Ogun commissioner seeks collaboration for urban development

Collaboration and cooperation among ministries, departments, and agencies have been identified as essential to enhancing effective and efficient physical planning and urban development in Ogun State.

The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Olatunji Odunlami, disclosed this at the 2024 Annual General Meeting of the Ogun State Chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners in Abeokuta recently.

Speaking on the theme, “Cross-Sector Collaboration in the Production and Implementation of Development Plans: Imperative of Synergy Among MDAs”, Odunlami emphasised the need for collaboration between MDAs in the delivery of ecological societal development plans.

Such collaboration, he said, comes with attendant benefits like the cross-fertilisation of ideas, improved bonding as well as synergised effort to achieve shared objectives.

Odunlami added that such cooperation would reduce incidences of land grabbing, erosion, improper citing of drainages, building on acquisitions, and not obtaining building permits and authorizations, among others.

“The culture of working on silos has greatly affected the growth and development of land administration in the state, but presently, Gov. Dapo Abiodun-led administration has made it compulsory that all land-related MDAs should collaborate, while even non-land related ones like education, health, and others are captured in the laws and regulations to ensure that government itself obeys its laws,” Odunlami said.

The National President of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, Nathaniel Atebije, said members should follow the trend of exponential change in innovation and technology and adopt a new strategy that can bridge the gap for the free flow of ideas among relevant MDAs.

Atebije said, “As planners, we know that ideas are activated through strategy, and at the National level, we shall soon launch our Ten-year Strategic Development Plan.”

Speaking with journalists, the Commissioner for Housing, Jagunmolu Jamiu Omoniyi disclosed that all government ministries, agencies, and departments have been working in synergy to ensure development across the state.

He stressed that the current administration is facing the challenge of implementing the developmental plan of the state because it was not followed by the other administration, but Governor Abiodun’s administration has been working to correct this.

“Some build a whole estate without any form of communication with any regulatory body, creating problems in the building and planning sector.”

In his remarks, the NITP Chairman, Ogun State Chapter, Adefela Sogbesan, said to prevent haphazard development and promote sustainable growth in the state, people should always consult experts in the built industry before putting up a structure, adding that lack of proper planning undermines the state’s development, leading to potential environmental planning hazards.

He said, “I want to advise residents to consult professionals. In this part of the world, we don’t consult professionals. For example, you want to buy land to build a school. Some buy the land where that scheme is meant for residential, and after doing all the necessary things, realise that they are building at the wrong place because you didn’t consult professionals.”

“We choose this topic to bring some of the departments and agencies, especially those that have direct access to the built industry, with the hope that we will be able to relate together and see how we can move the industry forward.”