Givers Embassy to provide one million affordable houses for Nigerians

The Nation reports that a religious organisation, Givers Embassy, said it has concluded arrangements to provide one million affordable houses for Nigerians every year.

The church, which is the first no-tithe, no-offering church in Nigeria, unveiled the housing plan to journalists, explaining that the initiative was not just “an appeal to build affordable houses for our people, it is a call to move our economy and country forward”.

The General Overseer of Givers Embassy Church, Edward Olutoke, who unveiled the slogan for the initiative: “Operation don’t die a tenant”, said the mass housing scheme was being supported by different organisations namely; Association of Nigerian Tenants, Initiative for Affordable and Comfortable Housing, and Gioni Homes.

Others are Skynet Golden Investments Limited, Chaste Mutual Investments Limited, Intercontinental Group and Intercontinental Engineering and Homes Development Limited.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja to kickstart the initiative, Olutoke noted that in the mass housing scheme, subscribers are expected to make a down payment of 10 percent of the cost of their choice house which are highly subsidised far below the market price.

He said once you pay up to 50 percent of the total cost of your preferred house, the church will give you the key to your house precisely a year after and you pay up the remaining balance in 5 years, adding that a three-bedroom flat in Abuja will not cost more than N10 million and that is how it will be across the country.

The General Overseer said, “We invite churches, mosques and other religious bodies to join us in this campaign by using some of their idle funds in the banks to build affordable houses for their members.

“This is not just an appeal to build affordable houses for our people but a call to move our economy and country forward and the housing sector has enormous earning potentials with huge multiplier effect.

“Let us bring back jobs for our young graduate, town planners, architects, land surveyors, engineers and other support services that will keep them away from crime and busy with jobs.”

According to him Nigerians are no longer willing to continue to wait endlessly for government to come clean on its promises to provide affordable mass housing for our teeming population, noting that many Nigerians had contributed to the National housing fund and died without collecting keys to the promised houses due to government’s failure.

He urged well-meaning Nigerians, relevant international governmental organisations, private sectors, professional bodies, civil societies and the media to join them in this onerous effort to kick the monster of homelessness out of our country, stressing that the strategy would also bring back direct and indirect jobs to young Nigerians as town planners, architects, land surveyors, engineers and other support services.

Source: The Nation