Akinwunmi Ambode, Lagos State Governor |
The State
Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, the other day, disclosed
plans to review the Ikeja Model City Plan, which became operational in 2010, as
part of efforts to create a better environment, with adequate infrastructure
that meets the standard of the city. The review is expected to help to
ascertain the level of compliance with the provisions of the plan and improve
on the gains already recorded.
The exercise
will involve the evaluation of the level of performance in the area of
infrastructural provision, conflict of land uses, transportation, sanitation,
security, housing population, recreation and tourism, among others. The
government then appealed to traditional heads, community leaders, residents,
traders, corporate organisations and civil societies in and around Ikeja, to
cooperate with the government officials and other personnel that would be
involved in the review exercise.
Technically,
after five years of implementation, it is necessary to review the plan to
evaluate whether the objectives are being met. A holistic approach is, however,
hereby advocated for the intended upgrade of Lagos. Adopting a segmented
approach, as the Ikeja Model City Plan portends, raises some questions. Lagos
is known to have a Master Plan, or at least, there should be a regional Master
Plan of Lagos State that not only addresses the infrastructural inadequacies of
the metropolis but also extends development to the outskirts as a way of
decongesting the city centre. No doubt, the last couple of years have witnessed
deliberate policy thrusts aimed at improving the functionality of Lagos. Roads
have been expanded, markets demolished while street trading that blighted Lagos
has drastically reduced.
But a lot
still needs to be done. The endemic traffic gridlock shows the fundamental
defects inherent in the city’s transportation system. Dilapidated inner city
roads in particular, lack of effective mass transit system in form of rail and
water transportation, and other deficiencies, have contributed to making
movement in Lagos a nightmare. There should be order in the approval of
development of residential houses and businesses just as there are too many
commercial points. A situation where petrol stations are located in the middle
of residential estates is totally inexplicable as this not only creates traffic
bottleneck but also poses great danger to the entire neighbourhood.
Development,
of course, should not be concentrated within the metropolis but should be
extended to Epe and Badagry linked with good roads, light rail and efficient
water transportation system. Lagos needs an outer ring road to re-direct
traffic away from the city centre and there should be weigh-bridges to protect
the highways from the over-weight of heavy-duty trucks.
As a matter
of policy, the cadastral plans need to be reviewed and modified where
necessary. Except there is a conscious effort to re-order the city/state for
functionality, there would be more chaos all over, especially with the position
of Lagos as the economic nerve centre of the nation. Meanwhile, the Federal
Government collects all the revenues from the airport and sea ports while
neglecting the infrastructural development in Lagos, an aberration, which
happens only in Nigeria! Worldwide, the convention is that both the city and
local government authorities have interest in the ports in their domain. Lagos
should be a major stakeholder in the ports, but this is not the case in
Nigeria’s warped federation.
It is
noteworthy that insecurity has forced residents in different parts of Lagos to
mount street gates to curb armed robbery and other criminal activities. Now
that the authorities want the barricades opened, what has been done to provide
adequate security?
Finally, the
issue of holding social functions in public schools should not be a problem,
given the absence of parks and the fact that Lagos is one built-up concrete
jungle. School premises are so used over the weekends as there are very few
community halls for such functions and privately-owned event centres are not
affordable. It may now be necessary to concentrate effort at preventing such
functions from holding right on the roads thereby compounding the traffic
gridlock and nuisance to city residents.
Lagos must
be saved from disorderliness, no doubt. And that would happen with the right
laws and appropriate investments which, the government should be willing to
make. (Guardian)
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