Lagos has failed to provide land for the federal government to begin its mass housing scheme in the state, the Federal Controller of Housing for Lagos, Margaret Adejobi, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday.

In an interview with NAN, Mrs Adejobi appealed to the Lagos government for land to take off President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime mass housing scheme in the state.

She said the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing had explored various means to ensure the immediate take-off of the mass housing programme but was constrained by lack of land.

“It is only Lagos state that does not have any National Housing Programme of all the 36 states,” the federal official said, adding that efforts to get accessible land from the state government had not yielded the desired results.

On August 13, Rivers became the 35th state to provide land for the federal mass housing programme in the country, leaving only Lagos.

Mr Adejobi said the state had in the past allocated a waterlogged land in Abijo near Epe, adding that the cost of sand filling the area would make the houses unaffordable.

“The demand for housing in Lagos is huge. We have contractors on the ground that if they give us the land today, will start work immediately. Our minister and permanent secretary are passionate about mass housing for Lagos State,” she said.

Mrs Adejobi said the ministry was exploring other options for suitable land for the immediate commencement of mass housing for residents.

She appealed to Lagos state government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to donate some of their vast parcels of land for mass housing for Lagos residents.

“Ministries and agencies have landed property all over Lagos which are being encroached upon. If, for example, they have about 100 hectares of land which they acquired and need just about three to five hectares, there is no point holding onto all the land.

“Why not make use of the ones you need and give our ministry some let us do this mass housing that we have been canvassing for,” the federal controller said.

It was only last month that Mrs Adejobi assumed office as the federal controller in Lagos.

A town planner by profession, she has promised to collaborate with all stakeholders to make the state a better place, saying that her vision was “to have a better Lagos” and “to build on what my predecessors have done, to make Lagos State a better place.”