FG showcases samples of one, two-bedroom houses

•To build 1m shelters for the poor, IDPs, refugees

By Bianca Iboma-Emefu

Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu,  says the Federal Government has concluded all arrangements to build low-cost shelters for the “very poor, Internally Displaced Persons  (IDPs) and refugees across the country. It is one of the ways of addressing multidimensional poverty.”

•Prototype shelter

Inspecting prototype shelters of two sample houses,  one bedroom and two-bedrooms at Idu village in Abuja, she said: “Both samples were built by the local people in the community for themselves, using local materials in 10 days and very cost effective. This will be applicable across Nigeria.

“Government wants to achieve the project in a record time because lots of IDPs exist in different parts of Nigeria. They need a befitting shelter they can call their homes. Recently, an IDP camp was burnt down in Borno State. Benue State has millions without shelter due to the farmers-herders clashes.

“What is also interesting about the project is the fact that we want to introduce the solar energy to it so that the shelters  are not dependent on the national grid. They can use the solar energy to provide at least the basics such as bulb light, electricity for charging their phones and do their basic things with in the locality.

“The project is not a contract or to be built by a contractor.The local community will be given the dignity of building the house  they will live in. They will see it as their project, they will own it and they will not vandalise or destroy it.

“To ensure quality control, the construction of the houses will be supervised by professionals such as architects, engineers and support from the Federal Ministry of Works.

Edu said the shelters would be built in Benue, Borno, Zamfara, Yobe, Cross River, Ebonyi  Lagos, Adamawa, Bayelsa and other states “having large numbers of IDPs, refugees and extremely poor Nigerians.

“The ground braking ceremony of the houses was done in Benue State, where the building of 40 shelters was flagged off. Ground clearing has been concluded in the 10 hectares of land in Benue while blocks mounding and preliminary work like digging are on going.”