The Nation Newspaper

Category: Building & Properties

  • Lafarge Africa partners COREN, on concrete manual

    Lafarge Africa Plc has become one of the key partners of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) for the research and development of Nigeria’s first Concrete Mix Design Manual. The company is the country’s only cement and concrete manufacturer that contributed to the development of the manual which was launched on Tuesday in Abuja.

    Speaking at the ceremony, the Director of Marketing at Lafarge Africa Plc, Mr. Vipul Agrawal said: “We commend COREN for ensuring that Nigeria now has a credible, well researched Concrete Mix Design Manual to be used for concrete works in buildings and infrastructure projects in the country. We call on all those involved in the manufacturing and use concrete for infrastructure development in Nigeria to use the manual to make quality concrete in building durable structures.”

    On his part, the President of COREN Engr. Kashim Ali said: “I am glad that Nigeria now has its own Concrete Manual based on local environmental conditions and raw materials and does not have to depend on reference manuals of other countries.”  Ali stated that the manual will be constantly upgraded in line with improvements in building technology. The manual, he further noted, is a result of exhaustive research and testing with concrete materials in different parts of the country.

    The Deputy Governor of Bayelsa state, retired Rear Admiral John Jonah said the development was a big plus for engineering practice in Nigeria.

  • FESTAC Phase II: Replicating Dubai’s Jumerai City in Nigeria

    FESTAC Phase II: Replicating Dubai’s Jumerai City in Nigeria

    The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) may soon begin work on FESTAC Town Phase II following the Court of Appeal’s green light.The project, which was concessioned in September 2014, was stalled by litigation.To accommodate them, it has been expanded to include Diaspora and National Mass Housing Projects. If the FHA plans as reeled out by its Managing Director, Prof. Mohammed Al-Amin, are anything to go by, FESTAC Phase II may become Nigeria’s own Dubai’s Jumerai City, MUYIWA LUCAS writes. 

    Over 40 years ago, the Federal Government acquired vast land in  Amuwo  Odofin in Lagos State. On a portion of it sits the FESTAC Phase I Housing Estate.

    After lying fallow for years, the land owners, known in common parlance as Omo Onile, had a field day selling the land to the public.
    Various Structures, planned and unplanned, sprang up in the estate,  turning the former highbrow town to a slum.

    But determined to breathe fresh air into the estate, the Federal Government in September 2014, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a concessionaire, to develop the Phase II of the FESTAC scheme. But, a case filed by the Kuje-Amuwo family against the government, the FHA and others, truncated the plan.

    Having won at the Court of Appeal, the FHA has started the processes that would started the project into reality.

    Its Managing Director, Prof. Mohammed Al-Almin, at the authority’s zonal office in Lagos, shared the government’s plans for the project. He said: “Our dream for FESTAC Phase II is similar to what you see in a Dubai neighbourhood called Jumerai Extension. It is a water-logged area like the FESTAC Phase II but sandfilled by a company called Ema. This is the type of development we intend to bring in FESTAC Phase II.”

     

    The litigation/judgment

    Although Al-Amin sees the judgment as “a watershed in the drive to improve the economy,” he believes there was no need for the litigation in the first place. This, according to him, is because the Federal Government acquired the land over 40 years ago. He blamed the litigation on two factors: the delay in the development of the area; that is, the Phase II, and, the population explosion (estimated to grow at the rate of four per cent yearly) in the country, coupled with rural-urban migration.

    “So, there was a lot of demand for residential accommodation. Now any vacant land, even if it was earmarked for certain purposes, is being hijacked by people through the facilitation of a group of criminals called Omo onile. So, we were taken to court by the natives on the flimsy excuse that  Phase II was not part of the acquisition. We followed the first case at the High Court, which they won. Now we have won the appeal because there was sufficient evidence that showed that perfectly, an acquisition was done;  compensation was paid; and clear demarcation was done by way of survey captured in the books,” he explained.

     

    Compensation/development

    The FHA chief said the authority was not unaware of some cases in which land allottees were prevented from taking possession until they paid money to the Omo oniles. He however assured that anybody so extorted should be assured that the government would ensure the culprits were arrested and made to refund such money.

