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‘Rivers Needs More 200,000 Houses’

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The National Union of Ten
ants of Nigeria, a body responsible for the enforcement of Housing Rights in Nigeria, has declared that Rivers State is at present in the shortage of 200,000 buildings for residential and office accommodation needs.
Even at that, the union said, in the next two years, if no concrete steps are taken to check the trend, the state might find its in acute shortage of houses to satisfy the growing population.
The Executive Secretary of the body, Mr Caecsare Enwefah, who stated this in an interview with The Tide in Port Harcourt, Monday, said the situation was partly responsible for the high house rent and blamed quack house agents, landlords, institute of estate surveyors and valuers as will as the state ministry of urban development for the ugly situation.
He explained that while urban planning and regulations forbids any landlord from altering, restructuring or amending any existing structure without approval from the ministry and the ministry does not check such activities, tenants were not arbitranly evicted.
Enwefah alleged that landlords in the state especially in Port Harcourt and its environs were in the regular habit of arbitrarily restructuring their houses to increase earning at the detriment of tenants and that worst still, such illegalities is not checked by the ministry.
He said landlords without consultation with any stakeholder convert two rooms to self contained, three rooms to one-bedroom  flats thereby displacing some tenants without recourse stressing that by so doing, they create housing scarcity.
The union boss further noted that quacks, irrespective of whether they are seeking for one room  or flats affix high commission and this adds to the rent, the cost jumps high.
He equally accussed lawyers of taking over the responsibility of the institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, remarking that lawyers are charging the landlords on rentage while the institute remains aloof and insensitive to its responsibility.
The union advised landlords to agree with their tenants at any time increase of rents becomes needful because before the increase, there had been an existing agreement and for any variation, the two parties must agree otherwise it should become a litigation matter where the court has to cone in to establish justice.
The executive secretary while estimating the cost of one room at between N5,000 and N6,000 per month said by the time all other fees were brought together, the tenant begins to pay so high and for years of arreas and reminded the ministry of housing, and urban development of its duty to make housing affordable through regulation and legislations.

 

Chris Oluoh

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Kenyan Runners Dominate Berlin Marathons

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Kenya made it a clean sweep at the Berlin Marathon with Sabastian Sawe winning the men’s race and Rosemary Wanjiru triumphing in the women’s.

Sawe finished in two hours, two minutes and 16 seconds to make it three wins in his first three marathons.

The 30-year-old, who was victorious at this year’s London Marathon, set a sizzling pace as he left the field behind and ran much of the race surrounded only by his pacesetters.

Japan’s Akasaki Akira came second after a powerful latter half of the race, finishing almost four minutes behind Sawe, while Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele followed in third.

“I did my best and I am happy for this performance,” said Sawe.

“I am so happy for this year. I felt well but you cannot change the weather. Next year will be better.”

Sawe had Kelvin Kiptum’s 2023 world record of 2:00:35 in his sights when he reached halfway in 1:00:12, but faded towards the end.

In the women’s race, Wanjiru sped away from the lead pack after 25 kilometers before finishing in 2:21:05.

Ethiopia’s Dera Dida followed three seconds behind Wanjiru, with Azmera Gebru, also of Ethiopia, coming third in 2:21:29.

Wanjiru’s time was 12 minutes slower than compatriot Ruth Chepng’etich’s world record of 2:09:56, which she set in Chicago in 2024.

 

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NIS Ends Decentralised Passport Production After 62 Years

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The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made the disclosure during an inspection of the Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja, last Thursday.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
According to him, the centralised production system aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for improved service delivery.
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FG To Roll Out Digital Public Infrastructure, Data Exchange, Next Year 

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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has announced plans to roll out Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and the Nigerian Data Exchange (NGDX) platforms across key sectors of the economy, starting in early 2026.
Director of E-Government and Digital Economy at NITDA, Dr. Salisu Kaka, made the disclosure in Abuja during a stakeholder review session of the DPI and NGDX drafts at the Digital Public Infrastructure Live Event.
The forum, themed “Advancing Nigeria’s Digital Public Infrastructure through Standards, Data Exchange and e-Government Transformation,” brought together regulators, state governments, and private sector stakeholders to harmonise inputs for building inclusive, secure, and interoperable systems for governance and service delivery.
According to Kaka, Nigeria already has several foundational elements in place, including national identity systems and digital payment platforms.
What remains is the establishment of the data exchange framework, which he said would be finalised by the end of 2025.
“Before the end of this year and by next year we will be fully ready with the foundational element, and we start dropping the use cases across sectors,” Kaka explained.
He stressed that the federal government recognises the autonomy of states urging them to align with national standards.
“If the states can model and reflect what happens at the national level, then we can have a 360-degree view of the whole data exchange across the country and drive all-of-government processes,” he added.
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