Govt must see planning as development tool – ATOPCON
The Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria has called on all tiers of government to see physical planning as a vital tool for social and economic development.
According to the association, the rate of socio-economic advancement of the country has been held down as a result of the attitude displayed towards physical planning by policymakers.
The outgoing President of ATOPCON, Mr. Moses Ogunleye, who spoke on the sidelines of the association’s annual general meeting, noted that the country had failed to appreciate the symbiotic relationship existing between economic planning and physical planning.
He said, “It has been shown at the global level that countries, which hinged their development strategies on sound physical planning principles, tend to have faster economic growth than those that did not. Now is the time for governments in Nigeria to review their efforts and concerns for physical planning.
“For instance, if a state government has about 10 towns, it could say it wants to start with two in the first year. It is not about putting figures; it is first of all accepting the value of development plan and knowing what these development plans will cost and do what we call a rolling plan. When you do physical development plans, there are also micro development plans. For instance, in Lagos, if you do a broad plan for Ikeja, you can do a plan for the central business district but it is better to start with a district or town plan or a master plan.”
He added that any government that resolved to do a development plan and follow it would benefit immensely from it.
“Our cities have been growing without any guide and that is why Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, will go to Kaduna and demolish. If there is a place earmarked for schools, you don’t go there and build residences.
“When investors come in, we should be able to say, ‘this is the development plan’. If you plan to have an airport in a place, for instance, you just move in and start the project,” he said.
Ogunleye noted that the high incidence of crime, homelessness, chaotic traffic and abuse of natural resources such as surface water, wetland and forest in towns and cities had been traced to poor or weak planning.
He added, “There is a need for effective funding of physical planning matters by all tiers of government. Besides, physical planning should be strengthened at the local government level, with some functions devolved to the local government areas.
“As the nearest form of government to the grass roots or communities, the councils ought to be able to carry out so much in physical planning. The various aspects of the 1992 Urban and Regional Planning Law with regard to the functions of the LGA should be implemented by all concerned.”
He said local governments had a role to play at some level, but lamented that they were not doing anything.
“Some of them don’t know the responsibility that rests on them; so, we are challenging them to look at the various laws. Let every city manager be convinced that they need to do development plans. If there are no development plans, we have not started; when there is a plan, the government is taken more seriously,” he said.
The President, Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, Mr. Femi Olomola, said the institute planned to pass down the culture of planning to the coming generation.
According to him, professionals are doing everything possible to advance the practice of town planning as well as create awareness about its importance in national and economic development.
He said, “The mission statement of the present council of the NITP is that between us and the next generation, there is a contract. We owe it to the next generation to create an environment that will make the young ones believe that once they register and practise, they do not only have a good living but also access to fortunes.”
Olomola said that based on this, the council aimed to create about five million units of jobs in consulting in the next few years.
The President, Town Planners Registration Council, Prof. Layi Egunjobi, noted that there was a need for town planning professionals to adopt the three ‘Ls’ (learning, leadership and law-abiding).
Egunjobi said these qualities would help to advance the practice of physical planning in the country as well as improve the level of professionalism in the industry.
“Professionals should see themselves as leaders that require patience, integrity and peaceful co-existence; no one should feel they know it all. We should continue to adapt to development in the world at large and the profession in particular,” he said.
According to Ogunleye, the association has reached out to state governments and some government agencies at the federal level to expose them to the values of planning.
“People travel abroad and see the layout of their cities; we can convince government that instead of allocating billions of naira to projects, they should first accept that they need to do a plan. The cities are growing without plans,” he said.
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