Nigeria Needs One Million Housing Units Annually To Tackle Humanitarian Issues -Boeck.
By Ferdinand Olise
The International Organization for Migration, IOM, Chief of Mission to Nigeria, Mr Laurent Boeck, says, Nigeria currently experiences an acute housing deficit, estimated at around 23 million, which requires the construction of one million housing units annually for the next 20 years.
Mr Boeck who stated this in Abuja on Wednesday, at the occasion of the official announcement of winners of the inaugural Housing Design Competition titled, “Home After Crisis”.
According to Mr Boeck, since 2015, the Northeast of Nigeria has faced escalating violence, leading to an unprecedented housing emergency, noting that, as of 2023, an estimated 3.5 million people had lost their homes, or lived in precarious conditions.
“To address this, IOM Nigeria is actively working to overcome the shelter emergency with a durable housing strategy.
The objective is to move beyond merely providing housing units, and embrace the concept of providing a home.
“The 2023 “Home After Crisis” design competition, funded by the Nigerian Humanitarian Fund (NHF), is part of this effort.
It brought together 1,600 designers, Architects, and Engineers from across 100 countries. I am very happy to say that almost a quarter of them were Nigerians.
Those architect experts have developed 250 design proposals for low-cost, and innovative housing”, he said.
The Chief of Mission further stated that, the housing competition targets aim to provide access to affordable housing, built with the goal of delivering climate-proof housing with local materials.
“It is not just a roof, but it becomes an integrated home within the ancestral society.
In line with the IOM Nigeria 2023-2027 Country Strategy, IOM engages with the entire community to achieve these objectives, each aligned with the Global Compact for Safe, orderly, and regular Migration.
“IOM Nigeria’s overall strategic objective is to support the Government of Nigeria, and relevant actors in governing migration effectively to maximise its positive impact while minimising its potential costs on all migrants, and society”.
“The focus is on reducing vulnerabilities for migrants, internally displaced persons, and host communities.
It highlights positive examples of social, economic, and cultural inclusion in Nigeria. In doing so, we ensure that human mobility becomes a source of prosperity, innovation, and sustainable development for everyone”, he said.
He stressed that, housing policies play a crucial role in achieving these goals, noting that, IOM is in collaboration with Nigerian Government in achieving this.
“Since the onset of the humanitarian crisis in the northeast, a decade ago, IOM, in collaboration with the Federal Government of Nigeria, has worked to deliver life- saving responses that support vulnerable communities to transition out of humanitarian assistance, and towards development programmes. Through these efforts, IOM presence in Nigeria has significantly expanded over the last 20 years, both in terms of strategic programming, and operational footprint”, he added
