The Chairman of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, the Federal Capital Territory chapter, Mustapha Mubdiyu, has called on the FCT Administration to review the 1976 Masterplan of Abuja.
Mubdiyu disclosed this, Wednesday, during a press conference to unveil activities to commemorate the Town Planners Day slated for November 17.
The FCT chapter of the body also inaugurated the Association of Women Town planners Executive Committee.
Mugdiyu said, “In recent times, the FCT Administration has been seriously concerned about the vast population growth and how it has caused an indiscriminate erection of structures in contradiction to the city master plan. The government has spent so much on demolishing unplanned structures and is also tightening regulations to prevent a disruption of the master plan and control urban migration.
“Hence, we demand a review of the original master plan of the FCT, to make provisions for the basic social and infrastructural amenities, and to encompass current and upcoming realities of a city.
“We hope that this year’s celebration will provide a robust platform for discussions and engagements to chart a path for a sustainable urban governance and strengthen existing structures and systems.”
Also, the National President of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, Olutoyin Ayinde, had also noted that the FCT masterplan was long overdue for a review.
Ayinde asked the Federal Government and the Federal Capital Territory Administration to review the 1976 Masterplan of Abuja.
He said this on Tuesday in Abuja at the Investiture ceremony of the Chairperson Association of Women Town Planners of Nigeria, Bello Oluwayinka, the inauguration of the FCT Executive Committee of the organisation.
He said, “Plans are about visions to make a blueprint of the vision you’re seeing from your current position to a place that you want to be in years. The plan is a shoulder on the implementers saddled with the responsibility of administering budgets and resources to be able to implement those plans. Therefore, it’s not about having a plan but implementation is key.”
He noted that human settlements were living organisms which grew from time to time just like human beings, adding that reviewing such settlements was necessary to contemporary society.
“When the FCT Masterplan was made in 1976, by planning principle, it ought to have been reviewed every five years, to accommodate changing realities, technology and other things. It is important to note that the AWTPN is not to serve as a pressure group that sees its members as endangered species in the comity of urban planners nor should promote the victim mentality in its members.
“You are full-fledged urban planners who should be focused on empowering your members by robbing intellectual minds to become relevant and compete with your peers globally.”
