As part of ongoing efforts to bridge the over 22 million housing deficit in the country, Echostone Nigeria Limited has signed a joint development agreement with the Nigerian Police.
The partnership agreement signed at the weekend at the Police Headquarters in Abuja, had in attendance, deputy inspector general of Police, Taiwo Lakanu; founder/CEO, Echostone International, Anthony Recchia; director, Echostone, Sammy Adigun and the general manager, Echostone, Brian Greenway, among many others.
Director at Echostone, Mr Sammy Ajayi, said the intention of the parties to the agreement is to help policemen and women to own their homes in their chosen location nationwide.
According to him, the project will help in solving security challenges because when our men and women are comfortable and motivated, they will perform better and be more committed to the difficult and challenging work of policing the nation.
“The project will be 1, 2 & 3 bedroom high-quality homes and will be built to the highest quality standards and in a very beautiful environment with parks, gardens, schools, shops; every estate will be fully infrastructure with paved roads, drainages, water, power (on and off-grid) and sewage systems and treatments,” he explained.
He, however, noted that Echostone will be mobilising local and international partnership to achieve the project seamlessly. “Echostone is the only IFC EDGE (World Bank) Certified (Green) developer in Nigeria, which gives the Police huge confidence in the quality of homes that they will be getting from Echostone.”
Founder/CEO, Echostone International, Anthony Recchia has said it is, however, worthy of note that the partnership is the first of its kind in housing delivery in Nigeria.
According to the developer, all the ingredients required for a successful housing project delivery has been taken into one agreement. For instance, Echostone is the developer, the Nigeria Police Property Development Company (NPPDC) will provide the land, while the Nigeria Police Force Mortgage Bank (NPFMB), stands as the Mortgage Facility and the Nigeria Police as the off-takers.
“The Police are the single largest employer in the Nigerian Economy and this project when achieved would be a major boost to the economy, the welfare of our Police Officers & Men and have a very high social impact,” he said.
The development is planned over the next five years, even as the project scope includes; 100,000 homes; with 1000Km of roads and drainages, which will have other additional infrastructure of one billion litres of water supply and storage. It also proposes to have 1000 Megawatts of on and off-grid power supply and distribution; 50,000 direct jobs and 2.5 million indirect jobs.
Commenting on this development, deputy inspector general of Police (DIG), Taiwo Lakanu said, “The homes which will be built over five years will be of high social impact on the families and lives of all policemen.”
On his part, managing director, Police Property Company, CP Rudolph Obe said, ‘‘The IGP approvals of this massive housing program for police officers and men is direct economic empowerment and a huge morale booster that will have a serious impact on the security of lives and prosperity, as the men will be highly motivated to do more in their sacrifices for the nation.”
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