The Minister of State for Works and Housing, Engineer Abubakar D. Aliyu has revealed plans by the ministry to address the rapid urban growth in Nigeria.
While speaking to Housing Program on Thursday at the 2019 Urban October event which also coincided with the World Cities Day in Abuja, the Minister said that as Nigeria is growing in population, there is bound to be movement of people from the rural areas seeking opportunities in the urban areas.
He said that with this rapid urbanisation, the country is faced with associated problems like poor sanitation, over-crowding, overstretched facilities, crime and many more.
‘’What we are doing in the ministry is to have program that will help deurbanise. Something that will encourage people to move out of the cities by themselves. We have programs like the building of areas in proximity to major cities where we get lands and provide facilities there and encourage people to move there. This is still in its pilot stage, but it is one of the initiatives that we have to reduce urban congestion,’’ he said.
According to him, the event which was organised by the Ministry of Works and Housing and attended by numerous housing sector stakeholders marked the end of a 31 day program for promoting better future for urban areas.
In protecting urban areas, he called on all stakeholders including urban dwellers to be more concerned about the condition of their environments.
‘’It is for all of us. Even urban dwellers should change their attitudes in the way they look at the cities. They should own it as they own their houses. The program is to remind ourselves that we have responsibilities and the power to change our cities through new initiatives,’’ he added.
Urbanization provides the potential for new forms of social inclusion, including greater equality, access to services and new opportunities, and engagement and mobilization that reflects the diversity of cities, countries and the globe. Yet too often this is not the shape of urban development. Inequality and exclusion abound, often at rates greater than the national average, at the expense of sustainable development that delivers for all.
Urban October was launched by UN-Habitat in 2014 to emphasize the world’s urban challenges and engage the international community towards the New Urban Agenda.
