Director, Federal Department of Cooperatives, Idris Ali Sani, has stated explicitly that Nigeria would need the sum of N60 trillion to construct mass houses in order to deplete the current twenty million housing deficit in the country.
Sani made the disclosure at the Affordable Housing Finance and Investment Summit in Abuja, explaining that there is a need for developers, the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, and others to deploy local raw materials for the construction of homes for the people.
He said that for the stakeholders to meet the demand and supply of houses, they must invest heavily in the development of local materials, saying this is the answer to the challenge of accommodation in many cities of the world, including Abuja, Lagos, and others in Nigeria.
The Director declared, “If the federal and state governments want to build affordable houses, they should forget the importation of building materials from China and concentrate on local content. When it is done, no country can compete with Nigeria in terms of constructing mass bungalows.”
He said, “We cannot address the issue of a 20 million homes deficit with the way the stakeholders and governments are delivering 10,000 units annually. This is grossly inadequate, and we have a long way to go to deplete the housing stocks.”
The Convener, Dr Saheed K.Y. Adelakun, emphasised that though the government agencies and others are at the forefront of delivering affordable houses for the people, their drive should be to cut costs and build the types that are in demand in the country.
“We are ready to bring critical stakeholders together to brainstorm and offer them opportunities to operate in order to reduce the cost of houses by 50 per cent. We need a savings system like Kenya to provide the commodity to the citizens.”
He further argued that if one million people contribute N1,000 monthly, it is a good beginning and sustainability is key, adding that from here, those in the diaspora want to see these arrangements before they can come in to help the offtaker.
