There is Urgent need to review, regional planning law —NITP President

Nathaniel Atebije is the president, Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP). He spoke to CHINEDUM UWAEGBULAM on the need by government and policy makers to consider more compact land use distribution to reduce travel times, as well as engage town planners to organise physical environment.

NITP members use planning to revitalise physical facilities in towns, cities, and metropolitan areas. Can you assess your contributions in the management of the physical planning and environment in the country?

Physical planning is the articulation of thoughts and ideas to create orderly development of human settlements. It attempts to balance the competing demands for the use of land by various social and economic needs of members of a community (which may span from a rural community to urban spaces). Physical planning is preventive, prescriptive and curative. It can address issues of poor and conflicting land uses manifested in slums, environmental chaos and anarchy or by its futuristic tendency to prevent incompatible uses. It is also a basic social service that government owes citizens. It is, therefore, the responsibility of government to engage town planners, who are trained and have requisite competences to plan and manage physical development of settlements.

The competences of town planners have not been fully exploited because most people at the policy-making level do not understand the purpose of planning. Town planners have not been adequately involved in the management of physical planning and environment in Nigeria.

The first activity needed to manage physical development is planning. But how many towns and rural settlements have masterplans? Very few indeed. Where plans do not exist, response to management of physical spaces would be spontaneous, reactionary and impulsive. On the whole, except for Abuja and a few other urban areas, the impacts of town planners have not been sufficiently felt in the development of settlements and communities. Much needs to be done by government and policy-makers to engage town planners to organise the physical environment of this country.

The Nigerian Urban and Regional Law of 2004 (as amended) has attained a near zero implementation. What has been the problem? Do you think or subscribe to opinion that it should be reviewed? Why is such step necessary?

The major problem, which has frustrated the implementation of the Nigerian Urban and Regional Planning Law, is the lack of political will on the side of government. The Federal Government, which would have blazed the trail in the implementation, has done virtually nothing to enforce the provisions of the law.