The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Dr Shuaib Belgore, has stated that the National Council on Lands, Housing and Urban Development is a forum that provides a strategic platform for aligning federal and state policies and accelerating reforms in the housing and urban development sector.

According to a statement posted on the ministry’s website on Wednesday, Belgore disclosed this in Abuja while speaking at the Annual Meeting of the National Council on Lands, Housing and Urban Development, scheduled to be held in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, from next week.

“The National Council meeting remains a critical avenue for strengthening intergovernmental collaboration, reviewing sectoral policies, and evolving practical solutions that will fast-track the delivery of affordable housing and sustainable urban development across the country,” Belgore said.

He explained that the meeting, which is the 14th in the series, will be held under the theme ‘Achieving Housing Delivery and Sustainable Cities Through Effective Land Management, Urban Renewal, Promotion of Local Building Materials, and Public-Private Partnership in Nigeria’.

Hosted by the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, the meeting will deliberate on critical issues bordering on effective land management, housing delivery, urban renewal, promotion of local building materials, and the expansion of public-private partnerships as drivers of sustainable and inclusive cities. The meeting, a statutory forum for policy harmonisation between the Federal and State Governments, will bring together relevant stakeholders in the built environment to brainstorm, deliberate, share ideas, and proffer solutions on policy and regulatory matters in order to move the sector forward.

Participants at the meeting include States’ Commissioners, Permanent Secretaries, Directors in charge of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Chief Executives of Housing Corporations, Surveyor-Generals, professional bodies, and other key stakeholders in the built environment sector.

The Executive Governor  of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazak, the host, is expected to serve as the Special Guest of Honour at the meeting, which will take place at the Kwara Innovation Hub, Ahmadu Bello Way, GRA, Ilorin, Kwara State.