PROPERTY TRANSACTION GUIDE

Megacity: How To Rebuild Lagos, By Experts
By Dada Jackson , Senior Correspondent, Lagos

Published:Independent, 5th October 2009

THE NEED to rebuild Lagos as a way of making the city meet the challenges of its impending status as a mega city has been stressed.

This was the opinion of a gathering of construction industry experts last week in Lagos at a forum organised by the local chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA). The daylong seminar had "Rebuilding Lagos: Architecture, planning, infrastructure, economics, identity" as its theme.

Participants posited that the implementation of a strict planning and building regulation recommended by the seven professional groups in the sector should be adhered to.

According to them, if these recommendations were strictly adhered to, they would serve as a solution to the disorderly and decaying infrastructure in the state.

They submitted that the building industry was the most visible reflection of the development of any people, noting that the strict regulation of the sector was the bedrock for orderly urban development where planning precedes housing development.

Chairman of Lagos NIA, Abimbola Ajayi, said in order to attain the mega city status, Lagos needed appropriate development plans to ensure a harmonious integration of its constituents. The state also needs futuristic urban design schemes that take cognisance of the population growth and the limited space available, she said.

According to her, professionals in the sector needed to be more responsive to opportunities for strategic partnership with governments at all levels, if only to achieve the desire of improving and implementing policies as they affect the built environment.

The NIA chairperson appealed to her colleagues to continually update themselves with contemporary trends and issues within the industry as a pre-requisite for participation in projects while governments. She was quick to add that government, on its part, should also endevour to involve only professionals licensed to practice in the country in contract jobs.

Chairman, Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN), Lagos chapter, Mr. Toyin Ayinde, pointed out that what the state needed was regeneration, redevelopment and rebuilding which, he added, must start from the planning stage.

Ayinde lamented a situation whereby there was no strict compliance with approved building regulations and planning permits.

The Lagos APBN helmsman underlined the need to regenerate the physical environment of the state in terms of residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, recreational and other utilities and services. He was quick to point out that, except the government adopted these measures, the much touted effort to rebuild may not have the expected outcome.

In his own contribution, an author and a journalist, Mr. Odia Ofeimun, noted that rebuilding Lagos required strategising.

Ofeimun, a former private secretary to the late sage, Obafemi Awolowo, submitted, "Ideally, the central command in city planning has to be one of many centres. In order to perform, it must acquire a tough-minded bureaucracy, a structured, task oriented, and hence non-abroasive approach to other problem-solvers who may be no more than brain-stormier."

According to fiery writer, Lagos with its megacity vision must be approached with creativity which translates into the creation of a knowledge industry, positioned within a global focus.

Ofeimun was of the opinion that a true mega city was one capable of being a siege breaker through endogenous resource mobilisation. Even if dependent on externalities, it must not be hostage to them. Dream and circumstance therefore must be wedded to a healthy sense of contingency; knowing that, especially in the era of globalisation, all the world's cities are in competition, he said.

The communiquÈ issued at the end of the seminar suggested the transformation of the mindset of the citizenry, the redesigning of the city, taking zoning, density, and effective infrastructure into consideration.

It further advocated that consultants should constitute an advocacy group to put government on its toes, while design economics should be successfully managed by building professionals in addition with professionals coming up with more sustainable design proposals.