FG Targets Housing Deficit with Land Reforms, Rolls Out New National Housing Strategy

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

The federal government yesterday said it has rolled out a new national housing strategy anchored on land reform, urban renewal and public private partnerships capable of addressing Nigeria’s widening housing deficit.

Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, stated this in Ilorin on Monday during the 14th National Council on Lands, Housing and Urban Development meeting.

The theme of this year’s Council Meeting is titled, “Achieving Housing Delivery and Sustainable Cities through Effective Land Management, Urban Renewal, Promotion of Local Building Materials, and Public-Private Partnerships in Nigeria”.

He stated that, “Nigeria’s housing deficit, estimated in the tens of millions, remains one of the country’s most pressing social and economic challenges, driven by rapid urbanisation, population growth and rising construction costs”.

He however said that, the new policy direction would place effective land administration at the centre of housing delivery and adopts urban renewal as a tool for rebuilding Nigerian cities.

According to him, this would position private sector investment as the main driver of mass housing development nationwide.

The minister, represented at the event by Director of Planning, Research and Statistics, Alhaji Mukhtar Ilyasu, added that, “the new policy framework is expected to shape housing delivery, land administration and urban development planning across the federation in the coming years”.

The minister said the federal government has placed effective land management at the centre of its housing delivery strategy.

He described land administration as the foundation for expanding access to affordable housing nationwide.

According to him, urban renewal and regeneration have now been adopted as national policy tools for modernising Nigerian cities, addressing uncontrolled urban growth and responding to population pressure and climate challenges.

He said the government is also prioritising the large-scale adoption of locally sourced building materials and technologies as a cost reduction strategy aimed at making housing more affordable while strengthening domestic construction industries.

Dangiwa added that public private partnerships will serve as the main engine for mass housing and urban infrastructure delivery across the federation.

The government, he noted, will provide policy support, land governance reforms and investment frameworks to attract private capital into the sector.

To support the new direction, he said the federal government is strengthening national land governance frameworks to promote inclusive urban growth and remove long standing bottlenecks in land administration that have slowed housing development.

The new policy thrust, he said, also includes innovative housing finance and investment strategies designed to unlock long term funding for real estate development and bridge Nigeria’s widening housing gap.

He stressed that federal and state governments are being aligned under a unified housing and urban development agenda to ensure coordinated implementation and results driven execution.

Also in his remarks at the event, the Kwara State Commissioner for Urban and Housing Development, Dr. Olusegun Ogunsola  said “over the past six years, the present administration in Kwara State is taking un-precedented steps to finding enduring solutions to age-long issues of inefficient land resource management, unregulated development of our towns, decayed metropolitan infrastructure, shoddy municipal services, etc, through policy re-alignment and sustained investment in system and physical infrastructure”.

Ogunsola said, “For instance, the Kwara Geographic Information Services, KWAGIS has been restructured and strengthened to make land resource administration more seamless and efficient”.

He added, “The 20,000 hectares Kwara Smart City project is another response to the chaotic growth of the state capital and a bold initiative to position Kwara for greater future by leveraging the serenity of the local environment, abundant land resources and private capital and lay the foundation of a next generation city.

He also said, “Our dear capital city, which used to come across like one huge slum that was still expanding with little or no regard for the established development plan, has been rescued.

“I must add that the rescue mission is very much ongoing though, but achievements so far are clearly evident. The city’s development master plan has been reviewed, for the first time after several decades.

“Through dodged commitment to vision, the urban renewal effort of the administration is steadily transforming the city in a fascinating yet sustainable manner.

“Similar transformation is happening in other major towns and as a result, the landscape of our urban centres is becoming cleaner and healthier; our roads are smoother and traffic on them freer.

“Municipal services including potable water supply, waste disposal, intracity commuting, etc, have been considerably affected in a way that is positively impacting the lives of urban residents”.