To place the nation at a higher pedestal for growth and economic development, town planners have urged the Federal Government to restructure its agencies and create a single Ministry of Physical Planning.
They also reminded the Tinubu-led administration of its promise to comply with town planning, environmental laws and edicts, and set up institutions to implement the Nigerian Urban and Regional Planning law, such as the National Physical Planning Commission, which will embark on the preparation of a national physical plan.
Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP) further called on the Federal and Ondo State government to take quick steps to arrest the perennial menace of ocean surge and flooding in Aiyetoro and other vulnerable places, which suffer similar environmental distress, as well as enjoined dwellers in places prone to flooding to relocate to safer places to avoid disasters.
NITP President, Mr. Nathaniel Atebije, who made the recommendations at the quarterly press of the institute, held in Abuja with the theme: “The New Dawn: We are either done or down,” reiterated that there is no shortcut to sustainable development outside physical planning.
Atebije stressed the need for proper planning, consultation and implementation of critical policies for any meaningful development to take place in Nigeria.
The NITP president said that the institute would continue to work with relevant stakeholders, including state and federal governments, to enhance professional urban and town planning for the good of the country.
Atebije lamented the recent imposition of foreign syndicates on Nigerian governors, who confuse them with figures concerning the benefits of Geographical Information Systems (GIS).
“They informed them that they can carry out assignments beyond their core competences. They engage in physical planning. The end result is poor planning and waste of resources for an unprofessional job. Giving such jobs to foreigners has its security implications,” he said.
He enjoined the governors to minimise patronage of foreign consultants in physical planning and GIS, as Nigerian consultants have come of age to provide such services, “even where there are deficiencies, they can invite foreigners to assist, but our land data and information would be kept within our boundaries.”
Atebije explained that one of the new technological tools to aid physical planning is the application of GIS which serves as both a database and a toolbox for urban planning.
“When combined with data from other tabular databases or specially conducted surveys such as socio-economic surveys, geographical information can be used to make effective planning decisions.
“As a toolbox, GIS allows planners to perform spatial analysis using geo-processing functions such as map overlay, connectivity measurement, network analysis and buffering. The most frequently involved sectors of urban planning are land use, transport, housing, land development and environment,” he added.
