Lawrence Olaoye 
Manufacturers offer to supply cement at reduced price
Nigerians earning at least the national minimum wage of N30,000 monthly would benefit from its Social Housing Scheme under the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP), the Federal Government has assured.
Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who disclosed this while inspecting the completed model houses in Dei Dei, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), yesterday, stated that local cement manufacturers have promised to supply cement for the construction of the proposed 300,000 houses at reduced cost across the country. He said that the concession by the manufacturers had become inevitable following the astronomical increase in the prices of cement and other building materials in the country.
The proposed 300,000 units of 2/3 bedroom flats, which will be built in different locations across the country, is expected to be delivered at below N2 million per unit. The scheme, according to the Vice President, is expected to create 1.8 million jobs and provide accommodation for 1.5 million families across the country. Osinbajo said that with the proposed concession by the manufacturers, it will become possible to deliver decent and affordable accommodation that will be within the reach of many Nigerians.
“They have agreed to give cement for this project at considerable discount, which is a very helpful thing to do and we really commend and thank them for the contributions they are making, it is a very patriotic thing on their part.
They also see the importance of this mass housing programme. “On the average, anybody who is earning N30,000 a month and is ready to spend a third of that amount, will be able to afford one of these houses, that is the plan. What I have seen so far, there is a onebedroom unit and there is a two-bedroom unit, both coming under N2 million. “I think that this is a very good thing indeed and a point has been made that it is possible to build good, decent accommodation that isn’t out of the reach of practically everyone.
We are hoping that we will be able to replicate this not just in Abuja, but all over the country. So far, the Family Homes Fund is in 11 states and they have given up land for the project.
“We are hoping that this year, we will be able to very rapidly improve the scale and speed of putting these houses in place. Once we are able to get moving quickly, we think we can make available several thousands of houses across the country and more people can afford to live in such houses,” Osinbajo said. On job creation, Osinbajo said that young men and women who are builders, architects and civil engineers will have opportunities to work on this housing project, just as a lot of the building materials, especially windows, doors and other components will be fabricated locally.
He said that the social housing scheme was an important aspect of the plan by the Federal Government to address the housing needs in the country by building thousands of low-cost houses and in the process create wealth and jobs for youths that will be engaged in the construction of the houses.
Under the ESP, the Federal Government has mandated the central bank to provide financing for the housing scheme and a N200 billion facility has been approved as the first tranche. There would also be Rent to Own option as part of the administration’s resolve to impact the common man in this social housing plan expected to generate 1.8 million jobs and deliver houses to about 1.5 million Nigerian families.