PROPERTY NEWS

To initiate a turn-around in the current state of things and ensure that cities develop in an orderly manner, a Lagos-based settlement development practitioner has said that every semi-urban and urban centre in the country should be assigned a resident planning consultant.

According to Mr. Yacoob Abiodun, an erstwhile scribe to the National Housing Policy (NHP), the umbrella body " Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP) " should influence the National Assembly to compel state and local governments to have the instrumentality of planning, which he lists to include, master, development, structural, sector and strategic plans. He noted last week in Lagos that, by law, every town and city should have a resident town planner or the services of a town planner.

He said, "Our towns and cities cannot be properly organised without planners to guide their development and to improve their capacity for living, working, wealth creation and recreation."

Abiodun stated that if such a legislation were in place, a plethora of jobs would also be created for town planners.

"There are latent job opportunities for planners in Nigeria but feeble attempts are being made to device atrategies that would open the window of opportunity for planners to get employment other than the public sector," he stressed, suggesting that the training and emergence of purpose-specific planners might just be the way out of the challenging situation.

His words, "We have too many generalist planners in this country with very few specialists in various areas of planning like urban design, transportation, housing, tourism, community development, advocacy planning, comprehensive planning, urban renewal/rejuvenation and policy analysis. The prevailing situation which depicts Jack-of-all-trade planners has not helped our planning practice.

"Let us begin to train specific-purpose planners who will specialise in specific areas of town planning studies and who will use their expertise in finding sustainable solutions to many of our urban problems. The student’s project/thesis should be on his or her area of specialisation."

Similarly, Abiodun, who recently visited planning establishments in various cities in the United States of America (USA), submitted that the review of town planning curriculun for higher institutions of learning was long overdue.

He went on, "Because of present day realities, the content of each course need be updated where applicable while the introduction of new courses which are prerequisites for contemporary planning education ought to be added to the existing courses, such as IT, Sustainable City, Graphical Communication, Globalisation, Geographical Information System (GIS), Environmental Planning & Management (EPM), Green City Process and Zoning."

The planner added that these should be in addition to a gamut of courses being taught in other universities abroad, which are applicable and helpful to improving the conditions of towns and cities in Nigeria.

The planner contended that, just as doctors attend to the sick and lawyers promote the rule of law, his professional colleagues should advocate for orderly development of towns and cities and protection of the environment. He wants the overall and local associations to lead such a crusade through lobbying in the National and State Assemblies for the enactment of laws to achieve the aims and objectives of planning.

He said, "Where there is an infringement of planning regulations or injustice done to a corporate body or individual by government authority, the professional body should stoutly come to the defence of the aggrieved. Amicus Curiae advisory services could be provided to the aggrieved when the need arises. Planning Tribunal should be set up by every state to handle public complaint and adjudicate on same speedily."

He expressed reservations over the fact that planning advocacy was yet to take its rightful place in the scheme of things in the country, saying, "Until it is popularised among planners and the citizenry, it will be difficult to check the excesses of some government planning authorities, who take delight in trampling on the rights of the people by preaching one thing and doing the exact opposite.

Abiodun also wants planning to be participatory and consultative whereby, according to him, communities have input in the plan meant to improve their environment.

"People should be carried along in the planning process, and public hearing should be the norm and not an exception," he declared explaining that if a community expressed reservation about any planning overture by government or a developer for whatsoever reason, it was incumbent that the plan/project be reviewed for the purpose of mitigating the problems identified before the plan’s implementation.