Enugu Housing embarks on building housing estate

The Enugu State Government said it has embarked on massive development of satellite towns in the state, with the aim of decongesting Enugu, the capital city. Enugu has remained a capital city for the mainly Igbo-speaking South Eastern Nigeria, for about 100 years since the advent of the colonial era.

Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, who said the project was one of his campaign promises in 2015, said the project would create a better living and business environment for the state capital, which was the former administrative capital of old Eastern Regional government in the 1960s before the outbreak of the Civil War in 1967; and was capital of old East Central State and old Anambra State in 1967 and 1976.

The general manager of Enugu State Housing Corporation (ESHC), Chuks Agu told BusinessDay after signing a land agreement of over 50 hectares, located along the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, between the state Housing Corporation and leaders of Amaukwu and Ozalla Aboh villages in Udi Local Government Area of the state, for the purpose of building housing estates.

Agu said the concept of embarking on the development of satellite towns was to decongest the Enugu township that is already filled up. “We want to have satellite towns. We want to develop the outskirts (of Enugu) to decongest the city center; and the only way out of it is to build more satellite towns around the city,” he said.

According to him, the Housing Corporation has entered into discussions with over 10 communities selected for the development of Satellite Towns around the capital city; and would sign the agreements with some of them. Some of the towns mapped out, he said, include Akegbe Ugwu, Aboh, Umuchigbo, Emene area, Ugwuaji, among others.

The Housing Corporation general manager said the housing estates would not only fasten the development of those communities, but would also create job opportunities, and enhance the economy and living standard of the people, through the establishment of small businesses in those places.

Speaking on how the civil servants and others would benefit from the housing estates, he said due to the high cost of building houses now, the corporation has entered into discussions with some mortgage institutions to see if they could assist the employees offset their bills, for them to pay over time.

“We are also making arrangement with associations and cooperatives to see if they can pull resources together and raise money to offset the bills and pay over time,” Agu said; adding that “as a Corporation, we need money to develop these houses too.”

On corporate social responsibility (CSR), the Housing Corporation GM said the housing estates would not only respect all the terms written on the agreement document, but would also do other social developments for the benefit of the people.

“I have very good relationship with all the communities we are developing estates in their areas, and I know their leaders and traditional rulers. We will also meet up with our corporate responsibilities,” he said.

The two communities were represented by their town union executives led by their two chairmen, Chijioke Mbah, the chairman of Amaukwu Development Union (ADU) and Everestus Udengwu, the chairman of Ozalla Aboh General Assembly, with some selected elders and youths of both communities, to endorse the agreement.

The two chairmen, who spoke to BusinessDay expressed happiness over the development, and promised to maintain the terms of the agreement. They however appealed to the state government to take the opportunity create a road from the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway to Aboh community for easy access to Enugu town.