The Mayor of Housing, My-ACE China, gives free counsel to Governor Siminalayi Fubara on how to move the economy of the oil-rich state back to the front seat. In this interview with IGNATIUS CHUKWU , he spoke about what the governor can do on land matters to end the increasing menace of land-grabbers in the state. Excerpts: Many business leaders point to the crisis of obtaining land papers in Rivers State and say this deserves urgent attention to attract investors.
They also think housing deficit in Nigeria is getting out of hand. What is your take on these two critical issues? I agree with you that Rivers State is the 7th most populous state in Nigeria with about seven million people. By December 2018, Nigeria posted about 20m housing deficit, needing N21 trillion to close the gap, Gov Sim Fubara of Rivers State has started with 20,000 low-cost houses that may be scaled up to 100,000.
This looks promising. There is hope for more estates to spring up if ease of land papers, ease of regulation, etc can be enthroned. Yes, there are challenges and prospects in the housing sector in Rivers State.
I must however say there are new figures in the housing sector which indicate that it is now between 24m and 28m deficit. The amount needed now to close the gap has risen from about N21trn which is for core costs to about N61trillion including ancillary costs. If you check the impact to building material markets, and other factors that will affect the house you want to build, you will fin.
