Evaluation of Federal Government Workers’ Satisfaction and Determinants of Success in Accessing the National Housing Fund Scheme in Enugu Urban

Ogbaka Juliana Chinwe and Aniagolu Celestine Obinna

Department of Estate Management ESUT Enugu Nigeria

ABSTRACT

 Housing remains a fundamental human right and a central driver of social stability and economic development. While there have been concerted efforts by the Nigerian government to tackle housing challenges, there exists a broad gap in the provision of affordable housing for low- and middle-income groups. The National Housing Fund (NHF), established in 1992, was designed to raise long-term funds to promote housing development through the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN). However, accessing effective membership in the scheme has been beset with administrative and structural challenges. This study assesses the satisfaction of Enugu Urban federal government employees with the NHF scheme and investigates the determinants of their success or failure in accessing NHF loans. The findings indicated a moderate satisfaction with the NHF scheme. The greatest obstacle to access was the lengthy and bureaucratized verification processes, which correlated highly negatively with loan success (rho = -0.724). The other problems were low public awareness, extended processing times, and inconsistency in loan disbursement. Although the NHF scheme is highly promising, its potential has yet to be fully realized among Enugu Urban federal employees, besmirched by operational inefficiencies, lack of transparency, and inadequate communication. Increased public enlightenment, simplified procedures, and greater institutional accountability are urgently needed to increase uptake and restore confidence in the scheme.

Keywords: National Housing Fund, Housing Finance, Public Sector Employees, Mortgage Accessibility, Enugu Urban, Housing Policy and Nigeria

CITE AS: Ogbaka Juliana Chinwe and Aniagolu Celestine Obinna (2025). Evaluation of Federal Government Workers’ Satisfaction and Determinants of Success in Accessing the National Housing Fund Scheme in Enugu Urban. NEWPORT INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CURRENT RESEARCH IN HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES, 5(2):75-82. https://doi.org/10.59298/NIJCRHSS/2025/5.2.758200