    He said the FHA has held a meeting with the resident association and informed them of the government’s plans to immediately revive development activities in FESTAC Phase II. “This area in question is over 1, 000 hectares and already, the Federal Government, in September 2014 had concessioned the entire land to certain private developers to do infrastructural development. Most of the land is water-logged, so they need to be reclaimed. There are infrastructures to be put in place and, then the serviced plot will be sold to the public; this project is still ongoing,” he said.

    Al-Amin noted that before the concession of  Phase II land, there had been some allocations made by FHA, which have been integrated into the concession. He said the FHA has held talks with the people affected and whose major complain is that the roads, as contained  in FHA’s masterplan leading to their plots of land have been sub-divided and sold by the omo oniles. This means there is no access road again to their plots. He assured that the FHA plans to open up such roads and to restore the masterplan of FESTAC.

    The FHA, Al-Amin said, has adopted a strategy for FESTAC Phase II in which development would be done simultaneously in the four parts of the land, so that nobody would see it as being idle again.

    Also, the FHA, he said, was considering helping the natives – the Kuje-Amuwo family, so that they could expand their settlement in a way that would make them comfortable. This is hinged on the new thinking within the FHA which is based on not to be obliterating communities wherever acquisition has been done. “Our position is that communities in acquired areas are to be reintegrated into the development so that they can share the good things and improvement in living. What we won’t allow them to do is to sell the land of the Federal Government to people. They will be well- integrated into the new development. Our dream for FESTAC Phase II is similar to what you see in a Dubai neighbourhood called Jumerai Extension. It is a water-logged area like FESTAC Phase II but sandfilled by a company called Ema. Its roads were constructed with facilities, such as water reticulation, and electricity; and plots of land were given to  the public and they were given the designs of buildings that they should erect there. This is the type of development we intend to bring in FESTAC phase II.

    “So, what we are trying to do is to uplift development for all in that area, including the natives and first beneficiaries of FESTAC Phase I. It will be a city with its own facilities. This would be the first city that would have its own electricity grid and water system. FESTAC Town is the first settlement that had central sewage system, which is reticulated into a wastage sewage and being treated. The waste that is being transformed into sludge will be transformed to energy to generate electricity.

    “In our projects we have computed to create over four million jobs. Directly, 870, 000 jobs will be created in the project and the remaining will be indirect jobs. We are using this project to drive the economy, jobs, creating wealth,” he said.

     

    Fate of concessionaire

    With the judgment and redefinition of the development planned for the project, the government, Al-Amin explained, had been  discussing with the concessionaires. This will see them expanding their scope of participation in the project. It was revealed that initially, the plan was to bring in some foreign investors – to bring their capital and their technology to bare on the Phase II project, but with the recession globally, and the non-challant attitude of investors coming into Nigeria, this could be a setback.

    “So, we have finished arrangement with the concessionaires that we are going to do more of FESTAC Phase 11 developments, in which we bring in indigenous companies. Part of the land has been earmarked for National Housing Programme of last year, and part of it is also going for National Housing Programme of 2017,” the FHA boss said.

    He said there were a lot of projects the FHA was trying to bring not only to help the community and the Authority but also to help the concessionaires to get what they wanted.

    “In fairness to the company, when they came to this agreement, it was not the Nigeria of today they met. In Nigeria, there are lots of setbacks, particularly foreign exchange rate. So, an investor wouldn’t want to come into an economy where he wouldn’t know how much the naira would be selling tomorrow. It would be good on the side of the concessionaires to own up to this new idea that we are bringing, so that we quickly start this project immediately,” he added.

     

    Decongesting cities

    He said the concessionaires would also be involved in the National Mass Housing Project (NMHP), an idea conceived by the FHA to decongest major cities. “If you look at places like Lagos, Kano, Enugu, and Kaduna, you would see that at the peripherals of these cities, big slums that are as big as the settlement, are growing. So, we have sold the idea to the Federal Government that we needed to do mass housing in these highly densely populated areas in Nigeria. And the Federal Government has bought into this idea; even there is allocation for this in the 2017 budget to introduce a pilot project in Abuja. So, we are in the process to start mass pilot housing programme in Abuja. And we are going to do it in all the geopolitical zones; taking one very big city to augment their residential accommodation. This will stop the development of shanties,” he explained.

