Kingsley U N Chikwendu —
The Director General of the Regional Sustainable Energy Centre of Excellence for Sub-Saharan Africa, Dr. Aminu Trader said that local and foreign investors are pulling up resources to the tune of ₦8.3trillion to embark on massive building projects across the country for low-income earners.
Trader said this at the recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI) in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.
He added that the MoU was aimed at embarking on mass construction of houses using local materials from NBRRI’s technology to solve the problem of housing deficit in the country.
He stated that the journey between the two agencies to collaborate on the anticipated project was born years ago, adding that the discussions had during those times have yielded ‘a solidified gesture’ of signing of the MoU which is a sign of success achieved.
Dr. Trader explained further that the idea is not just building houses alone but, bringing to the fore what the local contents and patronage of locally manufactured materials can do for the country’s economy. He said it would also give room for affordability of ownership by low-income earners as the houses will be very affordable, as the payment plan will be from ₦17,000 to ₦20,000 deduction monthly for a period of about 30 years.
The DG of NBRRI Engr. Prof. Samson Duna said that NBRRI has done a lot in the provision of affordable housing in Nigeria, to ease sufferings, using locally made materials.
He added that some local materials produced by NBRRI, matched with best international standards include Bamboo Panel for walling and flooring, Mable tiles, Roofing Sheets, Interlocking Pavin Stone, Interlocking Tiles, Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks, Movable Interlocking Blocks and others.
