There is need for more private sector partnership with Lagos state government toward ensuring provision of more qualitative housing for residents.
According to Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotosho, such effort would help to complement government’s efforts in providing low cost housing for its citizens.
To him, the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led government is keen in ensuring Lagosians have access to affordable and qualitative housing in the state.
In his words, government alone cannot provide houses for all Lagosians, and that is why the private sector should join hand with government in ensuring more housing for the people.
According to him, this can be done in various ways through mortgages and partnership, because most young family can’t afford the huge capital involve to build their own house.
Omotosho states that they must explore financing that will be very friendly to the citizens and that is why he is imploring the private sector to look into mortgaging so many people can be captured under the housing project.
He made the call at the opening ceremony of the Radio Lagos/Eko FM Building Expo 2021 at Agidingbi, commending the organisers of the Expo for the initiative to promote quality housing material.
Omotosho urged residents of the state to take advantage of the Expo to source for qualitative materials for their buildings and engage the various government agencies for guidance before embarking on building.
The commissioner spoke through Permanent Secretary, Olusina Thorpe.
Earlier, General Manager, Radio Lagos/Eko FM, Ayoola Shotonwa, said the theme of the exhibition “Sustaining The Lagos THEMES Agenda on Housing was in line with government effort on housing.
She said the exhibition would create a level playing ground for Lagosians to have access to quality and affordable choices of land, structure and quality material.
According to her, the organisation is hosting the particular exhibition solely for arbiters and key players in the building sector and other salient factors that will make building a home attractive.
She believes that unarguably, quality materials and due diligence will also help forestall building mishaps that intermittently plague pages of newspapers headlines and bulletin.
The General Manager said the exhibition would help promote locally made building materials and give the public the opportunity to leverage on the numerous opportunities the fair has to offers.
A Civil and Environment Engineer, Dr Akintoye Oyelade, who delivered lecture titled “Potential of Non-conventional Materials for Building” said an holistic approach must be adopted to resolve challenges hindering the sector.
Oyelade of the Department of Civil and Environment Engineering, University of Lagos (UNILAG) said there was the need to tap into the available resources to address the housing deficit in the country.
In his words, shelter is one of the basic needs of human, hence the need to find a resolute solution to the issue of housing deficit in Nigeria.
He noted that, according to the United Nation, Nigeria needs a 85,000 housing units annually to meets it housing deficit.
The University lecturer stressed that the deficits calls for a holistic approach from major players in the sector to tap into available resources for building to reduce the housing deficit in the country.