Akwa Ibom indigenes residing in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), under the aegis of Akwa Ibom Community, have called on investors within and outside the country to come in and invest in the housing sector of Akwa Ibom State. This call was made by the Vice President of the organization, Comrade Tommy Etim Okon, when he addressed newsmen in Abuja recently.

The Vice President said that it is time that real estate developers took the advantage of Governor Akpabio’s development strides in the state to invest more in its housing sector. According to him, the developers can as well collaborate with their foreign counterparts to develop first class housing estates in the state because the state government has already put in place, the needed infrastructural facilities that would make the state an investor’s haven in the country.

“Earnestly speaking, we need investors to come into the state, and that is why the government is trying to make the state an investor’s haven”, saying that with the coming of foreign investors to invest in the housing sector, neither the state nor the investors would lose because the state government has already created a conducive atmosphere for such businesses to thrive.

He noted further that with the coming of investors, the issue of unemployment would be drastically reduced, and that new towns and cities would be opened up with the coming of investors. Comrade Tommy Okon also advised youths in the state not to engage in any illegal activity that would jeopardize the efforts of Governor Akpabio in developing the state.

He further urged local government council chairmen in the state to work in collaboration with the youths in their councils and advised them not to harass the investors by making unnecessary demands, saying because these people are coming as partners for the development of the state.

In another development, the Surveyor General of the state, Mr. Okon Essien, has commended the Ibom Estate and Gardens Project, saying that the housing estate located in a serene environment with full compliments of a modern estate, will go a long way in easing the accommodation challenges in Uyo, as well as reducing the housing deficit currently put at 17 million in Nigeria.

Mr. Essien made the commendation when he visited the estate in Mbiokporo, where he had some years ago, effected the survey of the land which the project is sited. Mr. Essien, who inspected some of the completed three bedroom bungalows in the estate, lauded the developer, TMA Integrated Services Limited, for their tenacity of purpose.

Mr. Essien further said that the 500 housing units is unique in its development, itself being the first National Housing Fund Scheme project in Akwa Ibom and praised TMA for meeting the requirements of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) to access the housing loan. He noted that the stringent requirements of the FMBN for mortgage facility in housing development are such that when a developer pulls through, it showed the company’s determination to increase the housing stock in the country.

The surveyor general however gave certain salient suggestions based on the felt need of the environment which according to him include, the use of building materials that would offer maximum comfort in the house, and further suggested the use of materials other than blocks for the perimeter fencing of the estate in order to cut cost but give maximum security.

On the various house types, Mr. Essien said that although the developer is at the moment concentrating on the three bed room bungalows, they should as a matter of urgency, begin the development of duplexes to avoid encroachment on the land.

Ibom Estate and Gardens is located at Mbiokporo, along Abak Road, Uyo, opposite the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH).