By Ojugbele Omotunde
Town planners have been urged to lessen the impact of climate change on the populace. This charge was made by President Bola Tinubu and Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori.
At the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners’ 54th National Conference and Annual General Meeting in Asaba on Tuesday, they each gave a separate speech and urged the organizations to guarantee efficient town and city planning.
“I am convinced that effective town planning remains an important tool in our effort as a government to contain and mitigate the challenges of climate change,” Tinubu declared, speaking through Architect Ahmed Dangiwa, the Minister of Housing and Urban Renewal.
The rising temperatures, shifting table water patterns, and an increase in the frequency of catastrophic floods worldwide have turned climate change from a theoretical threat to a stark reality that faces us every year and every day, according to the president.
In his speech, which Deputy Governor Monday Onyeme read aloud, Governor Oborevwori encouraged regulatory agencies and town planning officials to “ensure strict compliance with town planning and urban development laws to avoid the unpleasant task of demolishing buildings on waterways and drainage channels.”
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He emphasized how important it is to prevent circumstances when governments are compelled to destroy structures that are situated near streams and drainage systems, with all the detrimental effects that this move would have on the local economy.
Making our built environment more climate-resistant is one way that our government is directly addressing its obligations to Deltans, he stated.
Prior to the conference, which was hosted at the Asaba Event Centre, Mr. Nathaniel Atebije, National President of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), stated that it will offer a forum for discussing flood resilience, climate change challenges, and strategies to offer mitigating measures.
He emphasized that Delta would gain from the scheme because it is a coastal state.
In order to properly involve professional town planners in the Ministry of Urban Renewal in the execution of the state’s master plan for towns and cities, Atebije commanded the state government.
Atebije questioned why the Federal Government was holding up the establishment of the Town Planner-General’s office, stating that “people don’t value town planners, so using them is not enough.”
Even though they are insufficient, they are not fully utilized. Town planners to population was formerly one to 3,000; now, it is one to 200,000.
