The Nation Newspaper

Tag: housing estate

  • Dangote builds N2b housing estate for IDPs

    THE Aliko Dangote Foundation has inaugurated the Dangote village built for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

    The gesture has been  described as another massive philanthropic gesture coming barley two weeks after the foundation donated 150 cars to the police.

    The Dangote village is a self-sufficient set of 200 housing units worth N2 billion, with school, hospital, irrigation farms and poultry farms among others, to enable the occupants make a living.

    Dangote also gave each of the beneficiary N100,000 to start a new life.

    The foundation’s chairman, Aliko Dangote, said about N7 billion has been donated to support displaced persons affected by the Boko Haram crisis in the Northeast.

    Besides the N100,000 to start a new life, Dangote also pledged that the  Foundation would take care of teachers’ emolument for five years and as well share in the burden of the ongoing educational revolution launched by the Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima.

    Dangote lauded the governor for ably running the state efficiently and paying salaries despite the security challenges.

    A visibly elated Shettima said the intervention was unprecedented by a single company, describing the Aliko Dangote Foundation as the fourth arm of government in the state.

    The governor noted that the Dangote Group is the single largest employer of labour outside government in Nigeria.

    His words: “In every clime and in every dispensation, there are three layers of governments: the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. I dare to add that the fourth layer in Borno State is the Aliko Dangote Foundation. For the past seven years, the Dangote  foundation has been consistent and hearkening to the yearnings and aspirations of people of the state.”

    He said the Dangote Village provided by the foundation, though very massive, it was a small noticeable part compared to what the foundation had done to support humanitarian relief in the troubled region.

    “When Aliko Dangote came in 2016, he quickly pledged N2 billion. We requested that half of the money should be used to supplying building materials, and lo and behold, within the span of two weeks, all the materials were ready,” he added.

    The governor said it was the support from the foundation that enabled most of the displaced and malnourished victims of Boko Haram insurgency to survive.

    According to the governor, it was crucial to acknowledge Dangote’s generosity. He added that as fr he was concerned, Dangote is the world’s biggest philanthropist.

    He revealed that most of the beneficiaries are widows and children.

    “We call it Dangote village because it is a self-sustaining community with their own schools, clinics, mosques and livelihood,” he added.

    He thanked all the donors and added that Borno State is now opened for investors. The state, he added, is more peaceful than Lagos and Abuja.

    Commissioner for Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Prof. Baba Gana Umara said 95 per cent of the beneficiaries were widows, whose husbands were killed by the Boko Haram terrorists.

    Prof. Umara is the chairman of the distribution committee for the new Dangote village.

    He said the criterion for allocating a flat to the beneficiaries is to be a widow and having no fewer than five children.

    Hailing Dangote, he said the reconstruction effort was now on and that the infrastructural deficit was still huge.

    He said the European Union (EU), United Nations (UN) and World Bank had estimated that the infrastructural deficit caused by the insurgency in Borno alone was around $6.9 billion.

    He expressed optimism that with the kind of support from the likes of Aliko Dangote Foundation, the state will bounce back to normal before the year 2020.

    Chairperson of the State Emergency Management Agency Hajiya Ya Bawa Kolo expressed appreciation to the foundation on behalf of the Internally Displaced Persons.

    She assured that only deserving persons are beneficiaries.

    Ten beneficiaries were selected for symbolic presentation of certificates of occupancy.

    Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Aliko Dangote Foundation Zouera  Youssoufou said the foundation would not rest on its oars to support the victims of insurgency.

    Ms Youssoufou said earlier during Ramadan, food items were distributed to the IDPs include rice, sugar, salt, spaghetti, Semolina, wheat meal, maize and millet.

    She said the philanthropic exercise was meant to complement the effort of the state and the Federal governments.

  • EEDC loses N15m to Aba power outage

    EEDC loses N15m to Aba power outage

     Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) has lost over N15million to power outage, following equipment failure at the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), which has thrown Aba, Abia into darkness.

    Chukwuemeka Eze, Head, Communications, EEDC, made this known in an interview with the Newsmen in Aba on Thursday.

