Refusal to engage the right professionals for delivery of building has been identified as one of the major reasons responsible for building collapse in Nigeria.
National President of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, Olutoyin Ayinde made this known while speaking on the spate of building collapse in the country, at media briefing, in. Abuja.
Ayinde lamented that despite studies that have been conducted and several recommendations made by professional bodies to mitigate the trend in the country, little or no result has been achieved in curbing the menace.
“Until the right attention is given to physical planning before development, Nigeria will be unable to solve the various problems associated with ordered and functional cities, National security, such as Farmers – Herders clashes, which is an Agricultural land use issue (i.e. farming versus animal husbandry), Ungoverned Spaces (a Regional Planning issue) and imbalance in the provision and distribution of physical, social and security infrastructure”.
The National President was however hopeful that with more commitment on the part of government and the citizens the carnage of building collapse will be put on hold.
“Several panels, committees and tribunals have been set up and recommendations made. It’s just one thing left – commitment to doing what is right on the part of government and the people.
“We urge the government and people of Nigeria to have value for human life, and stop the carnage”, Ayinde said.
Speaking on the issue of physical development development plans for the environment, Ayinde observed that until the right attention is given to physical planning Nigeria will be unable to solve the various problems associated with ordered and functional cities, national security and ungoverned spaces.
“To curtail the spate of disordered development, the Federal Government enacted the Nigerian Urban and Regional Planning Law in 1992.
“Unfortunately, these laws have not been effectively activated to impact on the quality of our environment. From the Federal Government to the State Governments, it is a galore of disobeying the law by refusing to prepare plans and structures for their implementation”, Ayinde noted
The Institute consequently admitted that investment in planning human settlements will eradicate growth of slums and significantly reduce urban poverty and crime in the country.
Stressing the need to rise to the responsibility of planning and managing human settlements in order to ensure stress-free living for the entire citizenry, the institute called for more advocacy to sensitize Nigerians on the need and benefits of physical planning.
