The hope of the common man in Nigeria has gathered momentum as President Muhammadu Buhari is considering the proposal shifted to him by the Nigerian Society of Engineers, (NSE) to build affordable houses for the masses.
247ureports.com reports that the President of the NSE, Engr. Adekunle Mokuolu, on Monday in Kano said the houses would be built by Local Engineers, with, “our own local materials, including the mud.”
He said the Federal Government are currently working out modalities on how to build affordable houses for low-income earners in the country, as part of the strategies to stop open defecation.
Mokuolu who spoke to journalists, during the 4th NSE National Conference held in Kano, with its theme “The Role of The Private Sector Waste Management In Nigeria,” added that the proposed low-income houses would be built with mud and other local materials, so as to make it not only affordable, but very beautiful and durable with all comfort and social amenities provided.
According to him, “the truth of it is that President Buhari is listening to us because very recently, he signed the Presidential Executive Order 9 that is to discourage and eliminate open defecation.
“Who are the people who are doing open defecation—they are the poor people. That means these poor people need houses. We have started the process of ensuring that there is affordable house.
“The only thing is that these affordable houses will have to be a little bit alright. “People will have their conveniences. Electricity, water and every other basic amenities will be provided. When we are producing that, there will be a spin-off of what both skilled and unskilled Nigerians can do. Everybody will get work to do.”
He further stated that, “we are going to be using local materials. Those structures will be mud houses, but you will not know that they are mud because we are going to make them so beautiful so that they will be affordable, so affordable that even with the minimum wage, somebody can take N5000, N7000 out of that money and pay for mortgage.”
Speaking on waste management, Mokuolu regretted that in Nigeria, “waste is being wasted in this country. We don’t have good waste management. Waste is something that you have used, but it can also be raw materials for another product. For example, the liquid waste is a first class fertilizer.
“All we need to do is to be able to assess it because the way God has created the world is to go in recycled, just like depend on me and I depend on you and that is what makes development.
“Whatever you have will add to me to give me happiness and whatever I have will add to you to give your own happiness. If we join hands together to make Nigeria great—that is the thing.
“So, that is why we say nobody will be left behind because there is nobody that is useless. Everybody is useful. The only thing is opportunity.
“So, waste is an opportunity, whether it is in form of paper, whether it is in form of nylon bag, plastic, bottle, or human waste, skin of animals, every waste is a raw material for another product and what drive it are science, technology and engineer.
“There are researches on how to convert these wastes, but there is no political will to drive it. That political will is what we are now sensitizing government to have.
“We have to show them that we will continue to be broke, unless we are self-sufficient because a man who continue to eat in the restaurant and does not know how to cook, one day he will go hungry and that is the truth.”
