The minister of housing and urban development, Ahmed Dangiwa, says there’s hope for a positive turnaround for the housing sector under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu.
Dangiwa hinged his hope on the priority attention the president has given to the ministry, citing the N100 billion 2023 supplementary budget voted for the ministry and approved by the National Assembly last week.
He commended the president for demonstrating strong political will to back his Renewed Hope Agenda for housing and urban development in Nigeria.
“I sincerely believe that under Tinubu’s leadership, the Nigerian housing and urban landscape will witness a historic turnaround. As a ministry, we are excited because Mr. President understands the magnitude of the housing challenge that the country faces,” the minister said.
He noted that the president has outlined a bold vision towards fixing the challenge in ways never done before and is willing to provide the political will to back it up.
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Dangiwa explained that the N100bn supplementary budget was only part of a broad financing plan that would involve a blend of budgetary allocations, Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), housing construction finance from the federal housing agencies including the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) and Federal Housing Authority (FHA) towards delivering the Renewed Hope Agenda for Housing and Urban Development.
“The provision of the N100 billion in the 2023 Supplementary Budget gives us the leverage to kickstart Phase 1 of our nationwide Renewed Hope Housing Projects and Slum Upgrading Programme before year-end. This reflects the urgency that Mr President accords to providing quality housing to all Nigerians,” he said.
The Renewed Hope Cities will have inclusivity at their best. Phase 1 of the project aims to deliver 34,500 housing units, comprising 1, 2 and 3-bedroom affordable bungalows in 30 states; multi-level flats to cater to low-medium income earners and terrace and detached bungalows and duplexes for high-income earners in select state capitals.
These state capitals include Lagos, Kano, Borno, Nasarawa, Rivers, Enugu, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The high-end buildings would be sold at commercial rates towards cross-subsidizing the cost of the units targeting low-income earners.
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To ensure affordability and quick off-take of the houses by Nigerians, the ministry has outlined a mix of ownership options for potential beneficiaries. These are mortgage loans for low, medium, and high-income earners, rent-to-own, public rental, and outright sale.
Under Phase 1 of the Slum Upgrading Programme, the Ministry plans a total of 26 sites nationwide. These include four sites in each of the six regions of the country totalling 24 and two in the FCT.
The key services to be provided at the identified sites will include water supply, solar street lights, rehabilitation of access roads, construction of drainages and waste management and sanitation services amongst others.
“Our aim under the Slum Upgrading Programme is to improve the living conditions of residents of the identified slum project sites by making them liveable and habitable,” he added.
