The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Mr. Omoyele Sowore, has condemned the prevalent state of uninhabited houses overtaken by cockroaches and lizards while Nigeria suffers from a deficit of 17 million homes for its homeless population.
He made the condemnation while speaking at a Town Hall meeting on Housing partaken in by Presidential candidates and organized by the University of Lagos on Saturday.
Speaking at the event on the question as to if he will privatize public housing infrastructure currently not in use, Sowore said, “I will not give any more of our public properties to private individuals. What I’m going to do is to take inventory of all uninhabited public properties in Nigeria”.
“The ones that can be converted into hospitals will be converted into hospitals, the one that can be converted to houses will be converted to houses and given to workers, our federal workers. I want to turn the secretariat in Lagos to a hospital” he added.
Blaming the housing crisis in Nigeria on failed leadership, Sowore said “the federal government of Nigeria is a wasteful government. If we do not reclaim this properties for the Nigerian people, it will end up in the hands of our ministers, political leaders and thieves. The Nigerian property should be used by the Nigerian people and this is what I will do when I am elected”.
Drawing parallels with former third world countries who overcame the housing problem, Sowore said, “China planned ahead and built houses that we now call ghost apartments, Japan did it and so did Singapore. Do not vote in leaders who took the roof over your heads, they have no intention to put it back over now”.
The event which was organised by the University of Lagos on the state of the Nigerian Housing Market saw Presidential candidates of five political parties and their Presidential candidates including former Minister of Education by Ezekwesili, former Central Bank Of Nigeria Governor, Kingsley Moghalu among others in attendance.
