The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, has disclosed that 43 million households in Nigeria are living in substandard houses.

He disclosed this at the Ministry’s 2025 Sector Retreat, themed ‘Actualising the Renewed Hope Agenda for Housing and Urban Development: Examining Strategies, Identifying Opportunities to Boost Scale and Impact,’ held at Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, recently.

He said, “As stakeholders, you would agree that there have been several attempts by previous administrations over the past 50 years to fix Nigeria’s housing problems. If you look at the state of the housing sector today, you will see that the results are not encouraging. We have a huge housing deficit, with the majority of Nigeria’s 43 million households living in substandard housing. Additionally, the majority of our cities are surrounded by slums.

“Our sector is one that has suffered political neglect since the period immediately after independence, when emphasis was placed on five-yearly development plans as the vehicle for economic growth.

Under the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President, we are determined to make a difference. We are optimistic and encouraged by the possibilities that the future holds, rather than the failures of the past. Just because programmes failed in the past does not mean they will fail today.

“As you all know, leaders matter in the history of nation-building, and what they bring to the table also matters. That is what Mr. President represents, and we intend to replicate his CAN-DO SPIRIT at the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, together with all stakeholders, to rewrite the history of housing and urban development. We want the Renewed Hope Era for Housing to be the reference point for generations to come for massive and comprehensive housing and urban development.”

Laying down the action plan handed to the ministry by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, Dangiwa said increasing the supply and availability of decent and affordable housing to Nigerians was a priority.

He continued, “Implementing land reforms to improve land administration, thereby unlocking the capacity of the real estate sector to contribute to economic growth and grow the Gross Domestic Product. Reforming federal housing institutions, including the Federal Housing Authority and the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, to better deliver on their mandates.

“Establishing a national social housing fund to mobilise and administer concessionary funding for the provision of decent shelter for no-income, low-income, underprivileged, and internally displaced Nigerians. Establishing manufacturing hubs, one in each of the six geopolitical zones of the country, implementing a multi-agency project delivery framework to ensure proper coordination among all housing institutions in the delivery of housing, ensuring alignment along the same focus, and expanding the National Urban Renewal and Slum Upgrade Programme.

He posited that if history were Nigerians’ reference point, then the ministry will claim to be doing well.

He continued, “The biggest achievement of the eight years before we came on board was the National Housing Programme, which started in 2016 with plans to build 7,522 housing units. Over the eight years, only 3,388 were completed. On our part, within 19 months, we have 14 active construction sites for a total of 10,112 housing units. With the pace of work at these sites, many already at roofing levels, we are on course to have all these units and more completed within a maximum three-year period.

“However, history is not our reference point. The size of the housing problem, which requires us to build at least 500,000 housing units annually, is what we have set our eyes on. On this front, we are not even scratching the surface. Regarding the ministerial deliverable of increasing the supply of at least 20,000 housing units annually, which is our immediate target, we can say that with 10,112 housing units under construction in 14 locations nationwide, we are making progress.

“Another area where we are making good progress is in reforming the land administration system in our country. This is a longstanding problem that has been listed in all policies and white papers on housing since independence over 50 years ago. The aim is to develop an effective land administration system to make land ownership available, secure, accessible, and easily transferable at affordable rates. In addition, we set up a land reform task team, which has submitted a comprehensive blueprint on strategies and initiatives that the Ministry can implement to achieve effective governance of lands in our country. This is a subject of deliberation at this summit.”


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