By Sodeinde Temidayo David
As part of efforts to address the housing shortage in Nigeria, a real estate firm, Stratech Properties Limited, has launched a home ownership scheme in Abuja.
The initiative will allow medical professionals, bankers, civil servants, small business owners and others to acquire a home at affordable rates.
Stratech, which has the vision to provide one million houses in Nigeria, launched this scheme last week at the 15th Abuja International Housing Show (AIHS).
The company, which offers estate management, estate development, estate brokerage, estate agency, estate investment and estate consulting, said efforts would be made to expand the scope of the initiative.
“These products, designed specially to meet the housing requirements of doctors, bankers, civil servants, and other professionals, are a part of our overall vision for homeownership across the federation tagged Project 1,000,000 Homes in Nigeria,” the Managing Director of Stratech, Mr Moses Kolawole Obisesan, disclosed.
“When Nigerian doctors and other professionals in the medical sector are able to buy their own house here at home, it is a huge incentive for them to continue to serve in the country, rather than emigrate abroad, taking along with them their highly valuable training, expertise and experience.
“Several doctors in various medical establishments across the FCT have already taken advantage of this product, and we look forward to expanding it to many more in the weeks and months ahead,” Mr Obisesan added.
He explained that, “Project 1,000,000 Homes in Nigeria was inspired by the fact that Nigeria has a huge housing deficit which is growing by the day.
“The project was conceived and designed by Stratech Properties Limited back in 2019. We plan to use this mass housing ownership scheme to deliver the key of 1,000,000 homes to Nigerians, at home and abroad, over the next 10 years.”
Mr Obisesan further explained how the project was put in place despite the different challenges faced like the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the raising of funds and how they have embarked on an extensive stakeholder engagement nationwide to get the buy-in of the public and private sectors.
“So far, we have received over N540 million mortgage loan approvals from Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) for clients that our company has referred to it during the first year of the official launching of our flagship product, Project 1,000,000 Homes, and we are hopeful of securing approval of at least N1.5 billion mortgage loan from FMBN this business year for our prospective clients,” he also said.
Speaking at the unveiling of the scheme, the president of the Association of Catholic Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (ACMPN), Mr Matthew Ashikeni, stated that, “Promoting homeownership for medical doctors on an extensive scale is long overdue in this country.
“This initiative, if well-handled and implemented, could therefore be a major boost to the overall welfare of doctors, whether in public or private practice.”
Adedapo Adesanya 
Aduragbemi Omiyale