NIA urges FG to revoke undeveloped in Abuja

The Nigeria Institute of Architect (NIA) has urged the federal government to either revoke or reallocate undeveloped land in area where infrastructure has been provided in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to others for development. NIA President, Arch. Tonye O. Braide made the call at the weekend in Abuja during the 2016 symposium and exhibition […]

The Nigeria Institute of Architect (NIA) has urged the federal government to either revoke or reallocate undeveloped land in area where infrastructure has been provided in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to others for development.
NIA President, Arch. Tonye O. Braide made the call at the weekend in Abuja during the 2016 symposium and exhibition organized by an architectural firm, Project Consultants Development Associates (PCDA).
He said the development apart from defacing the city and creating haven for criminals, it also hindered full utilization of the infrastructure on ground.
“Government should start doing things to check the environment because new expanding area of the city doesn’t have infrastructure. And you have some areas in the city center with infrastructure that are just lying fallow. So I think that government should start a process of either revoking or reallocating some of those plots to other people so that it would be possible to now develop those areas,” he said.
He noted that there are no empty spaces in major cities across the world unless it is a place designated for green area, lamenting that in the inner part of the Abuja city you still see many empty spaces people are still holding on to.
“It is waste of resource because in the city center we have the infrastructure like good road networks, electricity and water supply yet no development in those plots and you have other people who want to develop but they cannot get plot with infrastructure. I think government should start a process of revoking and reallocation of such plots,’’ he said.
Braide assured that the Architect Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON) is coming up with a mechanism that wouldl help checkmate quackery in the profession.
In his remark, the Chief Executive officer, Project Consults Developer Associates, (PCDA) Muftau Bello, who is the organizer of the symposium called on other architectural firms to embrace the new trend of practice for sustainability, by beginning to see architecture as a business.