By Tina George, Minna
Over 70 percent of people living in Minna, the capital of Niger state, are slum dwellers, the Vice Chairman of Technical Support Team of Urban Policy, Professor Mustapha Zubairu, has disclosed.
Zubairu stated this in Minna, at a press conference, organised by the Secretary to the State Government and Chairman, Technical Support Team on the preparation of the Niger state Urban Policy.
According to him, most of the places people live in Minna, are slums that are rapidly springing up.
“There are more than 20 slums in Minna alone and they are growing in size and density. More than 70 percent of the people live in this city are all slum dwellers.”
He said that there is lack of adequate delivery system that could deliver affordable housing to the people.
Zubairu said that the five basic components needed for affordable housing include money, infrastructure, land, labor, which are largely lacking in the country.
“The key to affordable housing and the reduction of slums in cities is to organize ourselves in a way that we will create an effective delivery system.”
The Secretary to the State Government said that government would embark on the development of mass and affordable housing for the teeming population of the state.
“We will embark on the development of mass and affordable housing for the teeming population of the state. We must take advantage of the emerging global technological development true, passive and zero-energy design concepts bioclimatic advocate architecture, most of you the use of low carbon building materials and components, use of energy-efficient building materials and components and application of smart city concepts.”
Matane stated that most of the housing estates built by previous administration across the state, were not properly designed, which led to the collapse of most of the houses.
“Most of these houses are not designed properly in the first place and this is because there are no policies. The Urban Development Board knows that before you even construct houses, you need to do some smart assessment as to where these houses will be, how to be designed.
“And there are building codes that come with houses, which oftentimes are not there. So, we want to evolve these paradigms in a way that houses are smart, they are responsive, they are efficient, and they serve the purposes of our lives.
“Government is already putting in measures to complete these houses. We are assuring you that these houses will be completed before the end of the tenure of this administration. “
