The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has expressed its willingness to support Diaspora initiatives in the housing and urban development space towards making a change in the housing and urban development narrative of the country.
The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arch. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa said this when the Chairperson, Nigeria in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa and her team paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja.
Arch. Dangiwa said the Ministry is also committed to providing necessary support to Nigerian Diaspora Comission’s plans to ensure that Nigerians in diaspora can own homes in Nigeria.
“NiDCOM has over the years championed several initiatives and programmes that are helping our country leverage the massive potential of our diaspora for national development. We have over 20million Nigerians in Diaspora remitting an average of over $24bn per annum,” he said.
The Minister also said that the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) in supporting the Ministry’s efforts to cater to the Diaspora, has undertaken to develop the Diaspora City Project under a Public Private Partnership comprising the FHA, The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), the Federal CapitalTerritory (FCT) and the private sector. The Project is situated in Maitama 2, with over 675 hectares of land.
Dangiwa said that the overall goal of the project was to ensure that “as our brothers and sisters’ sojourn abroad, they also have a decent shelter over here in Nigeria to call their home”.
He commended the innovative drive of the NiDCOM Chairperson and her team and assured them of the Ministry’s committment to taking relevant actions towards ensuring that FMBN and FHA deliver on the stated objectives of these initiatives.
Earlier in her remarks, the Chairperson, Nigeria in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa said they were in the ministry to appreciate the Minister for attending the 6th edition of the Nigeria Diaspora Investment Summit when the diaspora Mortgage Scheme was launched.
She acknowledged receipt of the Minister’s letter to the commission on the sale of houses built by the ministry under the National Housing Scheme across the nation which will avail Diasporans opportunity to directly buy houses in any state of the federation.
She added that with this innitiatives, Nigerians abroad are eager to come back home so that they can join hands in developing their country as they do not have any other country except Nigeria.
