The Inspector-General of Police kayode Egbetokun, has unveiled plans to establish a N100 billion Police Housing Fund aimed at addressing the critical housing needs of personnel within the force. This announcement was made on Monday in Abuja during the commencement of a two-day Police Housing Summit themed “Renewed Hope for Police Housing in Nigeria.”
In his address, Egbetokun urged participants to engage in discussions regarding the establishment of the proposed fund, emphasizing the importance of brainstorming and refining strategies. He highlighted the pivotal role that experts and facilitators at the summit would play in shaping the vision and direction of the initiative.
Egbetokun underscored the pressing need to improve the living conditions of police officers, stressing that adequate housing is essential for enhancing their welfare and ultimately, their effectiveness in service delivery. He lamented the current state of affairs, revealing that the Nigerian Police Force faces a significant housing shortage, with existing accommodations meeting only about 10% of the workforce’s needs.
Recognizing past initiatives to address housing shortages, such as the Nigerian Police Force Property Development and Construction Company Ltd., Egbetokun acknowledged their limited impact and emphasized the urgency for a strategic overhaul to adequately meet housing demands.
The Police Housing Summit, according to Egbetokun, serves as a platform to articulate a vision of effective and efficient housing as a fundamental component of police personnel welfare. It aims to foster collaboration among key stakeholders in the housing sector and propose actionable strategies for the rapid delivery of affordable housing.
During the summit, the Chairman of Cooperative Mortgage Bank Limited, Femi Adewole, delivered a keynote address emphasizing the need for a paradigm shift for the success of the police housing initiative.
Housing that is decent and affordable is a primary contributor to officers morale, officers morale is a critical foundation for the effectiveness of policing and an effective policing is critical to maintaining law and order and law and order is a pre-requisite for national development.
Similarly, Honorable Aminu Balele, Chairman of the House Committee on Housing and Habitat, urged the police to leverage the summit to generate solid commitments for viable housing programs.
‘We have the opputunity, the resources and the capability to make the decisive diffrence it my ernest desire that we leverage this summit to make solide commitment that will culminate in viable police Housing Programs.” Balele said
Representing the Managing Director of the Nigerian Police Force Property Development and Construction Company, Mr. Dan-Mallan Mohammed, ACP Yahaya Abdulhassan highlighted the summit’s objective of creating an environment for stakeholders to brainstorm and deliver affordable housing solutions for police personnel.