The Oyo State government has been urged to implement the long proposed Ibadan city master plan under the Ibadan urban flood management plan.
A former director at the Nigeria Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), Prof Femi Olokesusi, made the call at a May Day lecture entitled: “Crisis of Urbanisaton: A case study of Ibadan”.
The lecture was organised by Silver Knights, Ibadan, held at International Conference Centre, Lead City University, Ibadan.
According to him, rapid unplanned urbanisation of Ibadan can be attributed to rising population, weak economic base, poverty, poor urban governance, lack of a master plan, inadequate resources, among others.
“Poor urban governance is one of the obstacles to the prosperity of Ibadan city because enforcement of some policies are not been implemented.
“Local governments in Ibadan are administered independently of each other without a coordinated body to ensure result either at the level of the metropolitan area or at the smaller level for Ibadan urban.”
The Club Chief of Silver Knights, Adegboyega Akin-Deko, said the template of regularisation of urbanisation as regards planning and enforcement fall squarely in the purview of the state government.
Governor Abiola Ajimobi, who was represented by the Head of Service, Soji Eniade, said the issue of urbanisation is a pressing governance challenge.