Town planners urge practitioners to uphold professional ethics

As Rivers NITP seeks review of physical planning law

In a bid to elevate the planning profession, the President of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), Nathaniel Atebije, has charged its members to uphold the code of conduct and ethics to enable Nigerians to accord practitioners due respect.

Atebije gave the charge at the 48th yearly general meeting and anniversary luncheon of the Lagos state chapter of the institute. He said professionalism would take practitioners beyond their imaginations.

“If one sinks, all of us would sink because any organisation is as strong as its weakest link. I call on all of us to close ranks to build our institute. The professional body does not belong to any individual. We are the ones to make it blossom and shine. And such attributes can only stand the test of time through good collaboration in integrity,” the NITP boss said.He also urged members to demonstrate good followership characteristics such as being proactive, reliable, devoted and diligent.

Atebije called on the committee members to improve on the failures or imperfections of the past one-year and aspire to be better. “As leaders, much responsibility is placed on you to be visionary, exemplary, demonstrate integrity, communicate effectively, take some bold decisions, appreciate or seek to empower and motivate other members of the team or the followers,” he added.

The Chapter Chairman, Mr. Omotayo Awomosu, urged colleagues to re-dedicate themselves to the cause of the profession. He said the chapter recently adopted by-laws, made different suggestions to the government on issues of public interest, and made efforts towards improving planning practice in the state.

Earlier, immediate past president, Mr. Toyin Ayinde, commended the chairman for reinvigorating the chapter, adding that he has performed well but urged him to do more and take the chapter to a greater height.

Also speaking, the President, Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria (ATOPCON), Adebisi Adedire, charged the practitioners to harness experiences towards addressing pressing issues affecting communities in Lagos and prevail on the government to act right in its policies and programmes.

IN related development, NITP Rivers State chapter has blamed the poor state of human settlements on lack of political will and funding by successive governments.

The institute argued that since the creation of the state in 1967, urban planning has had a chequered history, noting that although various administrations had made frantic effort to advance physical planning activities; such effort could not yield positive effect on the overall wellbeing of its citizens.

The state’s NITP chairman, Emmanuel Ikechukwu, in a press briefing in Port Harcourt, advised the government to implement its Physical Planning and Development Law No. 6 of 2003, as well as review it to come to terms with the prevailing reality of the 21st century urban planning dynamics.

While calling for the declaration of a state of emergency on physical planning, he blamed the failure of successive governments to professionalise the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development on the rise in quackery. He said such practices have given responsible members of the built environment all sorts of unprintable names.

He said: “What we are most familiar with is the consequences of lack of physical planning, which manifest in the distortions of the siting of projects, chaos in our environment, narrowness of our streets, dysfunctional infrastructure, building collapse, generation of unplanned settlements, avoidable flooding and other factors leading to stressful living and high mortality rate.”