President Muhammadu Buhari has listed efforts which his government has been making in the last eight years to lift Nigerians From Poverty.
The President, who inaugurated 748 units of houses by presenting keys to some new homeowners at the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) Zuba, in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), today, May 2, said that the successful completion the project is another testament of his administration’s commitment to lift people out of poverty.
The estate covers a total of 18.5 hectares of land and consist 748 units of various house types in 75 blocks.
President Buhari described Housing supply as one of the indices of multi-dimensional poverty that challenges the people.
“The completion of this estate provides a solution for the beneficiaries.
‘‘The new home owners who benefit from this estate have taken a step up on the ladder of prosperity and away from poverty.”
President Buhari acknowledged that more Nigerians are waiting to benefit from the mass housing project, and called on the management of FHA not to relent in delivering other projects at various stages of construction and development across the states.
‘‘One of the measures that we have consciously deployed to attack poverty, create prosperity and develop our economy is the aggressive provision of infrastructure nationwide.”
According to him, such investments also lead to creating employment opportunities for artisans and other skilled members of the society.
This was even as the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, said that the completion of the project was a product of team work and leadership by the President, who gave approval for appointments into the leadership of FHA Board and Management.
‘‘Instead of abandoned projects, we now have 748 completed housing units for Nigerians and their families to shelter.” He said that 75 contractors were engaged in the course of the project, while over 13,000 Nigerians were employed both directly and indirectly.
Fashola said that the five beneficiaries who received keys to their flats, including Tina Orkpe, Salisu Iliyasu, Ado Maude, Rabina Abdulkadir and Flight Sgt. Musa Mohammed, subscribed through FHA Rent-to-Own delivery model.
‘‘Although many of the beneficiaries of this project will never meet the President personally, your policies and programmes have met them personally at the point of their needs.”
The Chairman, Board of Directors, FHA, Senator Shuaibu Lawal thanked the President for providing the grant of N7.5billion for the project to commence in May 2018.
‘‘Without that grant, which served as the seed money, this project would not have been possible. Mr President, you take all the credit for what we are seeing here today.”
Lawal said that the Estate is ideal for Nigerians who cannot afford houses in areas such as Maitama and Asokoro in the FCT, even as helauded the Minister of Works and Housing, FCT Minister, Mohammed Bello, for their passionate commitment to the project.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Office of FHA, Senator Gbenga Ashafa, described the commissioning of the project as a manifestation of the visionary and deliberate housing policy of the President, who in keeping with the promise of providing shelter to Nigerians approved the grant to FHA.
He said that the Authority delivered the project at a total cost of N9.5billion with the subvention of N7.5 billion from the Federal Government.
He explained that the balance of 2 billion of construction cost came from the Authority’s other projects which was ploughed into to complete the estate.
Ashafa disclosed that the Authority has also commenced the development of Bwari Estate, Abuja near the Nigeria Law School, which will deliver 336 units of various houses under the first phase of the project.
He said that the proposed Diaspora City initiative, which targets Nigerians in the Diaspora, is in progress, with intention of extending the programme to all the regions of the country, with Abuja as the pilot scheme.
