By Yinka Kolawole
The upper chamber of the National Assembly, the Senate, has called for inputs from individuals and groups that will facilitate the formation of an effective social housing policy for the country.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Housing, Senator B. A. Ibrahim, made the call when the Committee paid the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ms Ama Pepple, a courtesy visit in her office.

He said the visit was, among other things, meant to discuss possible ways by which housing could be made affordable for the poor people in the society. “We’ve been told that about 15 million Nigerians are not decently housed. It is a very terrible disservice for someone who, for example, has put in about 35 years into the civil service to settle in rented quarters.

“It will therefore be my pleasure to receive from individuals or interest groups opinions on social housing,” said the senator who also added that he would be “very happy to be part of the initiative to build houses for the poorest of the poor in the society,” he stated.

Pepple noted in her remarks that her ministry is ready to continue to collaborate with the private sector for the provision of housing at low costs to Nigerians.

“We will also collaborate with other agencies of government to help them if they are developing estates. We are also working with airports, and there is also an ongoing project with the ministry of education. Recently, the River State government wrote to us that they want to collaborate with us to provide housing for their people. I am sure that when all these come together, we will be able to provide more housing for majority of Nigerians,” she declared.

The minister said that the housing ministry had resorted to obtaining loans from financial institutions so as to fund housing projects it embarked on in the country, since budgetary allocations to the ministry are grossly inadequate.