Nigeria’s Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Muttaqha Darma, has reaffirmed in Abuja the federal government’s commitment to upgrading informal settlements into liveable communities as part of a broader urban renewal drive aimed at improving housing conditions and strengthening planning systems across the country.
Speaking during a courtesy visit by the Nigeria Institute of Town Planners, led by its National President Dr Ogbonna Chime, the minister said the initiative targets long-standing slum areas, including Makoko in Lagos State and Gishiri in Abuja, as well as communities in Kano and Port Harcourt, which he described as priorities for upgrading under the ministry’s forthcoming urban development policy.
Darma said the government would prioritise transforming these settlements into dignified and habitable environments while also reviewing the long-ignored Regional and Urban Development Law enacted in 1992.
He noted that collaboration with relevant regional development authorities and professional bodies would be essential to ensure full implementation, inviting further technical input from town planning experts.
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On capacity development, the minister reaffirmed the administration’s reliance on indigenous professionals in the built environment sector, describing it as a strategy to boost employment and skills transfer.
“The Ministry already trained individually about 2000 of them to get skills in the built environment, and these young people are all over Nigeria applying what they learnt,” he said.
Addressing concerns about workforce gaps and the role of technology, Darma urged professionals to embrace innovation and artificial intelligence, stressing that future employment in urban planning and infrastructure would depend on the ability to adapt to digital tools rather than be replaced by them.
He also encouraged stakeholders to explore alternative funding models to sustain professional bodies and regulatory functions.
The minister further confirmed openness to continued engagement, requesting additional recommendations for inclusion in the ministry’s strategic development plan and expressing willingness to attend the institute’s 60th anniversary and 57th international conference scheduled for October in Lagos.
Earlier, the President of Nigeria Institute of Town Planners, Dr Ogbonna Chime, urged the government to fully implement the 1992 planning law, strengthen urban renewal programmes, engage indigenous consultants, replace retiring professionals, and improve funding for regulatory institutions to enhance standards and reduce unemployment in the sector.
