A property consultant, Mr Olujide Oke has said there were various business opportunities in the building construction industry which operators could harness to earn and sustain a living.
Oke, a Quantity Surveyor and Managing Partner, Jim Partnership company made this known at the ongoing 2017 Professional Development Workshop of the Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria (ATOPCON) in Lagos, yesterday.
He said that the Nigerian built environment was diverse from big cities to small towns in the coastal regions, rural, remote areas and villages.
According to him, 46.9 per cent of Nigerians live in urban cities while the annual rate of urbanisation from 2011 to 2015 was put at 3.75 per cent with Lagos alone having a population of 20million people.
“This shows that the Nigerian built environment is facing immense challenges, while inadequate urban planning makes the situation worse.
“One of these major challenges is the twin issue of population and economic growth, which has led to an increase in the physical size of cities, higher population densities, greater demands on natural assets within cities and increased congestion.
“The above challenges, which has plagued this country since independence rather than being a source of lamentation, presents positive opportunities and advantages to professionals whose call is to provide order to the riotous society.’’
He said that the building construction sector had the vital role of providing the requisite built environment to meet the challenges.
and cities in the public interest.
“Human settlement like human body need to be formed first before it can be decorated.
“Town planner’s job is to form the human settlement, before it comes to the turn of other building and construction professionals to start decorating with bridges, houses, infrastructure, plants, trees among others,” he said.
Mr Olaide Afolabi, the President of ATOPCON urged town planners to prepare themselves to be challenged, inspired and motivated by the ideas and opportunities the workshop would avail by putting them to use.
Afolabi said that attending the professional development workshop annually was usually an opportunity to share fresh ideas, discuss issues and challenges facing the profession.
“This workshop helps us to learn from each other, learn from our experiences and skills to be able to explore and maximise the potential in the profession,” Afolabi said.
The theme of the workshop was “Maximising the Potential of Planning Practice”.