The spate of urbanization in the country is alarming given the hyped-up activities at the city centres especially in Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and other industrialized State capitals.
According to data obtained by Knoema, Nigeria’s 2019 urban population rose to 51.2 percent. It posited that over the last 50 years, that urban population grew substantially from 17.8 to 51.2 percent and rose to a maximum of 3.19 percent in 1981 and then decreased to 1.61 percent in 2019.
Surprisingly, Nigeria’s land titling and registration system is almost moribund, just as not more than 3 percent of the nation’s land has been properly surveyed and registered.
The United Nations had estimated that African countries has over 4.5 percent urbanisation rate annually.
Regrettably, the increase in urban population is more pronounced in Nigeria compared to other African countries, even as previous governments have had running battling on how to provide adequate infrastructure that would be conducive for the over 200 million population.
This has been linked to paucity of funds, influx of people to urban areas, weak and non-enforceable government policies, corruption, lack of political will to address some of the lingering issues and among others.
Findings by LEADERSHIP revealed that most residential buildings in Abuja have been converted to nightclubs, brothels, worship centres and clinics as against the original design approved by the department of Development Control Department in Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC).
These are mostly pronounced in Satellite towns of Kubwa, Lugbe, Nyanya, Gwagwalada, Zuba and among others. The same trend is also replicated in cities like Lagos and Portharcout, given the sprawling slum settlements dotting its landscape unhindered.
To this end, stakeholders have advocated the need for government to decentralize activities in the city centres and focus more on the development of rural areas.
The Group general manager of West Africa Ceramics Limited (WACL), Mr Bhaskar Rao noted that there are two basic problems in Nigeria such as urbanisation and rural problems, saying that Abuja’s main problem is basically on the construction of two to three-bedroom houses which required the acquisition of more land.
He pointed out that developing Nigeria’s rural areas would resolve the housing, insecurity and unemployment crisis.
This he said is because, in constructing one house, that developers would engage the services of over 20 craftsmen like plumber, electricians, tillers, masons and among others.
The GMD noted that rural areas have peculiar problems and state government’s needed to build clusters of houses within the community while the local governments would build roads and drainage system.
He noted that with 3 million houses in rural areas, that government could house 3 million families, adding that it would reduce the cost of land and transportation.
According to him, “If government is not developing rural areas in Nigeria, it will be a big problem in managing the cities because the cities will be blocked, pollution, unemployment and insecurity problems will increase”
Rao was optimistic that government alone cannot solve the unemployment problems in the country, saying that there is a need for individuals to seek for additional ways of generating self-employment.
This he believed could be solved through the building industry and industrialisation by using local raw materials and local manpower.
To address Nigeria’s over 17 million housing deficits, he revealed that government needed to embark on the construction of high-rise buildings comprising of 30 to 40 floors.
He said, “This is because, the available lands will cost between N100 million for instance, and if the developer builds 3 houses, it will cost about N30 million each but If they construct 2- 3 bedroom high-rise buildings, the cost of housing can come down from N5 to 10 million”.
“It’s impossible to reduce the over 17 million housing deficit using the conventional means of construction because in the next five to six years, there will be no space to build houses except if they demolish the 3 to 5-bedroom houses built over the years’, he added.
He harped on the need for developers to utilise indigenous building materials in the construction of houses, saying that bricks, cement and tiles are available in Nigeria.
The immediate past president of Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Engr. Adekunle Mokuolu stated that gross deficit of infrastructure in rural areas is a contributory factor to increased incidences of rural- urban migration and miserable lifestyle among rural dwellers, adding that more than 60 percent of Nigerians live in the rural areas.
This is even as he emphasized the need for government to empower engineering teachers and overhaul engineering curriculum in tertiary institutions across the country.
Mokuolu lamented the gross underutilization of abundant natural and mineral resources as a result of lack of rural infrastructure and skilled labour for effective harnessing.
The former president pointed out that the 2017 Africa competitiveness report indicated that sub-Saharan African economies must deliberately evolve and implement reforms, aimed at creating jobs for its young and growing population in order to boost productivity, self-reliance and wealth creation.
He hinted that the most exciting experiences in his career was the provision of infrastructure to rural communities, adding that he is committed to impacting the lives of rural populace through the Community Engineering Programme (CEP) of his administration.