    For the Lagos NMHP scheme, the FHA boss revealed that in conjunction with the FESTAC Phase II concessionaires, part of the FESTAC Phase II land will be used to build the mass housing project for the federal government.

    Also, Al-Amin revealed that the Authority was considering partnering the concessionaires on the FHA Diaspora Housing project (DHP), which has been introduced by the FHA to cater for Nigerians outside the country to own houses. “You trust your elder brother or an uncle, give him money to build a house for you; he will tell you lies about your house making progress, but by the time you come back to Nigeria you would never find it. So, these are big problems that the FHA has to come in to help them,” he said.

    Al-Amin said through the DHP, the country’s economy would benefit from Diasporan remittances, which were estimated at about $35 billion last year alone through the black market.

    “So the country’s economy doesn’t benefit from that. Part of the DHP is to see that the money that is being remitted into the account is channelled through the economy so that it would rebound. And, also, to help them own their houses, so one of the things that we have designed is to discuss with the concessionaires to take part of these land and we build the Lagos Diaspora City within it with all the facilities and the services that are required and this is something that the concessionaires are also aware of,” he explained.

  • Governors urged to partner cooperative societies in housing

    The continued shortage of affordable housing in the country remains a sore point for experts and other stakeholders in the built environment.

    The experts, like the Managing Director, M.I. Okoro and Associates, Mr. Meckson Okoro, have not ceased to wonder why, in a nation of over 180 million people, not up to 20 per cent of them can boast of owning their houses.

    Okoro, while presenting a paper at the housing scheme launch of the Perfection Co-operative Estate Phase 1, Ibeju-Lekki, noted that this is a sharp contrast to what obtains in other countries like Singapore and Cuba, among others, where house ownership is a secondary problem because up to 75 percent of such country’s population can boast of their own homes.

    The Perfection Investors Cooperative Society Limited is an independent membership real estate club in Lagos.

    At the event, which held in Lagos, Okoro blamed the  credit system for the housing challenge.

    “There is absence of mortgage system in Nigeria and the few ones existing have no financial muscle to finance real estate development because of the huge capital requirement of this form of investment. The commercial banks have limited capital to lend for real estate development. Where they have such fund to lend, it will be for a very high interest rate,” he lamented. He added that ignorance is another big problem affecting house ownership.

    “How many people know about cooperative societies as the vehicle to own their houses? Not many really, and even if they knew, ignorance will not allow them to take action. Therefore, the only way forward to owning your houses today since there are not solid mortgage institution to finance real estate is for people to join real estate cooperatives to secure their future to own houses and land. This is where cooperatives like Perfection Real Estate Investors Cooperative Society is of importance,” he said.

    Okoro, an estate surveyor and valuer, advised governors to partner cooperative societies to provide affordable mass housing for their citizens.“The government should work in tandem with cooperative societies because their activities impact the society,” he said, citing corruption, monetisation policy of government and the Land Use Act as some factors affecting real estate development in the nation.

    The guest lecturer/Managing Director Realty Point Limited, Mr. Debo Adejana, said investment in real estate was a gold mine being neglected by Nigerians due to ignorance. He said areas that have developed to become city centres were once remote areas people ran away from.

    He advised that investments into real estate should not be delayed because experience had shown that procrastination took away opportunities for people to either be land or house owners. “Don’t get trapped in the Nigerian real estate dilemma where the trap is not being able to afford what he wants and not wanting what he can afford. Buy land, invest in real estate before you wait, don’t wait to invest in real estate because prices would never go low,” Adejana advised.

    According to him, Ibeju Lekki in Lagos is the fastest growing construction hub in Africa today because people are building massively in the area and it is expected that by 2020 the hub will generate 50,000 jobs.

    Perfection Real Estate Investors Cooperative Society Limited President, Mr. Niyi Adeleye, noted that the economic situation and some policies of the government  depleted purchasing power in real estate.

    He said only about two per cent of Nigerians were investing in real estate, a situation he described as worrisome. “This also means that even when we talk about home ownership for the Nigerian, we are still very far behind,” he said.

