Admin I Saturday, April 21, 2018
LONDON, United Kingdom – A federal mortgage is available for Nigerians seeking housing finance that is not less than N5 million($13,700) at a periodic repayment of 6 percent interest per annum, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola has said.
Fashola who made the remarks in a public lecture on “Transforming Nigeria’s Urban Agenda” at the London School of Economics said government decided to ease access to housing finance by removing the requirement for a 10% contribution and instead capitalising this into the periodic re-payment at 6% per annum, through the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria.
“Today, Nigeria is producing more food than in the past, especially food crops like rice and wheat, and in under 36 months, we have a record of 6.3 Milion new rice farmers, mostly living and working in rural areas. Many rural dwellers who used to lease out their land to others to farm have taken to farming it themselves. Government, through other Ministries and Departments, such as Education, Water Resources, Power, Works and Housing, is now intervening with: provision of water supply schemes and facilities for irrigation and other uses, school feeding and other incentives to get children to school, Identification and reconstruction of roads that lead to, and connect prolific agricultural strongholds in the country, to support the economic aspiration of farmers, Completion of about 2,000 long neglected rural electrification schemes and formulation of policy and regulation to accelerate deployment of electricity mini grids to stimulate rural access to electricity.
According to him, the result is 90% reduction in rice importation, 2 million previously out-of-school children now back in school, adding that Nigerian Government’s commitment to infrastructure is impacting the rural areas through work creation, economic inclusion, and participation in the construction value chain.
“In the first instance, most of the materials employed in construction, such as laterite, sand, gravel, limestone, are mined in rural communities, and this is creating economic activities in these areas. Most of the National Road Network Reconstruction now being undertaken in all the 36 States pass through or connect one urban or rural community.
“During construction, employment opportunities comes close to these communities, instead of them travelling to look for work, and on completion, they facilitate mobility. Similarly, the National Housing Project, which is being executed first in a pilot phase to test for acceptability and affordability, as a proof of concept in 33 States, not only responds to the shelter component of urbanisation on a local level, it responds to the economic inclusion component as well.
“At each of these construction sites, there are not less than 1,000 people engaged as skilled and unskilled labour, complemented by vendors and suppliers. While these actions that I have spoken of address the first strategy of managing the reality of urbanisation by improving the quality of life in the rural areas, there are also interventions that seek to expand the quality of service and opportunities in the urban centres, which are in various stages of implementation”, he said, adding that agrand and audacious commitment to connect Nigeria’s major cities by rail is already under implementation with the commencement of work on the Lagos-Ibadan-Kano rail project.
“As I mentioned earlier, Road Construction and Rehabilitation work is going on in all 36 states. In terms of access to energy, the country had developed its first public energy mix statement that seeks to achieve 30% of renewable energy by 2030. Major hydro-electricity projects are either being aggressively pursued towards completion or imminent commencement, like the 700MW Zungeru, 40MW Kashimbilla, 30MW Gurara, 29 MW Dadin Kowa, all approaching completion, and the 3050 MW Mambilla, whose financing is now under consideration. Government policy and action is stimulating consensus and action towards other sources of cleaner energy like solar.
“Electric energy production capacity has increased from 5,000 MW to 7,000 MW and Distribution has increased from under 3,000 Mw to 5,000 Mw and work continues to expand these capacities and results are imminent. A revised National Building Code in 2017 also addresses efficient building methods to conserve water, energy, and provide access to services for the most vulnerable members of our urban family”, he said.
