In its bid to provide affordable housing and improve the living condition of Nigerians, the federal government has unveiled plans to create one million direct and indirect jobs and provide 40,000 units of houses within the first phase of its Renewed Hope Agenda for Housing.
The minister of housing and urban development, Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, stated this at the 50th anniversary of Federal Housing Authority of Nigeria (FHA) in Abuja. He said the FHA will play a key role in the ministry’s New City Development Plan.
Dangiwa who said the ministry plans to lead partnerships with the private sector, local and international investors, towards redefining the concept of cities in Nigeria and decongesting city centres and state capitals, added that the New City Development Plan aims to deliver Renewed Hope Cities ranging from 1,000 housing units per site in one location in each of the six geo-political zones of the country and FCT.
He named Abuja, Lagos, Kano, as well as Borno, Nasarawa, Rivers, and Enugu states as the selected states and said the remaining thirty (30) states will have Renewed Hope Estates each with a minimum of 500 housing units.
While calling on the FHA to wake up to its responsibilities, the minister lamented that in the Authority’s 50 years of existence, records show it has only delivered a cumulative of just over 50,000 housing units, showing an average of 1,000 houses per year in 50 years. This he said is clearly not acceptable, especially from Nigeria’s foremost housing agency that has so many institutional advantages that it can leverage to deliver more results.
“The Renewed Hope Cities will have inclusivity at their core. Overall, we aim to deliver under this phase 1, a total of 40,000 homes from a mix of sponsors comprising the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development’s budgetary allocation, the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), and through Public Private Partnerships with reputable developers in the delivery of the new cities. Ownership Options include Mortgage Loans, Rent-to-Own and Outright Purchase. At 25 jobs per unit, the first phase of the project will create direct and indirect 1,000,000 jobs helping to achieve the target to lift 1million Nigerians out of poverty”, he stated.
In his address, former head of state, General Yakubu Gowon, said the idea for establishing the FHA by his military administration in 1973 was one of the regime’s post-civil war social services aimed at providing shelter for Nigerians.
While commending the FHA for its efforts and achievements over the decades, Gowon said shelter is still a priority today as it was 50 years ago, stressing that even more so in view of recent rapid population growth.
Earlier, the managing director of the FHA, Senator Gbenga Ashafa, said the agency is implementing operational reforms in the areas of digitisation and process optimisation, noting that they must build on the successes of the past to deliver more houses to Nigerians that are decent and affordable.
