The Nigerian Ministry of Housing and Urban Development in Nigeria has promised to uphold the rights to accessible structures for persons with disabilities.
The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa gave the assurance when a delegation from National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD) paid him a courtesy visit at his office in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
Dangiwa said that “the ministry is aware of the provisions in the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2018 that mandates the creation of accessible structures for people with disabilities.”
He acknowledged that housing was key to human development as well as a human right to all Nigerians as enshrined in Nigerian Constitution and as such the Ministry was mindful of all the provisions in the Act establishing the Commission in ensuring that houses being delivered were mindful of the Accessibility Act or Regulations in the document.
Dangiwa said; “We are glad that you brought the document to us today, we will henceforth look at it to ensure that our houses are very much affordable, accessible and acceptable to the commission. The Housing Ministry being one of the first few Ministries that has adopted the regulations in the document, has started the implementation with actions such as the addition of a ramp at the entrance of the Ministry to enable easy access to people with disabilities and the installation of an elevator to assist staff and visitors within this category access offices upstairs.”
On section 7 of the Act which mandates Persons With Disabilities should be first considered in accessibility to houses constructed by government, Dangiwa assured the commission that his ministry would comply.
He emphasised that maximum scrutiny of building plans would be done before approval of building plan to certify provision of accessibility facilities are incorporated.
The Minister stated that “the ministry is mindful of the penalty against defaulting any of the regulations and further explained that the ministry has demonstrated it in its public buildings by making sure all the federal secretariat buildings Nationwide being managed by the Ministry are fully equipped with accessibility facilities.”
Dangiwa noted that among the plans rolled out for all Nigerians including the persons with disabilities under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu include groundbreaking for the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates program in 13 states and FCT.
He disclosed that the housing units being built under the program are made affordable, accessible and acceptable to Nigerians through ownership options such as outright purchase, installment payment, mortgage and rent-to-own, to which the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) provides a single digit interest rates to run for thirty years.
The Minister further explained that “the houses are being built organically to allow owners build more rooms as their income or family increases.”
In the area of urban renewal, Dangiwa also notified the delegation that the National Urban Renewal and Slum Upgrade has been flagged off in twenty eight sites, four sites each in each geopolitical zone and the FCT, respectively.
“This entails accessible roads, drainages, water supply, sanitation and solar street lights to some of the identified slum areas,” he explained.
Accordingly, Minister Dangiwa told the team that the Ministry is also pursuing the establishment of National Social Housing Fund (NSHF) for the provision of accessible housing to all Nigerians, targeting the low and no income, underprivileged as well as the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
“We want to ensure that we have a minimum of 100 houses in the 774 local governments Nationwide where the underprivileged, IDPs as well as the no income have access to affordable housing,” he said.
The Minister also said that the Ministry has commenced the sale of houses built under the National Housing Program through advertisements, assuring the delegation the Ministry would avail them with the location of the housing units for accessibility.
Speaking earlier, Executive Secretary, National Commission for Persons Living with Disabilities and leader of the delegation, Dr. James David Lalu, made an appeal for the ministry to consider Persons Living with Disabilities in Renewed Hope Housing Estates as it would enable them own a home of their own.
While stating some of the relevant provisions of the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2018 that ensure the rights to accessible structures for persons with disabilities, Lalu appealed for compliance to ensure that houses for its members include necessary adjustments to accommodate their disabilities.
“The regulation is what the persons living with disabilities want to see in the public buildings and all the necessary specifications, designs, accessibility facility to be fitted in the public buildings so that our people will have have access to public building,” he said.