Nigeria’s government is prepared for the projected 60% increase in urban dwellers by 2030, according to Minister of Housing and Urban Development Architect Ahmed Musa Dangiwa.
“The Federal government of Nigeria is paying very thoughtful attention to the issues and challenges of urbanization in the country,” Dangiwa said during the celebration of this year’s World Habitat Day/World Cities Day, organized by his ministry in Abuja.
“The issue of financing for affordable housing and urban infrastructure remains the cardinal focus of the ministry and we solicit collaborations and partnerships from our development partners and other stakeholders,” he added.
Dangiwa said they are “envisaging an urban future where economic growth and prosperity proceed with equity; one where human exploitation of the natural environment is carried on sustainably; and one where poverty and inequality are attenuated by strong human-centered policies.”
He said that the provision of “adequate and affordable housing in both urban and rural areas in the secure, healthy, and decent environment for all Nigerians” is the primary mandate of the ministry and “equally one of the cardinal focuses of the present administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.”
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Dangiwa called for “Private sector investments in the sector by leveraging on the Ministry’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement already in place.”
Also speaking, the Managing Director of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), Senator Gbenga Ashafa, called for “a more secure and habitable society as agreed to at the 1985 Nations General Assembly.”
“The time is now for us to make our environment more habitable, secure, and environmentally sustainable as the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 40/202 of 17 December 1985 presupposes,” Ashafa said.
“The theme of this year’s celebration, which is ‘Resilient Urban Economies: Cities as Drivers of Growth and Recovery’ is quite apt and most relevant to our nation,” he added.
“One of the ways of recovering from the current global economic meltdown we are facing as a nation due to our overdependence on crude oil export is to diversify to housing construction,” Ashafa said.
“The government has to make a concerted and deliberate effort at urban development, through the building of new cities and regenerating of the old ones,” he added.
“Through this, not only will we provide houses to our people, we will also deliver a more liveable and secure environment to them,” Ashafa said.
Source: Blueprint News
