- Architect Ahmed Musa Dangiwa is Nigeria’s Minister of Housing and Urban Development. In this interview with Alphonsus Okoroigwe, he highlights the federal government’s efforts at making housing affordable in the country.
What’s the present administration doing to improve the condition of housing in Nigeria?
Well, we’ve been in office as ministers for one year and a few months now. And upon assuming office, we in the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development were mandated by the president to first find out the real problems bedeviling the housing sector, particularly to ascertain why poor Nigerians didn’t have decent housing. And digging deep, we discovered that the main problems were, first, the continuous rise of the cost of building materials such as cement, sand, gravel, rods, and so on. Second was our age-long use of cement, sand, and block as the only way of building houses in Nigeria. We never thought of other ways, even if it were traditional, so as to improve quality, and provide durable housing units for Nigerians. The third thing we found out was a situation whereby houses had been built but people were unable to buy or rent them, probably because their salaries were too low to afford them.
So, these were the things we found out, and we didn’t rest on our oars. We ensured that the Federal Mortgage Bank was empowered enough to give out loans to people to either build the houses themselves or buy the houses from the bank with deductions favourably made from their salaries until they’re fully paid for. We also made it possible for registered cooperative societies to get loans from the bank to build houses. These are some of the ways we’ve created to combat the issue of housing in the country. Loans are also provided for the renovation of houses. We were also mandated to build housing units in each state of the federation. And this is why we took off with the plan of building 250 housing units of various types in 13 states of the federation. We’ve commissioned these projects, and serious work is going on in these states.
The aim of the president is to ensure that these houses are built across these states, in such a way that after building them, people can afford the cost of occupying them. People can pay at once for the houses, if they have the money. If they don’t have, they can pay even up to four or five times. And if they can’t pay four or five times, they can do so from one year to thirty years, depending on how many years one has to retire from service. As well, people can rent these houses on some conditions and be paying either monthly or annually until they become theirs.
So precisely, what types of houses are these?
These houses are categorized into two. Need Hope Estates are those that will be built in 30 states, and Renewed Hope Estates are the ones that will be built in the other six states. They’ll be located at the headquarters of the six geopolitical zones. So, we selected Kano for the North West, Borno for the North East, and Nasarawa for the North Central. Also, we selected Enugu for the South East, Lagos for the South West, and Rivers for the South South. These are two-storey, three-storey, and four-storey buildings that will be located in the six states. Each building will comprise about six or eight flats with beautiful terraces, ranging from 1000 to 3000 housing units in each of these states. For instance, we’ve started such in Abuja with 3,112 housing units.
And in Lagos and Kano, we’ve started with 2000 housing units each. In fact, this administration is also determined to build houses for those who don’t earn salaries, especially the vulnerable. For this, we’re planning to initiate the National Social Housing Programme. It is a social housing fund through which the Federal Government will build between 100 and 120 housing units in each of the 774 local government areas of Nigeria. They will be built in conformity with the tradition of the people of each area, and given free of charge to those who either don’t have houses of their own or don’t have means of getting them.
You earlier cited the cost of building materials as one of the problems bedeviling the housing sector. What’s the government doing about this?
The government is taking proactive steps to make building materials affordable. For those who can build houses by themselves, we’re poised to set up building materials manufacturing hubs. These are markets that will be manufacturing building materials without Nigerians importing them. They will be located in the six geopolitical zones to be manufacturing materials such as tiles, roofing sheet, and so on. And no doubt, this will provide mass employment, and reduce the cost of building materials in such a way that Nigerians can comfortably build and own houses. Again, another problem confronting the ministry is the issue of land. Of the about 972-kilometer land space that Nigeria occupies, only about ten percent has certificates.
That is, ninety percent don’t have certificates of occupancy, which is harmful to the system, since without a certificate of occupancy, one cannot get any tangible thing with the land. This is also a big loss to the state governments. So, we’re working out ways to partner with state governments to assist them get assets and funds by securing certificates of occupancy for their lands in a way that will benefit the people. In the area of rural development, the ministry is embarking on slum upgrade to rehabilitate densely congested areas and improve their environmental conditions. We’re building drainages and small roads, providing potable water, and repairing water pipelines, as well as providing other services to improve sanitation in these areas across the country.
We’ve provided such services in 26 states since assuming office. More so, foundation has been laid for 6,612 housing units across the country’s six geopolitical zones. Here in the South East, we chose Abia and Ebonyi states. We took Osun and Oyo states in the South West, and Akwa Ibom and Delta states in the South South. We’re building 250 housing units in each of these states. As well, we chose Sokoto and Katsina states in the North West, Gombe and Yobe states in the North East, and Benue and Nasarawa in the North Central.
When will these projects be completed?
We’re redoubling efforts to complete the Renewed Hope Estates in twelve states by December. And we’ll seek funds from the 2025 budget to complete the rest. We also intend to enter a public-private partnership with builders and experts, whereby we will facilitate them with ways of getting funds to execute the projects.
There have been calls in recent times to deepen research for the production of traditional building materials to improve the quality of housing in Nigeria. Is the government considering these calls?
Yes, we’ve started consulting experts on this very issue. And we would like them to help find out best ways of improving the quality of traditional building materials so as to lessen the cost of building in the country. We’ll continue to encourage their efforts so as to enable Nigerians get solid, durable, and affordable houses.
Alphonsus Okoroigwe is the Regional Correspondent (South East), Voice of America
