To prevent haphazard development and encourage sustainable growth in Ogun State, residents have been warned against embarking on building projects without necessary planning and consultation.
This warning was made on Thursday at the 2024 Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), Ogun State Chapter, held in Abeokuta.
The NITP Chairman, Adefelola Sogbesan, expressed concern that many structures are built in the wrong locations, citing instances where individuals unknowingly build schools and factories in areas designated as residential.
Speaking on the AGM’s theme, “Cross-Sector Collaboration in the Production and Implementation of Development Plans: The Imperative of Synergy Among MDAs,” Sogbesan emphasized the importance of effective cooperation between Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to guarantee thorough physical development.
He said, “I want to advise residents to consult professionals. In this part of the world, we are not consulting professionals. For example, you want to buy land to build a school, and then you buy land where the scheme is meant for residential. After doing all the necessary things, you now realize that you are building in the wrong place because you didn’t consult professionals.”
On his part, the Commissioner for Housing, Jamiu Omoniyi, stated that all relevant government ministries, agencies, and departments are working together to produce master plans that consider all the economic, structural, and environmental factors needed to formulate good housing policies for the state.
Similarly, Olatunji Odunlami, Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, maintained that structures lacking proper planning would jeopardize the state’s progress. He pledged that his ministry would keep collaborating with other ministries and agencies to implement the state’s developmental plan.
Meanwhile, the Special Adviser/Director General of the Bureau of Lands and Survey, Segun Fowora, called for increased enforcement and stricter actions against defaulters, noting that many of them take advantage of connections with people in high places.
Fowora said, “I think the synergy is not an issue because the different arms are headed by professionals who know and understand the whole essence of everything.
“If you have people who believe they are above the law, you will see that people don’t follow building codes sometimes, they don’t follow setbacks, and they do it with impunity. I’m sure you’ve all seen it, and for whatever reason, they feel they know somebody and there is pressure to regularize or penalize them.
“Maybe it needs to be more punitive. Enforcement needs to be stronger because they believe that the worst-case scenario is they’ll be fined, and they’ll pay. So I feel most of it is about mitigating the enforcement and sticking rigidly to the development guide. When we do that, everything will work out seamlessly,” he concluded.