Minister of State for Works and Housing, Abubakar Aliyu, has called for support from stakeholders in the housing sector in order to help address Nigeria’s housing deficit.
He made the call at a one-day sensitisation forum on lands, housing and urban development multilateral programmes of collaboration and the 10th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF10) with the theme: “Achieving national housing and urban development goal: Opportunities for partnerships and technical cooperation.”
Addressing the forum in Abuja, Aliyu also said that the gathering presents an opportunity for the stakeholders to collectively review preparations for the forthcoming WUF10.
While commending the stakeholders for showing high level of commitment and readiness in seeking lasting and sustainable solutions to pertinent issues bothering the sector, he said that “I am well assured that we can work in synergy to achieve the objectives of this season.”
Speaking further, Aliyu said that the rapid urbanisation being experienced is one of the most significant and life changing processes of the present times.
“Its scale and dimension have severe significant social, cultural, economic and environmental consequences that have impacted on all spheres of our lives in one way or the other.
“In the face of the increasing challenges and opportunities brought about by this phenomenon, it is equally important for us to scale-up actions and leverage on the technical expertise and support of development partners,” he added
The minister said that collaborations have led to a series of urban infrastructure investments supported by the World Bank which began in 1986 with the Nigerian States Urban Development Project (NSUDP).
“Synergy with UN-Habitat also resulted in the establishment of the Nigeria country programme support office (UN-HAPSO) in 2003 and we expect to soon host a UN-habitat multi-country office in its on-going structural reforms.
“This is sure to open up a new vista of opportunities for employment and better support for housing and human settlements programmes in Nigeria.
“I challenge all present to deliberate on more innovative ways of repositioning the housing and urban development sector for the benefit of every citizen,” Aliyu said.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Mohammed Bukar, said that the forum is intended to provide useful guidelines for intending delegates to the forthcoming 10th session of the World Urban Forum coming up in United Arab Emirates in February.
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Bukar said that the forum is to acquaint stakeholders with the insight into the operations, mechanisms, tools and opportunities for collaboration, technical assistance and capacity building with key multilateral partners.
According to him, these partners have contributed substantially, through various interventions, to advance housing and human settlements development in Nigeria.
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