2021 Town Planners Week: NITP-FCT urges govt to exploit global best practice

The chairman of Nigerian Institution of Town planning (FCT) chapter, Mustapha Mubdiyu, has called the attention of governments at all levels to recognise the need to embrace global best practices of urban and regional planning to achieve sustainable development and national security.
Mubdiyu stated this weekend during the 2021 Town Planners Week organised by the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), FCT chapter. He also stated that Nigeria and other countries around the Lake Chad Basin and the Sahel have experienced increasingly violent attacks in recent years by criminal elements.
He said: “ Many are said to be launched from areas often referred to as ‘ungoverned spaces’ due to the weak presence of formal institutions and systems. Ungoverned spaces are defined as zones beyond the reach of government and thus pose a significant threat to security and stability and are often perceived as fertile grounds and safe havens within which terrorist organisations incubate and thrive, proliferating criminal networks, human trafficking, kidnappings and several other untoward activities. While they have long existed, albeit ignored, they are now the cause of attention by the government due to the security threats they pose to national integration and peace, as AFRICOM reports indicate fivefold increase in these criminal activities in 2019-2020.
“The state of administration and infrastructure of these neglected or ‘ungoverned’ areas have created an enabling environment for terrorism, kidnapping, banditry, cattle rustling and armed robbery. Military action which has been the default response to bring these areas back under state control has proven insufficient, hence the need to review the strategy to understand the social, environmental and economic dimensions of this menace. These security challenges may well be symptoms of a multi-dimensional challenge occasioned by lack of attention to physical development planning”, he stated.
Mubdiyu added that, “The theme of this year’s conference ‘Regional Planning and Development in Nigeria: Ungoverned Spaces and National Security’ is very apt as there is no better time to examine these issues than now. To this end, we have invited astute scholars, professional town planners and seasoned practitioners to deliberate, analyse the theme with a view to proffering sustainable solutions to this malaise.”