    Adeleye said the cooperative society was inaugurated in 2012 to bridge the gap and give more Nigerians the opportunity to join the club to make small contributions towards home and land ownership.

  • Floods: Coalition urges stoppage of dredging, revisit of EIA

    Floods: Coalition urges stoppage of dredging, revisit of EIA

    The Concerned Citizens of Lekki Peninsula, Ikoyi and Victoria Island – a coalition of estates in the Lekki-Epe axis – have called on the Lagos State government to ensure the immediate removal of all obstructions to the natural watercourse in the area and uphold the sanctity of the Lekki Regional Masterplan.

    The request is coming in the wake of the recent flooding that affected most parts of Lagos Island.

    The coalition blamed the flooding on what it called “the indiscriminate sandfilling of natural water courses, oceans and lagoons in the area and the inability of the government to implement the Lekki drainage regional master plan.”

    Addressing reporters on Victoria Island, the chairman of the coalition, Mr. Olusegun Ladega, identified factors responsible for the flooding to be three folds. Firstly, he blamed the distortion in the Lekki drainage regional masterplan caused by the indiscriminate sand filling of natural waterways, and the illegal construction of structures on drainages and canals that obstruct the flow of water so flood water has nowhere to go.

    Secondly, Ladega noted that the inability of the critical ministries in the state – Environment, Waterfront, Land and Physical Planning – to work in synergy has resulted in infringement and breach of environmental laws by the ministries, leading to a poor and weak enforcement of the laws, building regulations and town planning guidelines.  He listed the third cause of the flood as the sand- filling of lagoons and oceans causing coastal erosion and forcing water back to land, and the inability of estate developers to produce Environmental Impact Analysis reports.

    Ladega urged the Lagos State government to resolve these issues, saying that the flooding was not principally the effect of indiscriminate dumping of refuse and climate change, which government blamed.

    Therefore, the coalition further said, having identified these reasons as the remote causes of the flooding, there was a need to change the narrative from the narrow political one being peddled by the government of residents clogging canals with refuse and climate change.

    The coalition  argued that as the area that pays the highest amount on its properties to the government, it deserves to be given a certain level of consideration especially as concerns infrastructure.

    They called on government to, as a matter of urgency, put in place measure that will abate the menace caused by flooding in the area. One of these demands is the immediate stoppage of all sand filling activities across the state until the Environmental Impact Assessments reports are made available and subjected to independent scientific review. Besides, they urged the state government to enforce the original drainage master plan, and all distortions on the drainage master plan be reversed; all construction hindering flow of water be removed immediately and there should be a restoration of all developments to comply with the Lagos State environmental laws.

    Ladejo noted that the flooding of the July 8  and 22, has exposed the lack of a response plan/structure to deal with an emergency of this scale. Therefore, the body says an emergency plan should be put in place that will address the persistent flooding and attend to residents affected by the menace.

    Other measures the coalition suggested include adequate measures  to inform the public of the emergency plan that will inform the public of the dangers; a plan for the rescue of anyone affected, relocation of those whose properties are affected in case of another flood. Also, the government should put in place a mechanism for the maintenance of drainage structures, and maximise capacity of drainages as both reservoirs and transport medium for waste waters.

    “This is common sense, but it is not done. Drainages are filled up with silt up to about 75 per cent of their capacity. There is the need to repair and reconstruct existing drainages because most of them have lost their capacity due to structural damages,” Ladega said.             The coalition also charged the state government to continue with the use of filter strips in form of permeable paving (main roads and development driveways), which needs to be reinforced as concrete roads are not desirable in these areas. He said there is a need to limit flow of waste water into public drains by improving on waste water management systems in large estates; improved septic tank design/construction in private residence. Ladega explained that there is the need to also maximise river course capacity. For instance, he revealed that the Lagos Lagoon has not been dredged in ages, hence, the need for a deliberate sweep of the river bed to improve water flow and retention.

    “Furthermore, the Lagos State Government needs to develop deliberate policy to protect the Peninsula to influence development and construct mechanical flood defences. This will range from ordinary levees with sand bags to concrete/shell shore protection and embankment,” he explained.

