By YINKA KOLAWOLE, with agency report

The Federal Government has delivered 43,215 housing units across the country in the last four years through various interventions by the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, according to Housing Minister, Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi.

The minister  disclosed this during the flag-off of the Nationwide Workers’ Housing Scheme in Apo Tapyi District, Abuja, by President Goodluck Jonathan. She said the houses were added to the national housing stock via interventions by the ministry in collaboration with the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) and the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) from July 2010 to date.

“A significant number of the beneficiaries of these new housing units are workers across the country given the focus of the housing scheme of the Ministry on affordability and quality delivery, with particular attention to low-income and middle income earners in both the formal and informal sectors of the national economy,” she said.

Eyakenyi further disclosed that another official ground breaking ceremony of the first batch of 10,000 affordable homes to be provided under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) housing delivery scheme of the Housing Ministry, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Finance and other key stakeholders will be inaugurated early next year.

“Our commitment to the accelerated and long-term transformation of the sector, is well reflected in the revised National Housing and Urban Development policies, revised National Building Code and the Roadmap being finalised for the sector. The establishment of the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) in January 2014 is also set to bridge the funding cost of residential mortgages by providing mortgage lending banks with increased access to liquidity and longer terms funds in the mortgage market,” the minister stated.

She also noted that the government has been creating an enabling environment for private sector-led participation in mass housing delivery, implementation of innovative people-centred policies and programmes aimed at reducing the housing deficit, promoting access to home ownership, reducing the affordability gap, reducing housing construction costs and ensuring better living conditions with improved access to social amenities. “We will not rest on our oars until we significantly reduce the housing deficit in the country, and ensure that all Nigerians are properly housed in properly functioning communities, with access to essential infrastructure and services,” she added.

The minister appealed to all the 36 state governments to make suitable and unencumbered land available for the expansion of the scheme for the benefit of Nigerian workers across the country.

Meanwhile, President Jonathan has revealed plans by the Federal government to deliver over 100,000 housing units for civil servants all over the country.