Town planner Nathaniel Atebije is a fellow and national president of Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, he was an attendee and a force to reckon with at the Africa international housing show held from 22nd to 27th July in Abuja. In this interview, he spoke on the importance of housing for all Nigerians, he also bared his mind on the need for government to commit effective political will towards using national and regional planning to curb the menance of unnecessary rural to urban migration and its consequences on the economy.
WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF THIS HOUSING FARE ON NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT?
This event is all important because housing is one of the basic needs of humanity, anybody that has no house is just left for the vagaries of nature which is unhealthy and unsafe, so it is very important that we discuss the matter of housing and get answers to the questions surrounding the provision of housing in the country.
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF TOWN PLANNING ON HOUSING FOR ALL NIGERIANS AND THE PRESENT RURAL URBAN MIGRATION?
We need to first look at why there is so much rural to urban migration, everybody is looking for green pastures but green pastures can only be fairly distributed through planning. There are various types of planning to do, we have national development planning, we have regional development planning, it is through regional development planning that you can spread development all across the country, by so doing, people will have access to the basic things that they need in anywhere they are, so when regional planning is done, there will be less of people moving from rural to urban areas.
IS IT FEASIBLE TO HAVE THINGS THAT CAN MAKE PEOPLE TO STAY WITHIN THEIR COMMUNITIES AND ADVANCE IN LIFE?
It is very feasible, this is why we are talking about planning, when planning is ever made, let it be seen that government gives it the political will to ensure that it is implemented.
I have relatives who are in the village and doing better than those who are even in the towns and cities, there is the saying that anywhere you are, you can see the moon if only you look at the direction of the moon, so whether you are in rural or urban area you can see the moon if you try to look at it. The city is a system and if we do not plan for it, we can only be sure that even the city can die, so Nigeria can only survive through planning, let it be planned and let government give the national and regional plans the political will that they need to succeed.
