Speeches

Commissioning Elegant Court Ikota Housing Scheme

Oct 13, 2011 - A little over 16 days ago, in Ojokoro, when I commissioned the 80 units of 3 bedroom flats dedicated in honour of Alhaja Kuburat Adetoun Mustapha and Hon Saliu Olaitan Mustopha, I stated that the solution to our housing deficit did not lie with the State Government alone.

It will require a broad based coming together of all stakeholders, from the State Government to the Federal Government and particularly the private sector.

I also stated that our Government had been working diligently to create the platform for this collaboration.

From Ojokoro a few days ago, we gather today in lkota to behold the evidence of one of the success of our efforts.

We have come this far because of our clear understanding that there are entrepreneurs in our society who have what we want and that we have what they want.

They want to do legitimate business by building houses to be sold to the middle and upper income strata of our society where there is clear market demand. We have the land that we hold in trust for the people of Lagos.

We have thus engaged with them to create a partnership where they offered to take credit from banks to finance construction and we offered to provide land, and share the profits from the sale of the houses to be built.

The 72 units of 3 bedroom flats, built on 1.9 hectares of land that we gather to commission today are the visible results of that partnership that all of you can see.

The other results and achievements that are not visible are:

a. The profits made by banks who saw the opportunity for business and lent to the project thereby earning income for their shareholders and keeping their employees at work when other banks were laying off staff;

b. The profit to our partner; Messrs Cortex Limited which enables them to keep 25 (Twenty Five) permanent employees at work and pay their salaries;

c. The sub-contractors who supplied the building materials, the 1,500 (One Thousand Five Hundred) men and women who worked on this site to build these houses and the vendors who sold food, water and many other things here during the construction period of 30 months, to earn a living to put food on the family table.

d. The profit that your Government will make from this partnership that will be invested in the lagos Homs Project to fund the construction of social housing programme.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, Ikota Housing Scheme is another PPP success of our Government that is helping us achieve our policy thrust of eradicating poverty, and sustainable economic growth through infrastructure renewal and development.

For our Government in Lagos, and our Party, the Action Congress of Nigeria, housing delivery remains one of the time tested policies for creating growth, economic development, galvanizing employment and reducing crime.

Over the next few weeks, months and years, in fulfillment of our electoral promises, Lagosians should expect to see the commencement and completion of many more of these types of housing projects funded directly by Government and also in partnership with the private sector.

To the glory of God, towards our sustainable housing commitment, it is my pleasure to commission the Elegant Court, Ikota Housing Scheme.

Thank you for listening.

Eko 0 ni baje o!

Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN
Governor of Lagos State