Town Planners Forum Boss Seeks End To Flooding, Erosion, Landslides

Chairman, Eastern Town Planners Forum, Ayi Akiba, has called on Eastern states to take urgent action against recurring windstorms, landslides, gully erosion and flooding threatening communities in the region.

Akiba made the call Friday in Calabar while speaking on the housing crisis which has dragged many families to destitution. He said the disasters are worsening because of weak planning, haphazard development and failure to enforce Town Planning laws.

He charged housing developers in the region to embrace effective town planning before building their structures, saying it is the only way to end housing chaos and haphazard development.

Speaking in commemoration of the 2026 World Town Planning Day, celebrated on the second week of this month, Akiba stated that great communities do not happen by chance but by effective planning.

“Great communities do not happen by accident, but are products of deliberate planning, collective commitment and effective implementation,” he said.

While speaking on the 2026 theme; “Great Communities Are Built on Planning: Together We Deliver, Together We Thrive, Together We Sustain,” Akina stated  that the future of communities “cannot be left to chance, must be consciously planned, collectively pursued and effectively managed.”

He  echoed the concerns raised by the National President of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, NITP, Prof. Kingsley Ogboi, on the growing deficit in affordable housing, expansion of informal settlements, ageing infrastructure, inadequate access to basic services, climate-related vulnerabilities and increasing social inequalities.

He said the challenges are equally relevant to the Eastern region, where settlements are facing increasing development pressures and changing land-use patterns.

He urged Eastern states to strengthen their Town Planning laws and make affordable, decent and well-located housing central to the development agenda.

He stressed that housing should be assessed “not merely by the number of buildings delivered, but also by their affordability, accessibility, security of tenure, proximity to employment opportunities and availability of supporting infrastructure and basic services.”

He commended governors in the region for ongoing infrastructure initiatives, including the East-West Road, Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and mass housing projects, saying they have “considerable potential to rejuvenate and transform the economic and spatial development landscape of the Eastern region.”

 He, however, warned that their full benefits will depend on integrating infrastructure with sound planning and effective urban governance.

He, therefore, called for the early engagement of qualified Town Planners, adoption of GIS, AI, remote sensing and digital mapping, digitisation of Town Planning Offices, and recruitment of young graduate planners.

“Building great communities requires more than physical infrastructure. It requires affordable housing, functional public spaces, sound planning, shared leadership and effective institutions that enable people to live, work, invest and thrive in safety and dignity,” he said.