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.
Director, Information of the Ministry, Badamasi Haiba announced the development in a statement issued on Tuesday, December 12, 2023.
According to the statement, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Ahmed Dangiwa said this when the Chairperson, Nigeria in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Honourable Abike Dabiri-Erewa, and her team paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja
Arch. Dangiwa said the Ministry was also committed to providing necessary support to Nigerian Diaspora Comission’s plans to ensure that Nigerians in the diaspora 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, had 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 commitment 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 would avail Diasporans opportunity to directly buy houses in any state of the federation.
