The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, has praised the Nigerian Army’s initiative for providing affordable housing to its soldiers.
Dangiwa made the commendation when he received the Managing Director and CEO of the Nigerian Army Post Service Housing Development Limited (PSHDL), Major General Joseph D. Omale, in his office.
The Minister applauded the Nigerian Army for aligning with the Ministry’s mandate to provide affordable housing for all Nigerians, irrespective of class and income, emphasizing that housing is a fundamental human need.
“I am happy you are already ahead in providing that welfare to men of your service,” he stated.
Dangiwa also commended the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, for his initiative to remove costs of land and infrastructure, which would have made the houses unaffordable for soldiers.
He noted that the basic challenge of housing is the cost.
“I am happy the Chief of Army Staff has graciously seen to the affordability concern of most of the men, otherwise the houses will be built and become unaffordable,” he said.
The Minister affirmed that the cost of land and infrastructure provision is critical to housing development and affordability.
He advised that with the availability of encumbered land with title deeds, identification of off-takers, and house designs, the agency could approach the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) to access loans for building the houses.
Dangiwa also mentioned that through the NHF scheme, all Nigerians contribute 2.5 percent of their salary, from which mortgages are provided with a 6 percent interest rate for a 30-year period, the cheapest in Nigeria.
Listing the achievements under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, Dangiwa highlighted the setting up of reform task teams on housing agencies, land reform, and establishing building materials manufacturing hubs in six geo-political zones as key to housing development.
He further revealed that the ministry has approval to set up a National Social Housing Fund (NHSF) to cater to those who do not have the means to purchase homes.
On the National Housing Programme (NHP), Dangiwa advised the Nigerian Army to consider buying these houses for their officers, noting that “these National Housing Units are the ones Mr. President directed us to provide to the fallen heroes.”
The Minister stated that the ministry is waiting for Defence Headquarters to provide a list of fallen heroes to allocate houses to their families, urging them to expedite the process to ensure full implementation of the Presidential directive, as sales of the housing units are already ongoing.
Earlier, Major General Joseph Omali said they were in the ministry to seek the Minister’s assistance in facilitating access to mortgage facilities for their soldiers at FMBN.
He disclosed that the Chief of Army Staff, upon assuming duty, initiated a scheme known as Affordable Home Ownership Option for all soldiers, primarily targeting non-officer soldiers, as past schemes only provided officers the opportunity to purchase houses.
