Nine states form zonal town planners’ chapter

The nine states chapters of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP) that made up the defunct eastern region of Nigeria have formed the eastern chapter of the institute, naming it Eastern Zonal Assembly (EZA) chapter of the NITP.The states are Abia, Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo and Rivers formed the EZA chapter during a meeting held in Port Harcourt on 22 June 2018.

Elder Nelson Nwaogu, who is also the chairman of the Abia State chapter, was elected as chairman of EZA chapter.While explaining the reason for the EZA formation at the meeting in Umuahia, Abia State capital, Nwaogu said that it was to avoid long period of inactivity and ensure leadership and secretarial rotation of the assembly.
 
“It was to achieve the common goal of having a united front in offering solutions to physical planning issues and challenges that may arise within the region and in pursuing the good aspirations of our members both at state, regional and national levels,” he said.He said that the Abia State chapter, despite the challenges and odds, is pushing physical planning as to lay the foundation for functional, beautiful and sustainable settlements for future generations.
 
Declaring the zonal meeting open, the Abia State Commissioner for Lands, Survey and Urban Planning, Uche Ihediwa described the EZA chapter as a veritable bargaining platform for members.

He charged the members to always entrench professionalism in their practice. He commended the Abia chapter members for contributing to the state’s master planning drive, which he said would raise the state’s internally generated revenue.He also urged the participants to come up with policies that can effectively regulate town planning, stressing the need to guard against contravention of town planning policies and insistence on adherence to all the regulations of the profession.