Housing Should Form Part Of Chairmanship, Governorship, Presidential Aspirants’ Manifestos – HDAN
Nigerian leading housing advocacy organization, Housing Development Advocacy Network (HDAN) has called for the inclusion of housing as a priority in the manifesto of any political aspirant vying for the chairmanship, governorship, and presidential positions ahead of the 2023 elections.
In a press statement released on Friday in Abuja, the Executive Director of HDAN, Festus Adebayo, said it’s high time Nigeria emulates other advanced countries like the United Kingdom (UK) where housing is prioritized as a major component of political aspirants’ manifestos.
He said the need to appraise the manifestos of each of the aspirants can not be overemphasized, as well as unraveling how the aspirants intend to address Nigeria’s housing challenge.
According to Adebayo, “We can not continue to fold our arms as professionals in the housing industry without calling on Nigerians to demand what each of those seeking their votes would do for them in the area of housing.
“Housing is key. It’s one of the basic needs of man. But considering the situation in Nigeria today, the attention on housing has drastically dwindled with the housing deficit, even having being challenged by the current APC government, has increasingly soared.”
Adebayo noted that the current leadership of the country has failed in its responsibility to provide affordable housing for its citizens, saying “It is on record that the APC government as of today has not delivered up to 10,000 houses as we have in other countries where the focus is on the production of 50,000/100,000 housing units annually ”
He, therefore, advised Nigerians to be sensitive to the decisions they make even as 2023 draws near, adding that it’s imperative to engage various aspirants, not only to make housing part of their agenda but to also avail them how they intend to fill the housing gap in the country.
“The impact of housing on the socio-economic development of any nation is enormous considering its multiplier effects in the area of job creation, and economic stability, among others. With housing, health-related issues and insecurity can be tackled. The country’s population is increasing at a geometric progression while the supply of housing is below arithmetic progression , whole the available houses are not within the reach of those that really need the houses. We hereby call on all aspirants for the positions of president, Governor and chairman to tell us what they have to offer in the area of housing and how they intend to achieve it ”, Adebayo said.