    Importantly, the coalition called on government to construct artificial ponds or lakes to act as additional reservoir / retention for floodwater and caissons. It added that there is also a need to construct elevated road with gentle slope embankment, as this will preserve the integrity of road for the purpose of evacuation during flooding emergency and at the same time increase capacity of drains.

    The coalition also tasked government to appoint a watch dog committee from the private sector and civil society that will monitor, and ensure the environmental laws are properly carried out all through the year.

  • Lagos, NGO collaborate on WASH policy

    The Lagos State Government has taken steps to evolve a policy to drive the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector. This came to the fore at the weekend in Ikeja, at a retreat organised by the state government in conjunction with the Save the Children International (SCI) on the review of the draft WASH policy.

    At the event, the Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare. said clean water, basic toilets and good hygiene practices were essential for the survival and development of children, while being very critical to human health, survival and development. He added that many countries and cities were challenged in providing adequate sanitation for their entire populations, leaving people at risk of WASH-related diseases.

    “According to World Health Organisation (WHO), there are around 2.4 billion people who lacked basic sanitation (more than 35 per cent of the world’s population), and 663 million who do not have access to clean water sources,” he said.

    Adejare noted that access to safe water and sanitation could turn problems to potential by unlocking education and work opportunities, and bring about improved health for women, children and families across the world.

    He stated that the  Lagos State government was determined to achieve the aims of the UNICEF Sustainable Development Goals to “ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”.

    He said: “It is in furtherance of the foregoing, that we are all gathered here  to critically look at the newly enacted Environmental Management and Protection Law 2017 and the draft policy on Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) with a view to developing an implementation framework.”

    The SCI Area Operations Manager for Lagos and Cross River, Roy Chikwem, stated that the NGO, through the Stop Diarrhoea Initiaitve (SDI), considered the approval and full implementation of the Lagos WASH policy as the bedrock of preventing childhood diarrhoea and other water-borne diseases among under-five children in in the state.

    “We believe the retreat will resolve the overlapping functions between the MDAs, integrate the PENWASH mandate of the WASH policy and fully integrate the New Environmental Protection Law recently signed by the government,” Chikwem told The Nation.

    The policy is expected to guide government activities in relation to water and sanitation, identify the relevant WASH Agencies and streamline their roles.

  • Greener Lagos: Ambode hails PPP, solicits more support

    Greener Lagos: Ambode hails PPP, solicits more support

    The Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, has attributed the success recorded in the greener Lagos initiative to the active involvement of the private sector. He is delighted at the number of sites already developed and maintained by private companies and individuals across various locations in the state.

    Ambode, who spoke during the second Stakeholders Forum on Greening at Alausa, Ikeja, recalled that the Public-Private Partnership, which started about 15 years ago, has reduced the expenditure of the government on the greener Lagos initiative.

    He noted that about 120 sites have so far been developed and maintained through private sector participation out of the over 350 sites in all the local governments and local council development areas in the state. He was represented at the forum by the Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare.

    According to the governor, the Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency (LASPARK) is presently opening up more areas and sites in all the 57 LGAs and LCDAs in the state for adoption by interested corporate bodies or individuals for the continuation of the Lagos Greening Initiative.

    Ambode said the belief of his administration is that in the foreseeable future, the maintenance of all the gardens and parks across the state would have been taken up by “the Green Investors” and the state government will only regulate and monitor their activities.

    He maintained that although the cost of establishing world class recreational parks and gardens with state-of-the-art features and facilities are quite enormous, his administration will not rest on its oars in investing in the sustainability of the environment.

    While highlighting some giant strides of the state government in the greening initiative, Ambode said: “the ongoing upgrading of Alausa Park in front of Lagos State House of Assembly to a world- class standard with the provision of improved infrastructure and garden lights will serve as a major source of attraction to the citizenry.

    “Also in the last two years, we have commenced the landscaping and beautification of seven setbacks along Alfred Rewane Road, Ikoyi, the Gbagada-Oshodi median and the LASUTH perimeter fence setback, Oba Akinjobi Way, Ikeja.  All these had attained over 60 per cent completion status among several others,” the governor stated.

    He used the occasion to make a renewed call to private investors for their continuous support towards upgrading the beautification of more sites and be part of the story of a transformed Lagos, stressing that such collaboration would further increase Return-On-Investment for business owners and also boost their business reputation.

