Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
The federal government has inaugurated the phase one of the National Housing Programme (NHP) in Asa Dam, Ilorin, Kwara state .
President Muhammadu Buhari, represented by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed on the occasion, stated that the housing project was important to his administration.
He said that the completion of the project was part of the fulfilment of the promise of change to improve the human condition made by the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He disclosed that the micro, small and medium businesses that drive the economy were given the contract to build the houses, adding that through them, the value chain of business activities witnessed a tremendous boost in the area.
The Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, who was represented by the Commissioner for Housing, Aliyu Muhammadu, in his remarks, acknowledged the positive effect the project was having in terms of job creation and general economic benefits to the people of the state.
“There is therefore no doubt about the unprecedented investment of the president in critical infrastructure across every part of Nigeria such as roads, bridges, housing, railways, water, education, power, energy and health infrastructure which all progressive minds will ever remain grateful for,” the governor stated.
Works and Housing Minister, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), who was represented by the Director, Public Buildings and Housing, Solomon Labafilo stated that the federal government through his ministry had delivered housing projects in 35 states of the federation.
The minister, in a statement by the ministry’s Director of Press, Blessing Lere-Adams, said the design of the houses was determined by the outcome of a national survey, which revealed the prevalent need for bungalows in the North and flats in the South.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Mr. Bashir Alkali, represented by the Ministry’s Director of Survey and Zonal Director Housing, North Central, Pemi Temitope, revealed that over 1,200 building contractors had been engaged under the three phases of the programme since its inception in 2016.
