The Federal Capital Territory Administration has commenced the provisions of 4,104 affordable houses for staff of the administration as part of activities to commemorate Nigeria’s 61st Independence anniversary.
The project, according to the FCT Minister of State, Dr Ramatu Aliyu, was a bold step by the administration towards addressing the deficit in the housing sector, especially among civil servants.
In a statement by the Minister’s Special Assistant on Media, Austine Elemue, on Friday, Aliyu said she performed the official site handover/groundbreaking ceremony of Muhammadu Buhari Staff Affordable Housing Estate in Karshi, to mark the commencement of the project.
She assured staff members that modalities had been put in place to guarantee accessibility and affordability to deserving beneficiaries, including funding and repayment arrangements with primary mortgage institutions.
The statement read in part, “That Nigeria is witnessing a crisis in quality housing provision, is not in doubt. Increasing numbers from amongst the youth population are abandoning rural farmlands in the search for better living conditions in the urban areas. Sadly, these multitudes, unable to afford the relatively higher costs of living, are left with no choice other than to find accommodation in shanties and other unwholesome settings.
“It is in recognition of this housing deficit in the nation’s capital, reputed to be the number one urban centre in Nigeria with the most housing-challenged humans (especially among civil servants) that we have completed a review of previous attempts at providing affordable housing for staff of the FCTA/FCDA.”
The minister identified the high cost of land registration and irregularity of land title, policy implementation somersaults, licencing issues, inadequate funding, legislation as some of the major issues that continued to confront the housing sector in Nigeria.
She said that the administration was working assiduously to address some of these challenges so that private sector entities could feel encouraged to invest more in affordable housing provision.
Also speaking, the FCTA Permanent Secretary, Mr Olusade Adesola, revealed that the present administration had at inception pursued the actualisation of the project, just as he stressed that the provision of affordable housing was a conscious effort by the FCT Administration in solving the housing needs of its low and medium cadre in the civil service.
Adesola also noted that the project would create jobs for the teeming youth of Federal Capital Territory, and opportunities for the artisans, thereby preventing youth restiveness.
Speaking on the project, the Director, Housing, Satellite Towns Development Department, Usman Bala, called for deliberate housing policies and concession in the provision of land, primary and secondary infrastructure, ease of titles aimed at solving housing needs in the country.
