The Federal Government has revealed why the residents of Lagos state are yet to benefit from the National Housing Programme (NHP).
The government said that unavailability of land has been the main issue as out of the 36 states in the country, Lagos state is yet to provide land for the mass housing programme.
This was made known by the Federal Controller of Housing in Lagos, Mrs Margaret Adejobi, during an interview on Sunday in Lagos, where she appealed to the Lagos state government to provide land for the programme.
Adejobi during the interview said, “The last time that the Honourable Minister of Works and Housing was here in Lagos for the National Housing Council meeting, he said it, that we are still waiting for the Lagos State Government to give us a viable land that we can construct on.
“So, we will still continue to appeal to Lagos State to grant us the land, so that we can boast that we have land in all the states of the federation.’’
Adejobi said that the ministry is not comfortable building on a waterlogged area in Abijo near Epe allocated by the Lagos government because of affordability and accessibilities issues.
The federal controller further explained that the cost of sand filling was huge and would defeat the aim of the NHP which was to make housing affordable to all Nigerians across the 36 states of the federation.
She said, “We are building for the masses, if we took that place at Abijo, the houses would not be affordable. It took Rivers State time to give us land, so I am really hopeful that Lagos State will come around and give us.’’
Although she admitted the challenge is having available land in a coastal city like Lagos, Adejobi appealed to the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration to provide the land for overall benefit of residents of the state.
She noted that some states have completed the first and second and had embarked on third phases of the NHP and expressed hope that the scheme would soon start in Lagos state.
The National Housing Programme is a nationwide initiative of the Federal Government being implemented by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing. It is a Programme borne out of the Government’s desire to provide affordable housing for its citizenry.
The Federal Ministry of Works and Housing has successfully constructed housing schemes under the Programme in 34 States except for Lagos and Rivers states where land is yet to be provided by the state government. The housing schemes currently available comprise of various semi-detached bungalows and condominiums.
The National Housing Programme is committed to the provision of adequate and affordable housing via home ownership and rental schemes for all Nigerians in the urban and rural areas.
Recall that in November 2021, the Federal Government announced plans to commence the sale of houses under the NHP from N7.2 million, just as it unveiled the portal for the housing scheme and urged Nigerians to apply for affordable homes through the website.
