In his bids to ensure the affordability and sustainability of housing scheme in Kwara State, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has directed chairmen of the 16 local government areas in the state to provide a minimum of 60 hectares of land in their locality for the goal to be realised.

The governor has also mapped out plans to address housing deficit among its population with the delivery of about 6,000 houses before the end of the present administration in the state, starting with 2,000 houses this year.

This was made known by the special assistant to the governor on housing and urban matters, Alhaji Abiodun Baraje, and the general manager, Kwara State Housing Corporation, KWHC, Architect Salihu Sulaiman, while fielding questions in Ilorin, they said that Nigeria currently has 17 million housing deficit while it needs several trillions of naira to fund that.

The governor's aides noted that the federal, state and local governments had only provided 3,000 houses for the 3 million population in the state since its creation 20 years ago stressing that approval has also been given to about six sites, as suggested by the ministry of housing and urban development for housing scheme in the capital city of Ilorin.

Arch. Salihu, who said the state government hoped to realise the project through public private partnership, PPP, and direct production of houses by the housing corporation using its professionals such as: architects, land and quantity surveyors, and engineers among others.

He also stated that there is a strategy to deliver housing that would compete with those of the private developers as well as drive down the cost of the houses, saying, "for instance, we are likely to have fabrication workshop where we will have the building components like blocks, bricks, tiles being fabricated.

Baraje however assured that the corporation intends to provide for all categories of people: low, middle and high income earners, adding that the particular focus is the social housing for the low income earners.