Caroline Ameh
The Coordinator of the Abuja International Housing Show, Barrister Festus Adebayo has said that youths involvement in the designing and planning of housing would go a long way in solving Nigeria’s housing deficit.
Barrister Adebayo said this at a media parley ahead of the 15th Edition of the Abuja International Housing Show in Abuja.
He noted that the youth are a key stakeholder when it comes to housing design and they must be carried along. “They have what it takes, they can design what we need. It is high time we get them involved”.
The coordinator pointed out that, “part of the issues that will be addressed this year is the involvement of the youth in designing the future of affordable housing and I am glad to say that we have a lot in store in terms of the youth housing design competition which is a first of its kind in Nigeria and need we say Africa.
Barrister Adebayo also said that part of the issues to be addressed at this year’s conference will be the matter of housing data for effective planning and delivery. To this end, the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS), National Population Commission (NPC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC), Federal Ministry of Finance and other critical stakeholders will be deliberating on Nigeria’s housing deficit figures and the way forward in terms of the segmentation of the country’s housing needs and what is expected and required from both urban and rural perspectives using both local and international best practices.
“For us in the housing and built sector and, particularly the Housing Development and Advocacy Network (HDAN), we remain unrelenting in advocating for the development and rollout of affordable housing by government and the private sector”.
He also commended the response of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Ministry of Finance and other stakeholders towards the establishment of N200Billion National Social Housing Programme being managed by the Family Homes funds to deliver 300,000 housing units for low income earners across the federation.
