Lagos shrinks housing deficit with 240-unit Enahoro Estate delivery
As part of efforts at reducing its over two million housing deficit burden, the Lagos State government, at the weekend delivered 240 housing units at the Anthony Enahoro Estate in Ogba under its Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme (LagosHOMS) platform.
Formerly known as Shogunro Echeme under the LagosHOMS, the estate renamed Anthony Enahoro Estate by the state government as a mark of honour to the late nationalist who was prominent for his contribution to national unity and development.
Tucked away in the commercial yet conducive environment in Ogba,Ikeja, the new estate which comprises one, two and three bedroom apartments on 20 blocks, also boasts of all the expected features in a contemporary lifestyle community.
Some of the amenities in the estate include well tarred access road, dedicated car park for each block, good drainage system, community centre, children play area, external and internal electrification, fence & gate house, landscaped environment, among others.
Babatunde Fashola, the state governor, said at the handing over ceremony of the estate that it was more than a housing scheme, explaining that the estate was a realistic way of creating homeowners among members of the middle class through an efficient mortgage system.
“This is the difference between a responsive and a conservative government,” the Governor said, implying that considering the several infrastructure deficit in the country, government at any level should not be wayward with its resources”, the governor said.
He queried the success of the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) since its establishment by the Federal Government to drive affordable housing, positing that considering Nigeria’s peculiar environment, the LagosHOMS offers a more realistic approach to meeting the housing needs of mid-income earners.
Earlier, Bosun Jeje, the state commissioner for housing, had stressed that the successful delivery of the estate demonstrated the state government’s commitment to growing its housing stock.
Jeje who described the estate as a butterfly project of the LagosHOMS also urged real estate investors to partner with the state government in delivering more affordable housing units across the state.
According to him, as part of the state government’s efforts at spreading resources across the value chain, about 5,000 jobs were created during the construction of the new estate.
In a brief chat with BusinessDay, Kojo Sagoe,General Manager, Lagos Mortgage Board (LMB) described the estate as another achievement of the state government which he described as “a working government”.
Sagoe was also confident that with, at most, two more monthly draws, the few vacant units in the estate with be off the market, adding that in the next few months more schemes would be delivered.
ODINAKA MBONU