As the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP) marks its 60th anniversary, the institute has called for stronger collaboration between government at all levels and town planners to address Nigeria’s persistent urban development challenges.
The institute said there is an urgent need for authorities to work closely with professional town planners if the country is to overcome the growing problems associated with poorly planned urban development. It identified the immediate implementation of the 1992 Nigerian Urban and Regional Planning Law, now an Act of the National Assembly, as one of the most important steps toward achieving this objective.
According to the institute, full implementation of the law would help Nigeria address its current environmental and urban planning difficulties. The legislation provides for the involvement of relevant professionals in managing the country’s physical environment and establishes a framework for coordinated planning and development.
The NITP stressed that the Federal Government, particularly through the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, should take the lead in ensuring that the law is fully implemented across the country. It noted that the legislation was enacted more than three decades ago and that its effective implementation would promote orderly and sustainable development.
The institute explained that the law was designed to provide a proper framework for urban and regional planning and to ensure that development activities are carried out in an organised manner. It argued that allowing the law to remain largely unimplemented has contributed to the planning difficulties experienced in many Nigerian cities.
The NITP also pointed out that the 1992 law repealed previous town planning legislation in the country. Consequently, it argued that continued failure to implement the law has created a serious legal and administrative gap in the nation’s planning system.
While some states have taken steps to domesticate the legislation and are benefiting from its implementation, the institute urged other states to follow their example. The call is particularly important because urban areas across the country continue to expand rapidly, placing pressure on infrastructure, housing, roads, drainage and other public facilities.
The institute maintained that implementing the law would help establish greater order in urban development and contribute to long-term environmental sustainability. Proper planning, it suggested, would also make it easier for authorities to coordinate development and prevent problems that arise when construction takes place without adequate planning.
The NITP expressed concern that Nigeria has continued to operate its urban and regional planning system without the comprehensive framework envisaged by the law. It appealed to the present Federal Government, which it described as committed to environmental friendliness, to address the longstanding neglect and ensure that the necessary legal framework becomes fully operational.
The institute further emphasised that the law provides an avenue for the different professionals required to effectively manage Nigeria’s physical environment to play their respective roles. Effective collaboration between government institutions and town planners, therefore, remains essential to achieving better results.
The NITP said the current urban crisis makes the implementation of the law even more urgent. With Nigerian cities expanding and environmental challenges becoming more pronounced, the institute believes that planning must be treated as a fundamental component of governance rather than an issue to be addressed after development has already occurred.
The call by the NITP is consistent with the broader concern that the 1992 Urban and Regional Planning Law has remained inadequately implemented decades after its introduction. A review of the law’s implementation has also found that only a limited number of states had formally adopted it, while key planning institutions prescribed by the legislation remained absent in most states.