President of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), Olutoyin Ayinde, has berated the Federal Government over its lack of funding for the implementation of town planning policies.
He said the country lacks adequate town planning and its proper understanding, adding that these contribute to the increasing spate of building collapses across the country.
Ayinde stated this during the inauguration ceremony of the Ogun State branch of the Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria (ATOPCON), in Abeokuta on Thursday.
He added that reasonable physical development in Nigeria can only be gotten if there is proper funding and implementation.
“Nigerian governments do not even understand what planning is and until they do that they cannot commit resources. The truth is that there’s nothing we can really achieve without planning. So, we must be joking as a nation if we are not funding planning because the alternative to planning is chaos which is what we live in.
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“We might be seeing a few Government Reserved Areas (GRAs) and you think you are seeing the real thing. Go to the real city and see how we are experiencing congestion and flooding. It is a sign that we are not doing anything about planning.
“Nigerian government must wake up. Those who want to become president must plan. Until we plan, we are heading nowhere,” the town planner said.
Also speaking at the inauguration ceremony, ATOPCON President, Muyiwa Adelu, said the association was inaugurated to train members who would assist the government in achieving its developmental goals in the environment.
“Our idea is to train members to be able to liaise with government and private people to help them achieve their developmental goals in the environment. So as town planners, our duty is to ensure that our members are engaged and make sure that the environment that we live in is beautiful enough to better the lives of Nigerians,” he added.
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