By Mujib Dada-Qadri, Esq

As a young Nigerian fascinated about traveling nooks and corners of the country, i have been privileged to explore North and South of the country coupled with appreciations of diverse cultures and beauties confirming the country as the largest black nation on earth.

Unfortunately, the country has been trapped in a problem which is bigger than corruption and that is disorderliness. Traversing old Nigerian cities, one will appreciate the vision of past heroes but very slow and poor urban development leading us to greater “slum/shanty civilization” making the urban lifestyle of Nigerians less progressive compared to other developing countries. Pioneering cities such as Lagos, Ibadan, Kano, Sokoto, Abeokuta, Ontisha, Port Harcourt, Calabar, Enugu and Kaduna etc have lost touches of deserving urban modernity coupled with town planning policy making infrastructures less efficient and life less abundant. Kaduna under the leadership of Mallam Nasir Elrufai has reawakened befitting urban planning fairly and Abuja losing it’s grip of organised urban renewal making it so difficult to differentiate between cities and townships. Nigerian Governors have the largest share of blames for these decadence and there is need for Nigeria to commence it’s “model city project” priotizing some cities in the country for urban transformation. The following are the observed town planning decadence in Nigerian cities;

 

  1. Death of portable water supply and rise of borehole drilling.
  2. Absence of functioning traffic lights in major streets.
  3. Poor waste collection services and dirty environment.
  4. Absence of organised and strategic bus stops and garages.
  5. Disorganized and dirty motor parks/ garages.
  6. Prevalence of roadside trading and disorganized market settlements.
  7. Unregulated commercial building erections in city centres.
  8. Indiscriminate shop/trading store settlements in city centres.
  9. Absence of enough city parks, gardens and children playing grounds in cities leading to over-concentration in malls.
  10. Destruction of forest reserves and green zones.
  11. Decline in sport complexes/outdoor arena to engage youths and encourage healthy living
  12. Unregulated abattoir and food vendors
  13. Poor street naming and road signs.
  14. Unregulated erections of worship centers
  15. Neglect of city suburbs leading to unavailability of public schools, public hospitals, police stations, bus stops, road networks and water supply.
  16. Decline in basic public services/ infrastructures and over-concentration on roads/unregulated bridges.
  17. Unregulated pedestrian bridges and insufficient pedestrian bridges.
  18. Death of public housing schemes, unregulated city landscapes and encouragement of noise pollution.
  19. Unregulated estate designs and suburb settlements