Dangiwa Lauds Tinubu for Prioritising Housing, Urban Devt

The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, has applauded President Bola Tinubu, for demonstrating strong political will to back his bold and visionary Renewed Hope Agenda for housing and urban development in Nigeria.

Dangiwa stated this in his response to the N100 billion 2023 supplementary budget voted for the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and approved by the National Assembly last week.

“I sincerely believe that under the leadership of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, 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, he has outlined a bold vision towards fixing it in ways never done before and is willing to provide the political will to back it up,” a statement quoted the president to have said.

The Minister explained that the N100 billion Supplementary budget was only part of 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 Authoriyt (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. Presidents accords to providing quality housing to all Nigerians,” he said

The Renewed Hope Cities would have inclusivity at their core. Phase 1 of the project aims to deliver 34,500 housing units in a mix of 1, 2-, and 3-bedroom affordable bungalows in Nigeria’s thirty (30) states; multi-level flats to cater to low-medium income earners and terrace and detached bungalows and duplexes for the high-income earners in select state capitals including Lagos, Kano, Borno, Nasarawa, Rivers, Enugu, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

“The high-end buildings would be sold at commercial rates towards cross-subsidising the cost of the units targeting low-income earners,” the statement added.

To ensure affordability and quick offtake of the houses by Nigerians, the Ministry outlined mix of ownership options for potential beneficiaries. This includes mortgage loans for low, medium, and high-income earners, rent-to-own, public rental, and outright sale.

“Under the Phase 1 of the Slum Upgrading Programme, the Ministry plans a total of 26 sites nationwide. This includes four sites in each of the six regions of the country totaling 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 livable and habitable,” he added.