Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) has decided to construct at least 185,000 units of houses across Nigeria within a year.
The association said it had already worked out the funding for the project, which is expected to be undertaken through direct labour within 365 days from the date of take off.
The landmark project, which is estimated at $1.5 billion, is to be executed in collaboration with two foreign firms, Havit Incorporated of the United States of America and JS Neoplans, working with Artemis Angels Global Limited.
Already, officials of the foreign firms had visited Nigeria and signed the necessary legal documents for the take-off of the project, which would provide direct jobs for 1,000 Nigerian contractors and 5,000 artisans.
The joint project will also enable RTEAN to secure 4,000 Nigerian assembled vehicles for members of the association in a bold move to empower them and stem the tide of joblessness among the group.
The joint statement formally announcing the deal was signed by Rig Vincent, President of the Havit Inc and Tony Adepoju, on behalf of JS Neoplans and Artemis Angels Global Limited.
Nigeria currently has a housing deficit of 17 million, ten percent of which is being felt in Abuja, the nation’s capital, where houses sell like gold.
Where houses are available in Abuja at all, they are too pricey for the middle class and the low income groups, thereby making them a preserve of the rich, influential and powerful in the country.
The project by RTEAN, a major player in the transports sub-sector in Nigeria, is therefore expected to help address the housing needs of the country’s middle class.
