Lack of effective town planning has been described as one of the major reasons fuelling insecurity and communal clashes across the country.
President of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), Olutoyin Ayinde, during a working visit to management and staff of Ogun State Housing Corporation (OGSHC) in Abeokuta.
Ayinde said the nation’s socio-economic and political growth have been negatively impacted by the failure of the Federal Government on policy formulation and implementation on effective town planning, city development and forest regeneration amid geometric growth in the population.
He added that there is a rise in herder-farmer clashes across the country because past governments were not futuristic in town planing, city development and forests regeneration to the available limited land space.
While urging the government to re-initiate a proper town planning, city development and forest regeneration in order to allow even physical and urban development nationwide, he noted that a holistic approach should be taken to ensure that mistakes of the past are not repeated.
“We are over 211 million, in a few years time now, we will be 360 million; we are expanding, one day we will be 400 million. Have you ever imagined that some communities are having inter-communal clashes now? Whereas, centuries ago, they were not fighting themselves because the population was limited, now that we are exploding, we are having inter-communal clashes.
“We are having herder-farmer clashes, how do we solve it? We must plan, that is why housing must not be imagined as a stand alone component, it must be imagined as part of the city system. The truth is we either plan or we perish. There is no solution if we don’t plan, we will perish because we will end up in chaos and the sequence all over the world is you will plan before you develop, it’s only in Nigeria that you develop before you plan,” Ayinde said.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of Ogun State Housing Corporation (OGSHC), Wale Ojo, said that the Dapo Abiodun-led state government had begun efforts to redesign and develop cities and towns within the state, adding that the administration is constructing 2,500 housing units within his first four-year tenure.
He said: “Planning and development activities are germane to the growth and housing provision focus of Ogun State Housing Corporation and Ogun State Government. Efforts of current government under Governor Dapo Abiodun is worth of note as his era has witnessed exponential growth in housing provisions in Ogun State.
“This is an attempt to bridge over 17 million having deficit in the country. The state remains the largest industrial hub of the country, as a result of this, Prince Dapo Abiodun is delivering 2,500 housing units in the first tenure.”
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