    The governor added: “Our approach to infrastructural development in this state is all inclusive. As we build bridges, we beautify the environment; as we construct more roads we adorn them with trees; as we open up new towns, we landscape all the degraded areas; this is our attitude to moving Lagos towards becoming a sure destination of choice for tourism and investment.’’

    Earlier, Adejare, represented at the event by the Special Adviser to Ambode on the Environment, Mr. Babatunde Hunpe,  said that the forum will go a long way in improving the working relationship between the state government and Private Sector “Partners”, especially on how to support government and plan expansion of the greening culture.

    “Convergence such as this is intended to create an avenue to review together all contending issues in all the policies relating to the environment with a view to making suggestions for improvement. Also, we can jointly facilitate shared inquiry into how to encourage adoption of green infrastructure through technology advancement at the state level” Adejare stated.

    He appreciated the continued partnership of investors with the ministry, saying that their support over the years has earned the state several awards locally and internationally.

    He informed the participants at the forum that awards would be presented to some committed partners who have been exemplary in supporting the state government since inception of the greening programme.

    The highlight of the events was the unveiling of the draft copy of Lagos Greening Policy and presentation of Green Ambassador Award to Zenith bank, GTBank, Ecobank, UBA, Fidelity Bank and SevenUp Bottling PLC for their sustained effort towards a cleaner and greener Lagos.

  • Securing the future through sustainable city

    Securing the future through sustainable city

    Burgeoning population comes with the challenge of planning and infrastructural development. The United Nations projects that Nigeria’s population, come 2050, will hit 400 million, overtaking that of the United States, and becoming the world’s third largest. When this happens, Lagos State’s population will also grow exponentially by way of rural-urban migration, leading to greater demand for infrastructure. What kind of city will be needed when this happens? MUYIWA LUCAS asks.

    It was a gathering that drew the heavyweights in urban planning and development, the academia, including UN representative. This is not unexpected given that the issue at stake – housing and city development – ranks highly in economic development.

    Last week, the one-day symposium organised by the Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development (MPP&UD), in collaboration with the UN Habitat III, held in Lagos. The event provided a platform for policy makers, actors and stakeholders to exchange ideas in a bid to promote sustainable city, through the implementation of the New Urban Agenda.

    At the symposium, with the theme: “Urban Thinkers’ Campus, The City We Need,” the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tunji Bello, outlined the economic, social and strategic analyses of Lagos by way of its commitment to the wellbeing of the residents, as well as reforms in various sectors.

    The Lagos State Commissioner for the MPP&UD, Mr. Abiola Anifowoshe, said that given the pull factors to cities like Lagos, the Urban Thinkers’ Campus’ objectives couls be delivered by an integrated transportation system and a sustainable masterplan, among others.

    The Executive Director, Urban Thinkers Campus Programme in Nigeria and Convener of the symposium, Dr. Limota Goroso Giwa, said Lagos is one of the 74 cities selected to be monitored over the next five years to see if they meet the criteria for the “City We Need.”

    She noted that if the state is to compete favourably with other cities globally, the following issues – infrastructure, human capital development, protection of rights, inclusiveness, mobility, slum and gender issues must be tackled frontally.

    According to her, there is also the need for the integration of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in policies and processes of Lagos State, through priority, partnership, roles setting, action setting, and roadmap for World Urban Forum in Malaysia next year.

    Also, the Special Adviser to  Governor on Urban Development, Mrs. Yetunde Onabule, observed that there must be creative and collaborative efforts in developing peculiar and adaptive policy actions for the state. To achieve this, she suggested that there is a need for continuous interactions with all stakeholders. Urban development, she further said, should be guided by set of principles that are formulated by all, while the policy of whistle blowing should be embraced.

    Over the years, particularly since 1999, he noted, in appreciation of the need to key into the New Urban Agenda, the Lagos State Government, he explained, has carried out a number of reforms and policy changes. Some of this Bello noted to include: the reduction of home owner equity from 30 per cent to five per cent in the Lagos Home Owners’ Mortgage Scheme (Lagos HOMS); massive urban regeneration programmes as exemplified in the Isale Igangan urban renewal scheme; payment of compensation and provision of temporary accommodation to the affected while regeneration plan is on-going; huge investment in Master plan and Model city Plan to ensure orderly development; removal of traffic bottlenecks in strategic corridors in Lagos; strategic intervention in mass transport in the state like the BRT scheme; waste management and governance that have transformed the city and set it on the path of sustainability; resource mobilisation on urban development projects by the state government more than any other states in Nigeria, among others.

