnership comes amid the Federal Government’s broader efforts to expand housing delivery and address Nigeria’s housing deficit, with effective project management seen as critical to ensuring that investments in the sector translate into completed, quality and functional housing projects.
