Despite the avalanche of professionals in the Town and Regional Planners’ Association, most Nigerian cities have lost their original master plans.
Aligning with the opinion of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP) Mr. Achike Calistus, a retired staff at the Office of Surveyor General of the Federation, said that lack of regulation and monitoring have made most Nigerians to jettison the original plans for some cities to introduce other projects.
According to him, government authorities have relaxed their roles which is to make sure that the rules put in place to guide and guard government traditions are maintained. He said that lack of supervision and commitment by those in charge are the bane of government infrastructure in the country.
Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP) had earlier said that most cities in Nigeria do not have a master plan and those that have are yet to take steps to implement them.
President of the institute, Lekwa Ezutah, made this known in Abuja at a media briefing recently. He said, “Only Abuja and Owerri have a comprehensive master plans that have been fully implemented. Some cities have master plan but they haven’t been implemented or reviewed.”
Ezutah also lamented the inability of the Federal Government to implement the requirements of the Urban and Regional Planning Law. “Since 1992, the Urban and Regional Planning Law was set up and provides for an Urban and Regional Planning Commission at the federal level, planning boards at the state level and planning authorities at the local government. But till date, government has not implemented the law, 27 years after.
“This is why the focus of the institute under my leadership is creating awareness to policy makers and the general public on the importance of town planning at all levels to ensure that professionals are engaged at all levels to reduce the cases of building collapse and irregular physical planning,” he said.
Ezutah also reiterated the institute’s commitment in ensuring that development control takes center stage in Nigeria, lamenting that it has been lacking in the country for so many years.