    A communique at the end of the symposium was issued. The communique, split into three, made recommendations to the state government, the UN and stakeholders.

    Rapporteurs at the symposium, which included Dr. Femi Olajide of the University of Lagos, Akoka, a United Nations delegate, Mr. Sulaiman Kareem, Miss Dunni Oke, of the MPP&UD, and other stakeholders

    To the state, it was advised to embrace urbanisation as a continuous process; revisit the Professor Mabogunje Presidential Committee on Lagos Megacity Region Development; that New Cities should be compact; New Urban Agenda should be translated into local languages; the use of local and traditional mediums to disseminate relevant information; leverage on the power of media for citizens to internalise the provisions of the new urban agenda; interstate collaboration in the preparation and implementation of regional plans; Lagos Urban Thinkers crusade to be taken to the school level; standardisation should be upheld in building the city we need; the city must be planned with buildings that are safe for habitation; government must examine each of the SDG and benchmark it; and a committee is to be set up in every department, ministry and from the academia to proclaim its ideals

    The United Nations was charged to encourage continuous engagement of the city managers for monitoring and reviews; to update the city on activities of the UN that is in tandem with the agenda of Urban Thinkers Campus; facilitate the participation of government functionaries to attend future off shore Programmes of the UN, and to develop strategies to strengthen links between international cooperation programmes and local capacity building.

    To stakeholders, the submission of the communique was that the “City we need’ is everyone’s business, therefore citizens should actively engage the policy actors to arrive at inclusive development. It also recommended that the voices of the citizens should be given considerations in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda, while the citizens should embrace the state government policy of whistle blowing on illegal development faithfully.

    Six technical sessions were held at the symposium.

  • ‘No discrimination on noise pollution enforcement’

    Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) will  not discriminate in the implemention of the  laws on noise eradication.

    Its General Manager, Adebola habi, made this known to reporters in his office.

    According to Shabi, the essence of government is to serve the people and the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode-led administration is determined to bequeathe a healthy environment to the people. He added that the government desired a clean sustainable environment for all.

    He said LASEPA was empowered to rid the state of any form of pollution, saying: “The agency as the environment regulator has been monitoring the state environment without fear or favour. The agency has been enforcing environmental regulation around the state based on petitions received from the public and there are procedures which the agency adopts in carrying out its operation”.

    He further said: “Upon receiving of any petition, the agency sends out its inspection team to ascertain the true state of things.”

    On identifying any environmental infraction, the agency summons the parties involved to a mediation meeting, where memoranda of understanding were usually written for abatement of the environmental nuisance by the concerned parties.

    ‘’It is after such agreements were seen to be violated by any party that the agency enforces compliance, by shutting down the defaulter,” he said.

    Shabi emphasised that the agency was not biased in its operations and that at no time had the administration  directed the agency to go after any particular religion or faith.

    ‘’As the governor is a governor for all Lagosians and this is evident in his developmental projects which are being spread across the state, for the benefit of people in all walks of life, irrespective of tribe, religion or class,’’ he added.

    He maintained that the number of churches, mosques, companies and organisations being shut by LASEPA for environmental offences were all based on petition received from the public regardless of the faith or belief such petition fall into.

    Shabi enjoined all Lagosians to co-operate with the agency and the government to ensure that they do not in any way contribute to this menace of noise and air pollution as the agency will not hesitate to go after offenders whenever petitions are raised by the public.

  • Ogun steps up measures against flooding

    In the wake of the predictions by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and Nigerian Hydrological Service Agency (NIHSA), which listed Ogun among the states to experience above-normal rainfall this year, the state government has put in place measures to stem flooding.

    The state Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) Director, Mr. Sakirulah Adebakin, in a statement signed by the Head of the Media, Ministry of Environment, Mr. Goke Gbadamosi, said the government had embarked on sensitisation programmes on the need to refrain from environmentally-unfriendly dispositions, such as dumping of refuse in drainages, and building of houses on waterways.

