Speeches

2009 Architects Colloquium Organised By The Architects Registration Council Of Nigeria, (ARCN)

Mar 24, 2009 - Central to effective governance and service delivery in modern society, especially in large urban centers, is proper planning. Speaking from experience, planning for projects in Lagos Mega-city in the past, almost 700 days of our stay in office has involved taking preventive, corrective and proactive measures distilled from ideas, views, suggestions and recommendations by professional and managerial experts canvassed at different fora.

Such collaborations with professional and managerial experts in the public and private sectors, as we are witnessing here today on this august occasion of your organization, the Architects Registration Council of Nigeria, has been of tremendous assistance to the Lagos State government in our burning and genuine desire to evolve and implement policies to build the Lagos of our dreams, the Lagos that is the economic and investment destination of choice in Africa.

On this note, I wish to express my delight to be here and thank the organizers of this colloquium for extending an invitation to me to speak on the theme: Lagos Mega- City- the Role of the Architect.

For the average thinking Nigerian, the concept of Mega-City paints the picture of affluence, good life and a sense of well-being. As I have explained before, the notion of mega-city is a status conferred upon us by the fact that our population is now over 10million. Regardless of the evidence to the contrary such Nigerians, and they are in the majority, see Lagos as the place to be in order to be somebody. Little wonder we receive an average of 600 guests everyday migrating from one village in the South East, South –South, North West, name them, to Lagos, not just for picnic or to see the new Bar Beach, but to settle down in an already congested urban megalopolis. In fact the picture of Lagos as a choice destination for business and pleasure is what it should be. But Lagos paints a different, picture because of various challenges arising from the economic impact of internal migration, previous rapid uncoordinated urbanization with poor infrastructure and services leading to overcrowding. The City as a centre of innovation, industrialization and modernization is yet to attain our own vision of New Lagos. But it is in the making. We have taken up the challenges presented by urban congestion, slum redevelopment, refuse collection and management, acute traffic congestion, inadequate transportation, and urban infrastructural deficiencies and housing shortfall. We are daily using the little resources prudently to transform Lagos and grow her economy.

I crave your indulgence to highlight some of our 10-Point Agenda to strategically address these challenges: These include: Economic empowerment of our people through micro- credit financing, skills acquisition and poverty alleviation programmes; Free and qualitative education up to secondary school level, subsidized at the tertiary level; Establishment of the Lekki Free Trade Zone to develop the Lekki sub region and empower 30, 000 persons; Environmental upgrade and beautification and drainage construction works; Provision of houses through public-private partnership housing mortgage financing; Construction, rehabilitation and upgrade of health centres, General Hospitals and provision of ambulances; Inauguration of a standing Security Committee, establishment of Lagos State Security Trust Fund to support the initiative of the State security and the introduction of the Bus Rapid Transport, (BRT) system, provision of buses for mass transit, taxi cabs and plans towards providing and improving the State rail services, and the restoration and preservation of the State’s cultural and historical heritage.

These policy measures, like I said earlier were designed and taken for preventive and corrective purposes. The population of Lagos State is moving beyond 18 million and by 2015 it would be 25 million, according to the United Nation Habitat. Considering the enormity of the challenges facing Lagos State as the commercial nerve centre of the country and the economic hub of the West African sub-region, we have to plan ahead for the next 20 years and begin to cure the current infrastructural and economic challenges. The statistics speaks for themselves; 60 per cent of the country’s non- oil exports economy, 80 per cent of the aviation and sea port activities in the country and 22.2 per cent traffic density as against 15 per cent at the Federal level.

So, challenges of working at the intersection of genuine desire for rapid transformation of the entire Lagos landscape physically, economically and socially and failing infrastructure have compelled us to come up with initiatives that have helped us to respond proactively to the pressures of rapid urbanization and increasing migration to Lagos. On our part as a focused administration and government of methods we are resolved to build a model mega-city to showcase our ingenuity and sincerity of purpose.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, indeed, the 21st Century challenges of mega cities, advancements in IT and Sciences have come to redefine the roles of every stakeholder in every sector all over the world. Of course in addressing these challenges, there would be the need to plan for housing, provision of infrastructural facilities and employment generation among others. In as much as those saddled with the responsibility of formulating policies that will address the challenges posed by this advancement get their acts together, development goals and targets can be met readily. Here is where your association should key into the various avenues to contribute to the building of Nigeria’s emerging mega-cities. For me, these challenges also present us great opportunities to make our profession and services available for patronage. The more we seek ways to yield our talents and professional training to address these huge challenges the more we also create wealth and empower ourselves and several people depending on us.

In Lagos, we have been using all our projects in building the New Lagos to create employments in several sectors of the economy and thus reducing poverty gradually.

Experience has shown us that physical planning plays a crucial and critical role in ensuring safe, functional, healthy and beauty of cities, mega or mini. In recognition of this fact, one of the first steps taken by our administration on ascension in office was to inaugurate a committee on building regulations in Lagos State. Before this time houses were collapsing almost every other day in Lagos.

I am proud to say that one of the professional organizations that played a crucial role in the committee whose inputs went a long way in our preparation for the draft policy on building regulations was the Nigeria Institute of Architect, Lagos Chapter.

May I remind you that Lagos presents very vast potentials for investments. Almost every one of the major projects from school, housing, hospital and the Lekki zone, present opportunity for construction designs. I don’t think it is by accident that the slogan of the Lagos Chapter of your organization is “Every building has an architect who is yours”.

Presently, the chapter plays a prominent role in the coordination of our Mega-City projects. You are all aware that the Lagos House which the Governor’s Office relocated a few months ago was designed by Dada Marquis Associates, a private Indigenous architectural firm based in Lagos. So the Lagos State government is quite confident of the competence and capability of the Nigerian Architects and we will continue to work and collaborate with them in the designing and monitoring of turnkey projects in the State. Our ministries of Housing, Works and infrastructure as well as in the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation, LSDPC, teem with qualified, competent and dedicated Architects who are also working from the inside to make our Mega –city projects as they affect them successful.

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, there is no doubt that the major role of the architect in the conceptualization of designs and proper layout of building structure must be complemented by an environment consciousness which enhances his ultimate role as project manager. One of the major challenges of the Mega –City is the evolution of an architectural identity that is a combination of the best in the contemporary world and works for our people.

Let me prepare your minds that the years ahead of us would be crucial for architects, developers, city planners as they would task our ingenuity, and our experience because we would need to make prudent and hard decisions in allocating our limited resources in providing housing to support the surge in population growth and rapid urbanization not only in Lagos but also in other emerging mega-cities in Nigeria. And this is where your association will continue to play the role that would lead from here to there, helping us to come up with suggestions that would continue to shape government decisions on housing, real estate development, urban development among others.

Before I conclude, let me suggest some areas your association needs to give serious thoughts about:
(I) In what ways can we develop our city without losing our architectural heritage?
(II) How can we preserve and bring our historic monuments to add aesthetic values to our cities?
(III) How can we improve the quality of life in our cities without creating avoidable hardships for our people?
(IV) In what other ways can we continually evolve ways to use our developmental projects to fight poverty and empower our people?

The world is a global village now and so I would expect that in this age of global conservation, the Nigeria Architects must constantly and consciously undertake research to keep abreast of major developments in the world. This is the only way you can inscribe your name on the marble of history of builders of mega-cities in Africa and the world.

Once again, I thank you for extending this invitation to me and wish you happy deliberations.

I thank you all for listening.

BABATUNDE RAJI FASHOLA, SAN
GOVERNOR OF LAGOS STATE