NITP urges ‘state of emergency’ on cities’ management

Towards making Nigerian cities hubs of prosperity, the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP) has reiterated the need for public and private sector collaboration to drive growth and development in cities.

It also called for a declaration of “State of Emergency” on the planning and management of cities to make them functional and meet the needs of the people.

President of the institute, Nathaniel Atebije, made the call at the World Cities Day 2023 entitled: “Financing Sustainable Urban Development: Challenges and Opportunities”, organised by the Federal ministry of Housing and Urban Development in Abuja.

World Cities Day is celebrated on October 31 yearly, to further emphasise the significance of urban environments, provides an opportunity to address the challenges and opportunities of urbanization, while promoting sustainable urban development. It also highlights the importance of collaborative efforts in building cities that are resilient, inclusive, and capable of improving the quality of life for all residents.

According to him, cities are supposed to be hubs of innovation, culture, and economic growth, providing a high quality of life for all residents including provision of adequate housing for all. Regrettably, he said, this has not been the experience, as cities are fast becoming centres of slums, and unemployment.

He said: “We therefore must invest in cities; engender effective collaboration between public and private sectors to develop cities that can drive growth and recovery. While we commend the Federal Government for creating the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, we appeal that adequate funding, staffing and equipment be given to the ministry to enable it function effectively.

“Cities are living and systemic entities that need to be nurtured to mature especially if the development process was earlier conceived through the planning process. Apart from political will, the next most essential ingredients for sustainability are funding, technical servicing and establishment of relevant institutions.

“Unfortunately, many of our cities are like orphans and are indeed orphaned because plans, institutions and funds needed to nurture them are not provided by relevant authorities.”

Atebije said the absence of these critical ingredients is largely responsible for the chaos we face in the cities, adding that it is estimated that there are around 10,000 cities worldwide.

He explained that it must be known that cities function with funds; in its absence, the city becomes starved, malnourished and sick with ripple contagious effects on the dwellers.

“In the 2022 ranking of Global Liveability Index which covered 172 cities conducted by the Economic Intelligence Unit, the only city in Nigeria that surfaced was Lagos which took a woeful position of 171 out of the 172. Worse still, even in Africa, no Nigerian city was listed among the first ten livable cities. This is why we need to declare a state of emergency” on the planning and management of our cities.

“We all know that cities play very critical roles in the development of the nation as centers of innovation and excellence. The activities in the city touch on the potential, strength, growth, development, sustainability and image of the nation,” Atebije said.