The Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP) on Friday decried the poor awareness of urban planning regulations with the attendant negative implications for well-planned and standardized urban structures in the country.
The professional body’s National President, Mr. Toyin Ayinde, who spoke in Bauchi when he led a delegation of the Institute on an advocacy visit to the Rector, Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi, Mr. Sunusi Gumau, said that many Nigerians didn’t know what urban planning entailed.
Ayinde said that the purpose of the team’s visit to the tertiary institution was to enable them the opportunity of engaging and enlightening stakeholders in the building industry of the need for proper town planning.
He said: “In fact, what many people think is town planning is exactly what is not town planning. Our administration decided we needed to embark on an advocacy visit going from state to state trying to enlighten governors, chief executive of corporations, among others.
“We are hoping, If God permits, we want to say this same thing to the president of the federation because planning is meant to start from the general to the specific”, Ayinde added.
The NITP President told the Rector that Bauchi State was the 23rd state the Institute was holding its advocacy, pointing out that town planning is not just obtaining building plan approval but also encompasses some regulations that must be complied with.
In his welcome address, the Rector noted that planning remain crucial in any successful endeavour, adding that “whoever fails to plan is planning for his failure’’
While agreeing with the professional body’s position on poor awareness about planning regulations in the country, Gumau stressed that the ‘status quo’ of town planning in Nigeria must change.
The Rector further charged the leadership of the NITP to effectively sensitise the development boards at states on the need for properly compliance with planning regulations in order to make urban cities in the country better habitats for all.
