Reported by Ariajegbe Sylvia Esezobor
A former Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development in Lagos State, Tpl. Olutoyin Ayinde, has called on town planners across the country to embrace interdisciplinary collaboration in tackling Nigeria’s mounting urban challenges, warning that no single profession possesses the full range of expertise required to build cities that are functional, inclusive and resilient.
Ayinde made the call on Thursday at a professional gathering of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners in Lagos, where he delivered a keynote address on the future of urban planning in Nigeria. He said the challenges confronting Nigerian cities, including uncontrolled urban sprawl, inadequate infrastructure, flooding, transport congestion and the proliferation of informal settlements, were too complex to be resolved through the isolated efforts of any one professional body. “The era of working in silos is over. The problems we face in our cities do not respect professional boundaries, and neither should our solutions,” he said. “Town planners must sit at the same table with architects, engineers, surveyors, environmental scientists, economists and sociologists if we are to deliver the kind of cities our people deserve.”
Ayinde said collaboration should not be limited to professional bodies but should extend to government institutions, the private sector, civil society organisations and, most importantly, the communities that are directly affected by planning decisions. He argued that public participation had too often been treated as a procedural formality rather than a genuine exercise in co-creation, and that this had contributed to public resistance to planning interventions and the frequent abandonment of well-intentioned projects. “Planning is ultimately about people. When people are excluded from the process, they will resist the outcome,” he said. “We must move from planning for communities to planning with communities.”
The former commissioner identified capacity building as a critical priority for the profession, noting that the rapid pace of urbanisation in Nigeria had outpaced the ability of planning institutions to respond effectively. He said town planners required continuous training in emerging areas including geographic information systems, digital mapping, climate resilience, smart city technologies and data-driven decision-making. He also called for stronger mentorship structures to prepare younger professionals for the leadership roles they would inevitably assume. “The future of our cities will be shaped by the planners we train today. If we do not invest in them, we will not have the workforce required to deliver the Nigeria we want,” he said.
Ayinde emphasised the need for planners to engage more actively in policy advocacy, arguing that planning expertise was frequently marginalised in the corridors of power where critical decisions about land use, infrastructure investment and urban development are made. He said planners must become more visible in public discourse, more assertive in presenting evidence-based alternatives to prevailing policies and more willing to challenge decisions that prioritised short-term political considerations over long-term public interest. “If we are not at the table, we will be on the menu,” he said. “Planners must be present wherever decisions are being taken about how our land is used, how our cities grow and how our resources are allocated.”
He also addressed the relationship between physical planning and the rule of law, noting that disregard for planning regulations had contributed significantly to environmental degradation, the collapse of buildings, the obstruction of natural drainage systems and the recurrent flooding that affects many Nigerian cities. He said enforcement remained one of the weakest links in Nigeria’s planning system and called for stronger institutional frameworks, adequate funding for enforcement agencies and stiffer penalties for violators. “A plan that cannot be enforced is merely a document. It is enforcement that transforms planning into reality,” he said.
Ayinde traced his own career in planning and public administration, recalling the challenges he encountered during his tenure as commissioner and the lessons he drew from managing the complex and often conflicting demands of urban development in one of Africa’s fastest-growing cities. He said Lagos had demonstrated that with political will, technical capacity and sustained investment, significant improvements in urban infrastructure and planning outcomes were possible, but he acknowledged that the state still faced substantial challenges, particularly in the areas of affordable housing, transportation and climate resilience.
He commended the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners for its role in promoting professional standards and urged the institute to deepen its engagement with the various tiers of government, particularly at the state and local government levels where most urban planning decisions are implemented. He said local government authorities required technical assistance and capacity support to develop and administer their own planning frameworks, noting that the Supreme Court’s affirmation of local government financial autonomy had created an opportunity for councils to invest more meaningfully in planning and urban management.
The event drew town planners from across the country, including representatives of the institute’s state chapters, academia and the private sector. Participants engaged in panel discussions on urban governance, climate-resilient planning, land administration and the role of technology in modern planning practice. A communiqué issued at the end of the gathering was expected to outline recommendations for government, professional bodies and development partners on strengthening urban planning in Nigeria.
The call for collaboration comes amid growing national attention to urban development challenges, with the 2027 general elections less than four months away and candidates across the political spectrum advancing proposals on infrastructure, housing and urban renewal. The Federal Government has prioritised infrastructure investment under the Renewed Hope Agenda, with major road, rail and housing projects underway across the country. Town planners have argued that these investments must be anchored in robust planning frameworks to ensure that they deliver maximum public benefit and do not create new problems in the form of congestion, environmental damage or social disruption.
For Ayinde, the message to his colleagues was one of both urgency and opportunity. He said Nigeria’s cities were at a critical juncture, with rapid population growth, climate change and technological disruption creating both immense challenges and unprecedented opportunities. Whether the country seizes those opportunities, he argued, will depend largely on whether planners are willing to work with others rather than alone. “We have the knowledge, we have the skills and we have the mandate. What we need now is the humility to collaborate and the courage to lead,” he said. The coming years will test whether that message finds traction within a profession whose influence has often been constrained by politics, institutional weakness and public indifference. Ayinde’s plea suggests he believes the alternative is too costly to contemplate.
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