Professional urban planners in Nigeria have adopted measures aimed at addressing pressing national issues of security and fraud perpetrated via physical development ventures. This comes in form of an omnibus and multi-use document acceptable to authorities in government and the corporate world.
Tagged “Land Use Planning Report,” the document will be prepared by members of the profession registered by the Town Planners Registration Council of Nigeria (TOPREC). When eventually operational, it will accompany applications for:
- Building plan approval/permits;
- Issuance of certificates of occupancy (C-of-Os);
- Opening of Corporate accounts with banks; and,
- Incorporation/registration of new companies with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
Dr Femi Olomola, President of the Nigerian Institute of Planners (NITP), who made the disclosure on Friday in Lagos during the inauguration of a seven-man committee to produce a model copy of the report, said: “The art, science and profession of town planning principally revolves around ensuring the orderly arrangement and use of land having absolute regard to overriding public interest.”
According to him, the concept of the report is novel and has never been done in any part of the world, and therefore requires creativity on the part of the committee members, which cut across public and private sector planners as well as those in the academia.
The committee comprises: Hakeem Badejo (chairman), Mrs Claudia Akinyemi (secretary), Bisi Adedire, Michael Simire, Toba Oyebanji, Dr Wale Alade and Hakeem Roy-Larinde.
Olomola explained that the envisaged universal professional use of the document calls for a robust and somewhat flexible Terms of Reference (TOR).
His words: “Your TOR is best contextualised in this scenario of our imagination of a plot of land measuring, say, 648 square metres (the usual 60 feet x 120 feet). The plot can either be developed or vacant. Imagine a minimum of 1,000 metres radius (say 55 plots) drawn round the plot thus giving a minimum area of 3,142,000 square metres (314 hectares approximately).
“A thorough Land Use Analysis Survey of this land must be carried out followed with the land use analysis map with all the identified land uses coded in the NITP-approved professional colour code. A 12- to 15-page report on the plot has to be written addressing the following:
- Name of the owner of the plot; information on title to the land; type of existing development or proposed on the plot; building plan approval/permit number if there is an existing development on the plot and a detailed location plan of the site.
- Statement on current government approved or proposed town planning Development Plan covering the area where the plot is located – regional/master/district/local plans as applicable.
- Report on the Land Use Survey/Analysis.
- Professional opinion on the proposed use of the plot in question.”
A brain storming session that followed the inauguration raised questions related to using GPS to locate the plot of land in question, the report’s huge potential as a result of its potentially detailed information, fees to be charged, zoning density, as well as inter-professional competition/resistance.
The daylong event was graced by dignataries such as: the first national vice-president of the NITP, Luka Achi; national secretary, Ogbodo Alex; executive secretary, Barka Madziga; president of TOPREC, Prof. Layi Egunjobi (represented by Daini Adeleke); chairman of the Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria (ATOPCON), Moses Ogunleye (represented by Tayo Awomoso); Nigeria’s first female town planner and past chair of Lagos NITP, Mrs Catherine George; as well as Makinde Ogunleye and Bunmi Adeyeye (both past chair of Lagos NITP).
