A professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Ibadan, Bolanle Wahab, has lamented the neglect of community, local and indigenous knowledge systems by policymakers.
Wahab also called for the indigenisation of the planning and management of human settlements through greater utilisation of indigenous techniques, personnel and approaches.
The professor stated these during the 522nd inaugural lecture of the University of Ibadan he delivered on behalf of the Faculty of Environmental Design and Management.
In the lecture titled: “Informal Communities and Planned Slums: The Tragedy of Environmental Planning Without Indigenous Knowledge Systems,” Wahab lamented the situation in Nigeria where policy and decision makers ignored community, local and indigenous knowledge systems, which they ignorantly equate with retrogressive ideology, old fashioned and of no positive consequence.
He stated that the traditional inclusive governance systems that sustained the communities for centuries are viewed as slow, time-wasting, unscientific and are therefore, discarded and jettisoned without the least consideration until when there are crises and insecurity problems, the traditional rulers and apparatuses are invited for rescue.
Given the opportunities and challenges that informal settlements offer urban and peri-urban populations, Wahab advised that governments, development agencies, scholars and professionals should formulate actionable strategies to transform ailing informal and formal settlements into liveable communities.
He also advised that improvements in the quality of the urban environments through community-based and participatory waste management, water supply, road improvement, public sanitation and neighbourhood revitalisation should be the utmost priority of government.
He said government should collaborate with both the private and popular sectors to champion the enactment and enforcement of appropriate laws and bye-laws for proper planning and management of the living environment.
