The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo yesterday laid foundation stone for the construction of 138 housing units for personnel serving in Abuja.
Performing the ground breaking ceremony of the Sailors Homes Estate Kyamin, Admiral Gambo pledged to sustain the high morale of Naval personnel by providing shelter, an essential basic need, which has influence on operational efficiency.
Addressing the officers and men of the Nigerian Navy at the site, Vice Admiral Gambo said the groundbreaking was another auspicious milestone in the transformation plan articulated for infrastructural development towards effective discharge of personnel constitutional mandate.
He said the impact of affordable and decent housing to personnel cannot be quantified as it is adjudged a veritable tool for motivation and a morale booster.
The Naval Chief said the Nigerian Navy over the years continued to prioritize home ownership in the hierarchy of its preferences.
He recalled that on 3 December 2022, a similar ground breaking ceremony for the development of 147 houses at Cluster ‘H’ at Admiralty Estate Asokoro Abuja and 150 units of Post Service Housing at the Navy Estate Karshi Phase 3 were conducted.
“In addition, 10 hectares of land in Topo – Badagry, for the development of 237 housing accommodation for Nigerian Navy personnel, serving and retired as well as members of the public was also initiated on 26 January this year in Lagos State,” he said.
In his remarks, the managing director, Federal Mortgage Bank Nigeria, Mr Madu Hamman stressed that the board of the bank approved the loan not only because of the relationship with the Nigerian Navy but that soldiers should have a roof over their head after serving the nation.
He said apart from approving loans for the project, the mortgage bank also gives loans to Naval retirees.
Hamman noted that this initiative of providing affordable houses is through a Memorandum of Understanding between Villa Homes & Construction Limited, the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Navy.
Earlier, the group managing director, Navy Holdings Limited, Rear Admiral Sileranda Lassa observed that the Nigerian Navy came into the Federal Capital Territory late, that is why the personnel are inadequately accommodated.
