Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria (ATOPCON) have tasked the Lagos State Government to ensure full implementation of various development plans in the state to promote sustainable city growth.
President of the Group, Muyiwa Adelu, urged consultants who had helped the state government in the preparation of the plans to also rise to the occasion of monitoring the implementation of the blueprints.
The president spoke during 2023 Annual General Meeting of the Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria (ATOPCON), Lagos State Branch in Ikeja, The AGM’s theme was “The Challenges of Effective Town Planning Service in the Rapidly Expanding City of Lagos: The Role of Consultant Town Planners in Perception,”
Adelu pointed out that where the state government is shying away from implementing its own plans, the role of consulting town planners should be to call the attention of the authority to it.
“Lagos State Government has fared well in preparation of development plans, the next stage is the implementation of these plans.
“Where the state government is shying away from implementing its own plans, it’s also our role to call the attention of the state government to do the same. We must be willing to put the solutions and recommendations of our plans to test to help government achieve its duty of effective governance,” Adelu said.
He also posit that poor plans’ implementation of cities in developing nations as a disservice to the citizenry, advising the Lagos State Government not to be part of that.
Adelu also challenged ATOPCON’s members on the need to improve their consultancy service delivery “as we ponder on the challenges of effective town planning practices,”
While delivering his presentation, the Guest Speaker at the forum and Former Commissioner for the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development in Lagos State, Dr. Idris Okanla Salako, pointed out that it is the duty of ATOPCON to ensure that town planners in private practice seek opportunities in innovative urban planning capacities and tools to confront the challenges of the Lagos’ expansion to properly manage the continuous growth and its attendant consequences.
According to him, consulting town planners must be experts in strategic planning.
“As a consultant town planners, we have the power and the professionalism to design and determine the nature and extent of the rapidly expanding Lagos. “We therefore need to quiet our inner critics and strive to hear our confidant self as we shaped the Lagos’ expansion process,” he said.
“Hence, planning and management of the rapidly expanding city of Lagos has not been free from dynamic and increasing challenges.
“The expansion of Lagos has outpaced the capacity of government to plan for it; often, development occurs so quickly that government officials and the consulting experts do not have appropriate solutions to the rapidly expanding Lagos,” he said.
The former commissioner defined a town planner as “one that has acquired both academic and professional knowledge as well as certification respectively from accredited institutions and Town Planner’s Registration Council (TOPREC); hence bounded by a common seal and its obligation.”
He outline issues affecting town planning consultants, and challenged them to rise above poverty- like mentality, low morale, bad perception, current tendencies inadequate knowledge and unethical practices in order to provide solutions to urban challenges.
He advised them to evolve new strategy of solving multiplicity of urban challenges.
“As a consultant town planners, we have the power and the professionalism to design and determine the nature and extent of the rapidly expanding Lagos. “We therefore need to quiet our inner critics and strive to hear our confidant self as we shaped the Lagos’ expansion process,” he said.
Meanwhile, speaking during the event Former President of the Nigerian institute of Town Planners (NITP), Alhaji Waheed Kadiri, stated that time has come for town planning consultants to begin to listen to their clients rather than talking to themselves alone.
“However, we need to stop talking to ourselves only, we should stop winking in the dark. I challenge us to start listening to our clients,” he said.
He tasked consultants to raise the bar of individuals and corporate bodies in the area of communication including being good listeners, paying attention to details, people skills, time management and professional ethics.
“Not also forgetting the fact that most of the times we are consultants because our clients expects us to know more than they do and therefore guide them alright. We should be ready to give quality service that could be provided by members of ATOPCON only,” Kadiri said.
Moreso, Lagos’ Chairman of ATOPCON, Dr. Kola Olayiwola, explained that the AGM’s platform provided the opportunity for re-evaluation and re-assessment of the association’s performances in terms of accomplishments, opportunities and potential for future growth in town planning consultancy service delivery for members.
The choice of the theme of the lecture, he said was not only relevant, but appropriate to curbing the challenges posed by the rapid urbanization, that had taken its toll in the form of sprawling spatial growth of the city of Lagos.
“Again, the sprawling growth of Lagos on its contiguous communities has left a huge gap, which the consultant town planners’ contributions would help to fill, thereby setting the benchmark standard for spatial planning and management.
“The consulting firms will generate relevant physical planning documents (i.e Master Plan, Model City Plan, Regional Plan, District Plan, Action Area Plan, Local and Subject Plan) among others.
“These documents would guide the direction of growth and ordering of land uses for general urban management and development activities, if Lagos is to remain an investment destination for both foreigners and local investors in a sustainable manner,”Olayiwola said.
The aim of the Annaul General Meeting was Geared towards ensuring that the Lagos state Governments attention is drawn towards the need to implement the blueprint of various development plans in the state to promote sustainable city growth.
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Source: tribuneonlineng.com
