Jonathan urges workers to key into Nationwide Workers’ Housing Scheme

President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday flagged-off the construction of 10,000 units of various types of houses under the Nationwide Workers’ Housing Scheme in Apo Tapyi District, Abuja, asking workers to key into the scheme to enable the government make the houses available at the scheduled time.

President Jonathan explained that the scheme was part of efforts to deliver about 100,000 housing units in the Federal Capital Territory and the 36 states of the federation.

To achieve the feat, he pledged his administration’s resolve to partner with private developers in the provision of affordable houses in the bid to reduce the cost of houses across the country.

While lauding the partnership between Federal Government and organised labour, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), he urged the labour unions in the country to always exhaust negotiations first before embarking on any strike, stressing that strikes cause hardship to the ordinary people.

In his remarks, Bala Mohammed, the FCT minister, reiterated the commitment of the administration towards providing initiatives such as accelerated development, affordable housing and district development to address prevailing housing deficit.

He explained that “the Land Swap initiative represents our strategy for leveraging private capital in the provision of infrastructure and housing with the expectation of development of 15 districts to provide houses for more than one million residents and creating 500,000 new jobs with capital inflow of about N1 trillion in the next five years.”

Mohammed disclosed that the administration granted waivers of about N28 billion on land premium and about N550 million waiver on building plan approval as part of efforts geared towards implementing the Nationwide Workers’ Housing Scheme with a view to making the houses affordable to the workers who are the end beneficiaries.