    He explained that the blackout happened on Saturday, February 10, following a Circuit Breaker failure at TCN, Aba station.

    He said that the Circuit Breaker failure had caused the disconnection of some EEDC feeders in Aba resulting in the blackout being experienced in most parts of the commercial city since Saturday.

    Read Also:Vandalism: EEDC  secures conviction, remand of offenders

    Eze said that the failure affected 91 transformers causing power outage in most parts of Aba for more than a week now.

    He noted that the affected transformers were located in areas within Aba North, Aba South and Obingwa Local Government Areas.

    According to him, areas most affected were Ogbor Hill, Housing Estate, Ehere, Akwarandu, Ikot Ekpene road and New Phase of Umuobe.

    Eze noted that all the affected customers being served from the EEDC’s IGI 33KV and Opobo Road 11KV Feeders are out of supply now.

    He, however, said the Circuit Breaker failure was getting urgent attention to ensure timely restoration of electricity to the affected customers.

    Eze said the company regretted the inconveniences the disruption had caused its customers and assured them of speedy re-connection once the problem was solved.

    NAN

     

  • ARIAN gets new secretariat, plans housing estate

    In a bid to meet the general needs of its members, the Association of Registered Insurance Agents of Nigeria (ARIAN) has secured a befitting secretariat located at 187 Ikorodu Road, Palmgrove, Lagos.

    Its President, Olamerun Gbadebo, at a press breifing to unveil the office, noted that the training room within the office will be used to train stakeholders and equip members with trends in insurance practice.

    He maintained that the association in order to build capacity, has embarked on a campaign encouraging agents to acquire insurance professional certificates, adding that training would be organised for unit and agency managers in the secretariat’s training room.

    He said the association will soon organise training for would be retirees on the differences between annuity and programmed withdrawal.

    He further disclosed that the association will, on the 28th of this month, hold insurance walk in Abuja; Lagos; Ibadan and Owerri, adding that the walk is aimed at sensitising the public on the need to have fire and burglary insurances, and use them to secure their properties against losses.

    The walk, according to Gbadebo, is organised in partnership with the Federal Fire Service (FFC); Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and the Nigerian Police Force (NPF).

  • N13b housing estate coming in Enugu

    A housing estate designed by Chinese engineers is under construction in Enugu to provide befitting accommodation for residents. The estate is estimated to cost N13.5billion under Private Public Partnership (PPP) with FIT Consult Limited executing in partnership with the Enugu State Government.

    The state governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has inspected the estate along Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway.

    The inspection tour by the governor, who went with the company’s officials led by its Chief Executive Officer of FIT Consult, Chief Loretta Aniagolu, was to ascertain the extent of work on the estate with regard to the amenities and facilities being put in place.

    After the inspection Ugwuanyi expressed satisfaction with the level of “seriousness and commitment” exhibited by the state government’s partners towards the timely delivery of the project, saying that he has no doubt that the venture will go a long way in his administration’s genuine efforts to addressing the housing needs of the people.

    He added that the project “further underscores the usefulness of synergy and cooperation between government and the private sector in the quest for the rapid development of the state as well as the improvement of the lives of our people”.

    While thanking Chief Aniagolu and her team for all their efforts, the governor used the opportunity to call on “other individuals and organizations in the private sector, both at home and abroad, to emulate this worthy example and also join hands with government to advance the frontiers of development in Enugu State”.

    According to him, “Enugu State is indeed ready and open for business and we will eagerly welcome partners in every sphere of development so that our aspiration to build a more prosperous, peaceful and secure Enugu State will be fully and promptly actualised”.

    The Estate according to the CEO of FIT Consult, Chief Aniagolu has 200 units of three-bedroom Bungalows, 490 units of four-bedroom Duplexes and site and services of 487 plots totaling 1,177 homes with the following services – 24-Hour Water Supply;  24-Hour Electricity; paved concrete roads; sidewalks and street lights; parks and greenery; waste management; recreation and security.

    She said the bungalows would cost N8.7million each while the duplexes would be sold at N27million per unit.

    Aniagolu explained that the Estate has provision for an event centre; fitness centre; hotel; hospital, office park; school; shopping mall; neighbourhood shops; recreation club and worship centre.

