33yrs after enactment, Nigeria yet to implement urban planning law

33 years after the enactment of the Urban and Regional Planning Law in 1992, the level of implementation still remains low both at the federal and state levels. Checks by Daily Trust show that the law provides a legal framework for managing land use and development in cities and surrounding areas to create better living […]

33 years after the enactment of the Urban and Regional Planning Law in 1992, the level of implementation still remains low both at the federal and state levels.

Checks by Daily Trust show that the law provides a legal framework for managing land use and development in cities and surrounding areas to create better living environments and prevent conflicts.

Key aspects include establishing planning authorities and commissions, defining different types of development plans, outlining development control processes like zoning, and coordinating federal, state, and local government responsibilities to ensure sustainable and orderly growth.

The law was designed to promote sustainable development and balancing economic growth, social equity, and environmental protection, while also regulating land use and development to prevent haphazard growth and promote orderly urbanization.

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“The Act mandates the preparation of a National Physical Development Plan, which serves as a blueprint for physical development across the country. This plan outlines the spatial distribution of various land uses, including residential, commercial, industrial, and recreational areas.

“In addition to the national plan, the Act requires the preparation of state and local development plans. These plans are tailored to the specific needs and characteristics of individual states and local government areas, ensuring localized planning and development control.

“The Act establishes a framework for development control, which involves regulating and managing physical development to ensure compliance with approved plans. This includes issuing planning permits, monitoring construction activities, and enforcing land use regulations.

“The Act provides for the establishment of planning authorities at the national, state, and local levels. These authorities are responsible for preparing and implementing development plans, issuing planning permits, and enforcing development control measures,” part of the key objectives of the Act has said.

 

Town planners express worry

Speaking recently at a Colloqium, President, Nigeria Institute of Town Planners, TPL. Dr. Ogbonna Chime recalled that the Nigeria Institute of Town Planners (NITP) sequel to its official recognition by Decree No.3 of 1988 made representations to the then Minister of works and Housing around 1990 and called for a review of the extant 1946 law.

“This was with a view to integrate physical development planning at different tiers of government, create appropriate institutional machinery for orderly settlement growth and development and evolve a realistic land use procedures commensurate with the pace of national development.

“The decision was based on our conviction that by mid ‘80s, it was obvious that concerted efforts should be put in place to adopt physical planning as a tool for achieving national development objectives.

“The Ministry considered our submission and subjected the Law to critical assessment after which it submitted a Memo to Government which culminated in the appointment of a multi – professional National Committee in February 1991 by the then Attorney- General of the Federation and Minister of Justice. The Committee, headed by a Judge of the Federal High Court had among others Lawyers’ Architects, Surveyors, academics and Town Planners as members.

“The Federal Government enacted the URP to respond to myriads of challenges associated with Nigeria national development efforts occasioned by increasing population growth, expansion and multiplication of cities, uncontrolled growth and unregulated pattern of settlement, inadequate infrastructure and public utilities and high incidence of insecurity among others.

“The depth of the problem permeated all levels of governance and the impacts have limited Nigeria’s quest for improved economic growth and development. The URP Law underscores the fact that urban and regional Planning matters is on the residual list in the Nigerian Constitution and it guides the State in their landuse planning strategists to ensure cohesion and integration among all tiers of governance in Nigeria,,” he explained

Speaking further, the NITP president lamented that However, “It has been observed that since the enactment of the URP Law, all levels of Government are yet to adopt its major provisions to achieve the desired objectives. There are obligations on each level of Government to adapt provisions of the Law to their operations to create synergy. Yet the problem persists on larger scale,”

He however noted that some states have begun moves to implement the Law

 

What FG is saying

Also speaking, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Architect Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, decried the failure of most states to adopt and implement the Urban and Regional Planning Law (Decree 88 of 1992, Cap. 138 LFN 2004) describing the development as a major setback to Nigeria’s quest for orderly and sustainable urban growth.

The minister expressed concern that only two states, including Katsina, have domesticated the landmark legislation since its enactment in 1992.

“It is regrettable that more than three decades after the promulgation of this progressive law, only two States, including my home State of Katsina, have adopted and operationalised it.

“This has contributed to the uncoordinated growth of our cities, the proliferation of informal settlements, and widening gaps between planning ideals and urban realities,” Dangiwa stated.

However, he lamented that weak institutional capacity, inadequate manpower, poor intergovernmental coordination, and low public awareness have hindered its implementation.

Dangiwa disclosed that as part of its reform agenda, the ministry has completed the review of the National Urban Development Policy, approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), and is finalising the National Physical Planning Standards and the National Policy on Rural Settlements Planning and Development to promote balanced regional development and reduce migration pressures on urban centres.