Daily Trust - the online edition

The Federal government has reiterated it’s commitment to the realization of the 7 point reform agenda as it affects housing, urban development and environmental concerns.

This disclosure was made by the Minister of Environment, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Halima Tayo Alao, at the pre-summit stakeholders’ round table meeting in preparation for the first Nigerian Urban Summit.

In her speech, she stated that the Federal government has embarked on several laudable programmes and strategies to ensure that many Nigerians have access to decent and affordable houses and live in befitting communities in line with the provisions of the National Housing and Urban Development Policies.

"Our activities in this regard relate to facilitating land reforms, ensuring security of tenure and provision of affordable housing and infrastructure. These include computerization and modernisation of the land administration processes across the country, embarking on cadastral survey and township mapping as a strategic tool for effective and efficient land administration."

She disclosed that preparation is underway for the ‘State of the cities report for Nigeria’ to identify the conditions and developmental challenges in twenty of Nigeria’s largest towns and cities in order to strategize for their improved growth and performance.

She added that a presidential committee on the implementation of a policy on affordable housing with a specific mandate to provide a framework to facilitate the provision of these houses, has developed strategies covering issues of housing finance, concessions and incentives amongst other things.

Earlier in his speech, the secretary of the Nigerian Urban Forum, Bimbo Onibokun, explained that the goal of the summit is to stimulate understanding, engender national discourse and build consensus on the road map for integrating Nigerian towns and cities into the national development agenda.