The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of DN Meyer Plc, Bola Olayinka, says that available statistics shows that Nigeria is bedeviled with a housing deficit of about 17 million thus requiring 50 years to bridge the gap.

He said this while addressing pressmen during the ARCHIBULT session held in Abuja that the leadership of the company is faced with the challenge to reposition the building industry to a world class standard.

"We understand that there is 17 million housing deficit and it might take us about 50 years to meet with the demand, we do believe, with our 48 years of experience in the construction and infrastructure development of the economy, we have the capacity and what it takes to make our contributions and as a result, we invested heavily in the industry."

The government must provide necessary infrastructure to lift the private sector to the commanding height of the economy and it is our shared opinion top continue in this public/private partnership scheme which has benefited us like the Murtala Mohammed International Airport and the Kuje housing estate. We must continue to pursue it but more importantly, there should be a housing policy from those who have the responsibility to provide houses for the masses," he said.

He said that the company has partnered the Ministry of Environment, Housing and Urban Development to provide houses at Ogbadauko housing estate in Abeokuta and Kuje housing estate in Abuja for low and middle income earners.

According to him, the houses are completed in such a manner to ensure that those who have national housing fund facility can access and benefited them, adding that they are meant for low and middle income earners.

Olayinka said that the company has formulated a range of quality products in the construction industry and also for the upstream sector which definitely has confirmed their readiness to enter into local content initiative, stressing that the National Building Code is the perfect solution to tackle the incidence of building collapse.

"This document addresses and proffers solutions to quality finishing of houses, deficiency in finishing and we believe that if we strictly adhere to the processes and procedures provided by the code, the problems will soon become a thing of the past," he said.

"We should have a yardstick for measuring how well we are doing in line with those policies and as major sponsors of ARCHBUIILT, 2008, we have demonstrated our aggressiveness in the building industry," noting that the programme serves as a point of contact with the people.

He said that the company has launched "Beautify Nigeria Project (BENIP) "as part of its corporate and social responsibility t give back to the society and provide their own quota and also improve the environment.

"The project is national and tries to bring on board other companies who believe in this social responsibility and together we would impact on the people at no cost," he added.