Former UN-Habitat Coordinator Urges Improved Urban Situation

A former Coordinator,
UN-Habitat Support Office, Abuja, Prof. Johnson Falade, recently urged federal and state governments to improve urban situation.
He gave the advice in an interview with  newsmen  in Lagos, recently.
According to him, although there has been an improvement in urban situation in the last 16 years of democratic governance, a lot still  needs to be done.
“Improvement in the urban situation in the country has been abandoned for a long time.
“This means that it will take a long time to make a visible change.
“However, it is good to know that there have been efforts by the federal and some state governments to change the face of urban planning in their various jurisdictions,’’ he said.
Falade lauded the Lagos State’s environment beautification project and commended Osun Government for its urbanisation programme.
He noted that Nasarawa and Kogi were each working on six cities, while Zamfara was working on four cities.
The former coordinator said that there were many urban renewal projects going on in Ondo State while Ogun and Osun focused on infrastructural projects.
He said that construction of township roads and drainage channels would uplift the status of urban cities.
Falade urged governments to de-congest old cities.
“Narrow roads are not good for 21st Century cars as well as pedestrian and vehicular movements,’’ he said.