By Sarah Negedu
The Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, NITP, have queried the application of the Geographic Information System, GIS, in Nigeria’s capital territory, claiming that the tool has contributed to the distortion of the Abuja Master Plan.
The National President of the NITP, Tpl. Nathaniel Atebije, allege that the tool has been wrongly used by opportunistic foreign experts, which has led to the usurping of the functions of physical planning in most parts of the country.
Atebije, while speaking at the 2023 Town Planners Day in Abuja on Wednesday, called for the arrest of such offenders noting that, “the misinformation and deceit of foreign experts to our policy makers must be arrested especially those who come in the name of deploying GIS to generate funds for States and end up usurping the functions of physical planning.
“GIS is a tool that planners use for their services and not an end itself. It is a misnomer for a tool to be more important than its user. FCT was the first to deploy GIS for urban planning and city management in Nigeria. Unfortunately, it was abused to cause several distortions to the masterplan. Over time, this mis-information was spread around the country and many States have fallen victims.”
He asked members of the institute to make the best out of the meeting beyond mere annual ritual to seeing it as a platform for deep professional interaction and conversations on matters which are not only contemporary but bankable in concept and content.
The national president warned that, “Policies, programmes and plans are reduced to ordinary story books when they are not implemented. Implementation becomes an uphill task when they are not strategic. This has been the bane of planning and implementation in Nigeria.
“In some cases, plans seem to have utopian ideals, hence they do not respond to the immediate circumstances of their target beneficiaries. At other times, our strategies do not consider our strength of technology, nor funding possibilities, political will, manpower requirements and other critical factors.
“As professionals, we forget that times have gone by when we planned for the people; and the current direction is to plan with the people thereby encouraging inclusiveness. As beneficiaries buy into our plans from the period of conception and they participate in the process through detailing, they would naturally contribute in the realization of the plan.
“It must be noted that in some cases where planning projects are given to foreign consultants by policy makers, they usually end up producing fanciful and mind-blowing plans which do not meaningfully relate with our environment and capacity.”
He called the attention of policy makers to the fact that the body has come of age professionally, only a few issues may require consultation with foreign experts; and these may only relate to the technology of plan production rather than conception.
Atebije, therefore, call on governments at all levels to engage indigenous consultants to provide services in various aspects of planning and implementation logistics. He urged them to engage professional staff in the departments that offer physical planning services to enhance the quality of service delivery.
In his remarks, the Executive Secretary Federal Capital Development Authority, Engr. Shehu Hadi, noted that the FCT, as the political and administrative centre of Nigeria, holds immense immigration and rapid urbanization in the past years.
Hadi, who was represented by the Director, FCT Urban and Regional Planning Dept, TPL Yahaya Abubakar, said the FCDA was aware of the unique challenges that accompany rapid urbanization and population growth.
According to him, “Balancing the aspirations of a dynamic society while preserving the city’s natural and cultural heritage requires meticulous planning, innovative strategies, and most importantly, collective efforts from all stakeholders involved.
“It is in doing this that the contributions of your members in the various SDAs of the FCTA have been most appreciated.”
He revealed that the FCT Administration has been working tremendously in collaborative planning by operating a roundtable of all-inclusive relevant stakeholders, local communities (indigenes), government agencies, NGOs, professional bodies, and developers, from the early stages of planning so as to that ensure diverse perspectives are considered.
This, he said has led to more achievable realistic development plans by applying the bottom-top approach of involving end users in decision-making.
“The Administration has been holding several public engagement forums for years to get feedback and address concerns since engaged communities are more likely to support and take ownership of the developmental plans. Examples are several meetings on the Resettlement of various displaced indigenes within the FCT (Nyanya, Wasa, Dobi and Shere-Galuwyi) resettlement schemes.”
The theme we have chosen for this year’s event holds immense relevance in our ongoing efforts to create sustainable, well-planned, and resilient urban spaces.
Earlier, the Chairman of the FCT chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, Lami Ayuba, said the theme for this year’s event, “Funding Strategies for Implementation of Physical development Plans” with sub theme, “Synergy amongst Stakeholders for Development Plan implementation in the FCT.”
She said the FCT serves as a focal point for urban development in Nigeria therefore, “the effective implementation of physical development plans is pivotal in ensuring that we build communities that are not only functional but also aesthetically pleasing and conducive to the well-being of our citizens.”