    She also highlighted that the Estate has the features and advantages of being on a highway to five states; direct international flights; Air Peace International Hub (coming soon); supporting State Legislation; 14 Tertiary Institutions; large scale industries among others.

  • Lagos kicks off lease-to-own housing estate

    Lagos kicks off lease-to-own housing estate

    The affordable home ownership State Government and the First World Communities – a firm of real estate and new town developers – has taken off.

    Last week, Governor Babatunde Fashola unveiled the first phase of the initiative that will deliver 10, 000 housing units in the three senatorial districts of the state. The initiative is targetted at partly addressing the housing gap in the state.

    The deal, which comes under the aegis of the Lagos Cooperative Home Ownership Incentive Scheme Limited Partnership (Lagos CHOIS LP), is for low and medium income earners. It is to be built in safe and attractive communities.

    The CHOIS Garden Estate is sited in a gated community within the Abijo Government Reserved Area on the Ajah/Epe axis. It represents an emerging model of a sub-urban community developed as a ‘site and services scheme’ through the state’s New Towns Development Authority.

    The estate comprises 324 housing units of two- and three-bedroom apartments on two and three floors, three-bedroom semi-detached bungalows, four-bedroom semi-detached duplexes and three-bedroom private access masionettes of four in a block.

    The Commissioner for Housing, Mr. Bosun Jeje, said the initiative , which took off in 2010, became necessary because of the realisation that most middle and low income households in the state find accessing mortgages to buy or build their homes difficult due to some factors.

    Under CHOIS, householders that are unable to afford mortgages can have access to a home on Lease-to-own basis. This allows subscribers to occupy the property on a lease, with the option to purchase it in small incremental steps as their socio-economic status improve.

    “With this, we encourage private investors to partner with us. The government cannot build; we are only regulators,” Jeje said.

    According to the President, First World Communities Limited, Brig. Gen. Tunde Reis (rtd), only the first and second phases of the project have been completed, adding that the motivation for the initiative is to make housing delivery systemic, rather than the traditional way that Nigerians have been used to building.  “Lagos has approximately five million housing deficits and there is need to look for an industrialised and systematic way of delivering the houses,” Reis noted.

    He listed the previous challenge in housing delivery and ownership as the affordability gap- that is, the difference between the cost of a house and what an intending buyer could afford to pay.

    Reis further explained that with the CHOIS initiative, the state government had addressed affordability to a lease-to-own scheme.

    The retired Army General said that the scheme is key because rather than a prospective home owner paying in full or depositing 30 per cent of the total cost for a property as done under a traditional mortgage, only 15 per cent deposit is required under the CHOIS scheme, whose prices ranges from N7 to N23 million.

    “Then, you pay a monthly lease payment to Lagos CHOIS Limited partnership and on your own you make payment annually when you have additional money to offset the balance and increase your balance towards purchasing it over a period of one to 10 years to complete the payment,” Reis said. For those on the National Housing Fund (NHF), there is also an opportunity to benefit from CHOIS.

    Fashola, praising the promoters of the scheme, said the partnership had created jobs for some youths, adding that there was a need to replicate more of such partnerships with the private sector.

    “We provided land; our private sector partner had the initiative while First City Monument Bank lend money to fund the project because they believed in the model and idea. If you really want to solve the problem of corruption, provide housing and mortgages for people to buy houses,” he said.

    Reis explained that partnership was limited without equity contributions, unlike in limited liability firms where parties have equity contributions in percentages. He was optimistic that the initiative would grow such that at a point rather than seek government funding, the project would be funding government through remittances on property tax; it will also become self-driven, he added.

    This is because the initiative was hinged on three important pillars of security, landscaping and affordability.

    “We need to create space to make sure the intended people actually benefit from this scheme,” he said.

    In all, there are about 25 hectares of land for the project; with about 15 hectares already developed in the first two phases.

    “What we are inaugurating is actually two phases of a three-phased development. We have been able to build so far in phases one and two 324 units with an additional 90 units still under construction. In the third phase, we will be developing 400 housing units,” Reis added.