    Adebakin said his agency was collaborating with the 20 local government areas and 37 council development areas to identify flood- prone areas  and sensitise residents on flood prevention.

    He said SEMA had scaled up sensitisation through jingles on radio and television, saying the government was also working with the Ministry of Community Development and Cooperatives to reach out to the people through Community Development Committees (CDCs) and Community Development Associations (CDAs) across the state.

    “We are very proactive in dealing with the issue of flooding. Natural disasters like flood usually do not give notice before they happen. But it can be prevented. We have shifted our attention from mere provision of relief to prevention. That is why we have embarked on massive public enlightenment as well as sensitisation to inform the citizens on ways to prevent flood,” he said.

    Adebakin urged people living along river banks and flood-prone areas to relocate to safer grounds, adding that it is better to avoid flooding than seeking succour after it occurs.

    He advised residents to keep government abreast of situations, particularly flood-related cases for prompt and adequate intervention, as government remains committed to the safety of lives and property of its citizens.

  • ‘CBN’s forex policy killing construction’

    •Surveyors canvass use of local materials

    Except urgent measures are taken to encourage the use of local building materials, the construction industry will remain in doldrums, stakeholders have said.

    They spoke at the ninth Annual Distinguished Lecture of the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS), Lagos Chapter.

    At the lecture themed: “Foreign exchange problems, prospects and solutions in Nigeria: Construction industry perspective,” participants called for the use of local building materials.

    The guest lecturer, Henry Boyo, in his presentation, titled: “For the successful resolution of oppressive contradictions in Nigeria’s economy”, said: “It is appalling that the country has become so poor, despite her abundant human and material resources.”

    He said the distress in the economy, based on available evidence, is  a function of “too much money supply,” of the naira, and foreign currencies.

    Boyo said the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) failure to manage an “irrepressibly” surplus naira supply has continued to stimulate a higher inflation rate for several years. This, he explained, has serious consequences on the purchasing power of the persons whose incomes are in naira.

    He emphasised that the naira and the economy would remain stagnant as long as the CBN persistently auctions the dollar against the naira in a market that is suffocated by excess naira supply, created by the apex bank’s unilateral substitution of naira allocations for distributable dollar-denominated revenue.

    “Thus, CBN’s forex interventions are, in fact, deliberate and a suicidal approach to gradually kill the naira, since the CBN would consciously sell its dollar stock for higher naira bids in such auctions. In this situation, the banks flourish, while the rest of the economy wrestles with deepening poverty,” Boyo said.

    The Lagos NIQS Chairman, Mr. Bamidele Mafimidiwo, agrees with Boyo on the effect of foreign exchange (forex) on the industry.

    He explained that the lingering forex problems had caused a huge disruption to businesses in the sector, a situation that has been compounded by the recession. This has grounded new construction projects, leaving builders and suppliers in difficult financial positions, he added.

    To transform the economy and boost industrial activity, Mafimidiwo said there was the need to restructure the monetary framework.

    “Construction, housing, infrastructure, manufacturing, mortgage and other business activities of tangible output represent the construction industry and today’s forum is to provide a platform to x-ray the industry vis-a-vis the meltdown effects and chart a way forward for the sector,” he said.

    Yet, other stakeholders are convinced that the use of local materials for construction projects is the easiest way out of the scathing effect of forex on the sector. This position was shared by a former President of NIQS, Mr. Oluwasegun Ajanlekoko. He said with the use of local materials, importation would be reduced to the barest minimum.

    “It is about time we stopped using blocks when it comes to affordable housing.  We have large reservoir of clay and that is far cheaper, durable and more environment friendly. To solve the problems of exchange rate, we are appealing to CBN to give discretionary interest rates to those in the construction industry,’’ he said.

    Similarly, Executive Director, UACN Property Development Company Plc (UPDC), Yemi Ejidiran, said the forex challenge affected Grade A and B residential projects. “The government should encourage production of most of our finishing materials locally.  We also need to come up with efficient designs, as it is clear that banks are not ready to finance any real estate project,” he said.