* Say 22m using facilities meant for 4 million

By Kingsley Adegboye

THE newly inaugurated chairman of Lagos State branch of the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors, NIS, Mr. Alara Olugbenga, has decried the overstretching of infrastructure in Lagos state, saying the current situation if left unaddressed, could lead to chaos in transportation and planning in the state.

Lagos-aerial-view

Olugbenga who spoke at the 2015 Annual General Meeting and Luncheon of the Lagos NIS, called on the government and professionals to come together to address the situation.

The new Lagos NIS boss who described surveying as the bedrock of all meaningful planning and development, explained that the contribution of surveying to development cannot be underestimated and the best surveyed cities of the world are the best developed because everything has to be in its rightful place.

“It is the surveyor that will determine what will be in a place in terms of the topography and then the design will now follow the information provided by the surveyor and if the information provided by the surveyor is followed and interpreted by professionals, you will see that we will have better developed societies,” Olugbenga said.

Speaking on his plans for the institution during his tenure, the chairman said he would focus on leadership mentoring where the young members of the profession would be tutored on the history of surveying, the practice and morality of governance.

The immediate past Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr.,Toyin Ayinde who was the guest lecturer, stressed the need for strategic planning and implementation to tackle the myriad of challenges facing Lagos as centre of commerce and economic hub in the West African region.

Myriad of  challenges

The former commissioner who is a town planner, recalled that the Ikorodu Road was constructed in 1976 when the population of Lagos was around four million. According to him, the road is now serving about 22 million people, hence the need for strategic urban renewal thinking, planning and implementation.

Noting that the major solution to the challenges is good governance at all levels, Ayinde challenged professionals to get involved more in politics and be ready to contribute to the development of the society. According to him, the failure of any country is the failure of its professionals, hence Nigerian professionals must be ready to sincerely and genuinely commit to the development and advancement of the nation.

On the master plan for the development of Lagos, Ayinde said “The truth is that a framework has been laid and for us to make progress and once you have a framework, then you continue to fit into it.

While I was in government, I know for a fact that about eight to twelve plans have been made and all that is left now is Epe master plan and Ikorodu master plan and then at the end of the day something to tie up the whole of Lagos State.

So, I think the government is working towards it. I’m also aware that this government has made an advertisement for expression of interest for those who want to submit proposals for the Epe and Ikorodu master plans. So, if all these things work fine, we should be looking at a Lagos that is better than what we have now”