The president noted that NSE embarked on electrification project at Juji community in Kaduna as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project, saying that about five cluster communities such as Juji Yanma, Juji Gabas, Ajaita, Unguwan Madaki and Baba Saura would benefit from the project.
Mokuolu said that the surest route to maximise the benefits of the Executive Order 5 is for Nigerian engineers to strengthen their intellectual capacity and embark on technological innovations as well as build alliances across the boundaries.
He pointed out that engineers had advocated for the development of Nigerian content for many years, believing that it would guarantee development, self-sufficiency in food production, wealth creation and improvement of the welfare of Nigerians.
The ex- president maintained that the critical assessment of the state of infrastructure, sector by sector in 2017, revealed a general decline in all the sectors, just as he called on government to take urgent step in improving infrastructure across the state.
Mokuolu stated that it’s the responsibility of Nigerian engineers to ensure that physical development is properly structured in a sustainable manner, assuring that NSE would continue to partner with government and other stakeholders in the provision of adequate infrastructure.
In his contribution, the immediate past governor of Imo State, Hon Emeka Ihedioha had raised the alarm over the deteriorating urban and rural settlements, rivers and oceans as well as other livable spaces since 2015, with Nigeria losing more than 40 percent of coral reefs and 60 percent of coastal mangroves.
To this end, he regretted that economic activities that would have been generated naturally from Nigeria’s tourism friendly livable spaces have remained untapped.
Speaking during the maiden edition of the Nigeria Green Cities Summit, organised by the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), he said that rapid urbanisation, expansion of manufacturing and the consumption of an emerging middle class led to an increase in material demand.
Ihedioha who was represented by his Special Adviser on Environment, Hon Alex Emeziem hinted that the protection of natural habitats has weakened while States recorded net losses in natural forests.
He wondered why Nigeria, which is one of most resource-intensive countries in the world is yet to fully or substantially harness its resources, adding that the country could produce about 45 percent of global domestic tourism-generated material consumption if harnessed and developed.
The governor noted that since 2016, that many geo-political zones in the country especially the rural demographic were classified as environmentally insecure including Imo state that was badly ranked.
Lending his voice, the former president of Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE), Engr. Otis Oliver Anyaeji linked the infrastructure deficit to negligence of Abuja master plan in city development.
He pleaded with the federal government and FCT administration to address the transportation challenges in the satellite towns.
According to him, “It’s usually a big hassle for residents living in Gwagwalada every morning and you will begin to wonder why they cannot build additional road from Gwagwalada straight into the town and hitting the Asokoro area to reduce the burden on the Airport road”.
Anyaeji appealed to the FCTA and Ministry of Water Resources to build more infrastructure for the transfer of water to satellite areas from Gurara dam.
He was hopeful that with improvement in the generation, distribution and transmission of electricity that there would be respite for residents.
The federal government has disclosed that urbanisation experienced across the world had posed life-changing concerns that should be adequately managed.
The minister of state for works and housing, Abubakar Aliyu, said that the provision of houses for citizens in any nation was vital adding that the scale of urbanization has severe significance on social, cultural, economic and environmental consequences that have impacted on all spheres of lives.
Aliyu disclosed that in the face of the increasing challenges and opportunities brought about by the phenomenon that it’s important for government and private sector to scale-up actions.
He noted that there is a need to leverage on the technical expertise and support that development partners at both national and global levels could lend to the process.
Recall that at the African Regional Conference on Housing and Sustainable Human Settlements (Habitat III) in Abuja, vice President Yemi Osibanjo had called on African countries to rewrite the negative stories of its urban settlements from chaos, informality and squalor to positive stories of good planning, tranquillity and environmental sustainability.
He listed the challenges to urbanisation as policy gap, budgetary inadequacy, ineffective development control, inadequate legislation and increasing urban migration saying that poor planning of urban areas in the continent could be attributed to insufficient resources and outdated data.
According to him, “Increasing migration into urban areas at a time of resource constraints had resulted to population explosion and shortage of housing, which pushed people living in cities to locate and build structures in areas that are vulnerable to natural disasters, thereby causing significant economic and social risks.
He noted that there is a link between urbanisation, industrialisation and structural change, maintaining that resource constraint resulted to population explosion and shortage of houses which led to construction of buildings in areas prone to natural disasters thereby causing pains and social unrest.
Source: Leadership
