The federal government said it would need to build approximately 550,000 housing units annually over the next 10 years to solve housing needs in the country.

To do this, however, it would require about N5.5 trillion per annum.

Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, who stated this in Enugu at the groundbreaking ceremony for Graceland Estate, added that the huge housing deficit is the result of ineffective implementation of housing policies and suboptimal performance of housing delivery institutions.

He also pointed out that an undeveloped housing market, an untapped secondary mortgage market, and a tough macroeconomic environment are responsible.

Dangiwa, who was full of praise for Enugu Governor Peter Mbah for keying into President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s policy on housing, stated that the intervention of the federal government was already yielding results.

He said, “Like all other systemic problems hindering our nation’s development, the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is boldly and frontally addressing the housing deficit to change the narrative for good.

“Already the results are visible. In just over one year, under the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates Programme, we have commenced construction work for a total of 6,612 housing units across 13 states and the FCT, with many of these units now at advanced stages of completion. We intend to complete most of them by December, so Nigerians can begin to own these homes.

“Additionally, work has started on 3,500 housing units across three new Renewed Hope Cities, including 2,000 units in Lagos (South West) and 1,500 units in Kano (North West). In the South East, we selected Enugu for the development of a 2,000-unit Renewed Hope City, which will be delivered as part of the MoU we signed with a consortium of developers for 100,000 housing units nationwide.”

He said that a Comprehensive Action Plan for Housing and Urban Development had been made with Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in collaboration with state governments for achieving the Renewed Hope Agenda in the sectors.

The minister said that the Graceland Estate was part of the 10,000 housing units to reduce the housing deficit, stressing that it aligns with Tinubu’s goal to deliver quality and affordable housing to all Nigerians.

“Without your Excellency’s support and encouragement, this project that we are here to perform groundbreaking would not have been possible.

“Second, I would like to commend the Managing Director/Chief Executive of Copen Group, a housing stakeholder and advocate for affordable housing, Rev. Dr. Sullivan Chime, for the exemplary life he is leading,” he said.

Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, had challenged universities in the country to research ways of reducing the high cost of building in Nigeria, saying it was the challenge faced by the housing sector.

Mbah, who was represented by his deputy, Ifeanyi Ossai, stated that the devaluation of the currency led to high costs of labour and has made it difficult for the average person to access homes even when they are developed.

He said, “A society that is unable to accommodate its citizens suffers a great deal. Part of the challenges we witness in housing is cost, and we are witnesses to the spiral cost of housing materials. Even water to the sites has tripled and quadrupled.

“So, the challenge is to creatively design an approach that will make this project accessible and affordable to our people.

“In events like this, it’s time we begin to work with our universities, the engineering departments of our universities, to begin to look at creative ways to bring down the cost of houses. Our universities should begin to look at what values our native roofing materials can add to our present housing so as to replace the high cost of asbestos and roofing sheets with what we can grow on our farms, which will have multiplier effects on job creation.”

He commended the federal government for citing part of its housing programme in Enugu State.