By Etop Ekanem

The investiture of the second chairperson and inauguration of the executive committee of the Association of Women Town Planners in Nigeria, AWTPN, Lagos branch were held recently in collaboration with Nigerian Institute of bTown Planners, NITP, Lagos State chapter, in Ikeja, Lagos.

Those inaugurated were Victoria Taiwo-Ajose, Chairperson; Bolanle Olayinka-Bello, Vice Chairperson; Soledotun Abdulkarim-Yusuf, General-Secretary; Oluwatoyosi Bello, Assistant General-Secretary; Saidat Fashola, Public Relations Secretary; Abimbola Haroon-Afunku, Treasurer; Dorothy Birch, Auditor; Rosemary Nkemka, Assistant Public Relations Secretary; Modinat Mustapha, Financial Secretary; Ayo Elegbede, Ex-Officio 1 and  Atinuke Raji-Babatunde, Ex-Officio 2.

Speaking at the occasion, the chairperson,  Victoria Ajose, enjoined members to remain resolute in their determination towards contributing to building an efficient Lagos mega city.

She said: “Let us contribute to support and nurture the talents of Women Town Planners by providing them with tools and resources needed to excel. Let us jointly engage environment where their ideas can flourish, where their voices are heard and where their expertise is valued.

Let us remember that the true essence of our work responsibility as town planners lies not only in the physical transformation of spaces but in improvement of lives.”

Speaking on the investiture lecture, with the theme, “Physical planning and urban development in Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ) Lagos: New opportunities, daunting challenges and way forward,” by Prof. Bamidele Badejo of Department of Geography, Faculty of Social Sciences, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State,  Taiwo-Ajose said: “The topic of discussion in today’s investiture is apt. You all will agree with me that being one of the development frontiers of Lagos State Lekki corridor, which hosts Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ), desires a holistic and pragmatic planning approach/strategy for its development to engender a sustainable environment. With the commissioning of Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company, fertiliser, plant and deep seaport, we should expect a geometric population shift and drift to the corridor in search of propensity, which ultimately would impact on infrastructure like road, housing, water supply and power supply, among others.