NGO to build 5,000 houses for the poor in Cross River
NAN-H-14
ANDP
Calabar, Feb. 26, 2017 (NAN) African Nations Development Programme (ANDP), an NGO, says it will build 5,000 housing units for the less-privileged in Bakassi Local Government Area of Cross River.
Speaking at the inauguration of the project in Calabar on Sunday, ANDP Director General, Dr Samson Omojuyigbe, said the project was estimated to cost about N78 billion.
Omojuyigbe said that the two-bedroom housing units targeted at the poorest of the poor would be built in the country’s 36 states, starting with Cross River.
According to him, the project is designed as a model city with amenities such as schools, hospitals, markets, police station and recreational facilities for the wellbeing of the people.
“It is the first of its kind in Africa. It is targeted at the poorest of the poor.
“It is going to be a brand new city. We want to give hope to the hopeless and give future to the next generation of our children, ’’ the ANDP boss said.
He said the city would also have a skills acquisition centre to train entrepreneurs in various skills with the view to making them self-reliant.
He said that ANDP would fund the project with contributions from public-spirited individuals and organisations within and outside Africa.
“We want to see how the world can help us through this social housing scheme,’’ Omojuyigbe said.
He commended the Cross River Government for providing 250 hectares of land for the project and urged others to do so in their respective states.
Omojuyigbe said that ANDP was a subsidiary of the World Nations Development Initiative.
Speaking at the ceremony, Gov. Ben Ayade of Cross River commended ANDP for starting the housing project in the state and pledged his support to ensure early completion of the houses.
“I am assuring you that my administration will do everything necessary to ensure that the displaced people of Bakassi take ownership of these houses in the next two months,’’ the governor said.
Ayade said ceding Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon had created a serious refugee crisis in the area.
Mr Thomas Ajikwe, ANDP Country Director, said the project was aimed at eradicating poverty in the continent. (NAN)
BEN/ECN/WOJ
(Edited by Emmanuel Nwoye / Wale Ojetimi)