Course Title: URBAN PLANNING LAW Course Code URP 228

Course Hour: 2 hours Course Unit: 2unit

Lecturer in Charge: Akinbami B. S Level: ND II

Public Participation

Urban and regional planning can be viewed from the perspective of public service that requires and
which should seriously promote public participation in its activities. Increasingly, advocacy groups
and Non-Governmental organizations for the protection of the environment in Nigeria are emerging
in Nigeria and are educating Nigerian about their rights. As argued by Fakolade and Coblentz (1981),
more Nigerians have been protesting against poor state of facilities in their neighborhoods and need
to be carried along in any planning process.

Legality of Public Participation in Nigeria

From the legal point of view, Section 13 of the 1992 URP Decree in the statement of preparation of
physical development plans made provision for public involvement in which it stated that the
Commission shall during the preparation of the National Development Plan call for the submission
from all relevant government organization, NGOs and interested members of the public whose
contributions will serve as part of the input towards the preparation of the draft plan.

Section 15 also allows any member of the public, government agencies, NGOs and professional
bodies during the exhibition of the draft plan to submit to the Commission, written statement of their
objections and suggest alteration and amendment to be made to remove the objection. The
Commission is mandated by Section 15(2) of the decree to acknowledge receipt of any objection in
writing.
All this shows the beginning of planning and the extent of citizen participation in efforts in the
planning process in Nigeria. The place of public participation is further enhanced in the Nigeria
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Decree 86 of 1992, Section 7 which states that before EIA
agency (i.e. Federal Environmental Protection Agency or her State equivalent) takes a decision on an
activity to which an EIA has been produced, the Agency shall give opportunity to government
agencies, members of the public, representations of any relevant discipline and interest groups to
make comments on EIA of the activity. This suffices to say that there are legal efforts supporting the
participation of the Nigerian public in enhancing the URP planning process. However, what is
presently lacking is the public awareness of the existence of these provisions and the will to follow
them up.
Public Participation in Planning Process in Nigeria
Public participation in the planning process has been in Nigeria before the Independence of 1960. A
good case in view was the “Ajowa Village Regrouping Scheme” of 1955. The above was executed
by the involvement of the inhabitants of “Ajowa Group of Villages” in the conception, planning and
execution of “Ajowa Village Regrouping Scheme”, a scheme purposely conceived to achieve rural
development in the then Western Region of Nigeria in 1955 (Olujimi, 1991; Olujimi and Egunjobi,
1991). Though the people never made any financial contribution during the plan period, they
contributed in form of communal-labour, execution of some self-help projects (which included the
construction of Ajowa Community Hall 1n 1956, construction of two blocks of classrooms in the
Secondary Modern School site in 1958 and the clearing of Ajowa market site among other things),
and non-demand for compensation on their immovable properties at the original sites. At times,
public involvement comes in the in the form of Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) getting
involved in the implementation of planning or environmental projects.
Most of the Residential Layouts in most Nigerian cities are private estates owned by the families.
This has been helpful in securing access to plots of land by many people within the country though it
does not go without its ills. Some of such ills would be mentioned later. Some of these families
develop layouts and get approval for them though they may not really

EIA

The need for environmental assessment

Economic, social and environmental change is inherent to development. Whilst development

aims to bring about positive change it can lead to conflicts. In the past, the promotion of
economic growth as the motor for increased well-being was the main development thrust with
little sensitivity to adverse social or environmental impacts. The need to avoid adverse impacts
and to ensure long term benefits led to the concept of sustainability. This has become accepted as
an essential feature of development if the aim of increased well-being and greater equity in
fulfilling basic needs is to be met for this and future generations.
In order to predict environmental impacts of any development activity and to provide an
opportunity to mitigate against negative impacts and enhance positive impacts, the
environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedure was developed in the 1970s. An EIA may be
defined as:

a formal process to predict the environmental consequences of human development activities and
to plan appropriate measures to eliminate or reduce adverse effects and to augment positive
effects.

EIA thus has three main functions:

• to predict problems,
• to find ways to avoid them, and
• to enhance positive effects.

The third function is of particular importance. The EIA provides a unique opportunity to
demonstrate ways in which the environment may be improved as part of the development
process. The EIA also predicts the conflicts and constraints between the proposed project,
programme or sectoral plan and its environment. It provides an opportunity for mitigation
measures to be incorporated to minimize problems. It enables monitoring programmes to be
established to assess future impacts and provide data on which managers can take informed
decisions to avoid environmental damage.

EIA is a management tool for planners and decision makers and complements other project
studies on engineering and economics. Environmental assessment is now accepted as an essential
part of development planning and management. It should become as familiar and important as
economic analysis in project evaluation.

The aim of any EIA should be to facilitate sustainable development. Beneficial environmental
effects are maximized while adverse effects are ameliorated or avoided to the greatest extent
possible. EIA will help select and design projects, programmes or plans with long term viability
and therefore improve cost effectiveness.
It is important that an EIA is not just considered as part of the approval process. Volumes of
reports produced for such a purpose, which are neither read nor acted upon, will devalue the
process. A key output of the EIA should be an action plan to be followed during implementation
and after implementation during the monitoring phase. To enable the action plan to be effective
the EIA may also recommend changes to laws and institutional structures.

EIA POLICY

As a consequence of the illegal dumping of toxic wastes in Koko, in the former Bendel State, in 1987, the
Nigerian Government promulgated the Harmful Wastes Decree which provides the legal framework for
the effective control of the disposal of toxic and hazardous waste into any environment within the
confines of Nigeria. This was immediately followed by the creation of a regulatory body, the Federal
Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) in 1988. FEPA is charged with the overall responsibility of
protecting and developing the Nigerian environment. To put this into action a National Policy on the
Environment was developed. This is the main working document for the preservation and protection of
the Nigerian environment. States and Local Government Councils were also encouraged to establish their
own environmental regulatory bodies for the purpose of maintaining good environmental quality as it
applies to their particular terrain. The EIA Decree No. 86 of 1992 is an additional document with the
same aim of protecting the Nigerian environment. It is particularly directed at regulating the
industrialization process with due regard to the environment. By this Decree, no industrial
plan/development/activity falling under the FEPA‟s mandatory list can be executed without prior
consideration of the environmental consequences of such a proposed action, in the form of an
environmental impact assessment. The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), an arm of the
Ministry of Petroleum Resources, recognizing the national importance of the oil and gas industry sector to
the continued growth of the Nigerian economy and realizing that the continued exploitation, exploration
and production of the oil resources has serious environmental impacts, also decided to set out
comprehensive standards and guidelines to direct the execution of projects with proper consideration for
the environment. The DPR Environmental Guidelines and Standards (EGAS) of 1991 for the petroleum
industry is a comprehensive working document with serious consideration for the preservation and
protection of the Niger Delta, and thus the Nigerian environment, in the course of searching for and
producing crude oil. The EIA tool is also mandatory for a greater part of the oil E&P activities. But a
detailed examination of the various statutes, and the framework for the EIA process in particular, and the
entire environmental regulatory process in general, reveals that many of the statutes are very much at
variance with intentions, especially as they affect the execution of functions. There is duplication of
functions and overlapping responsibilities in the processes and procedures guiding the execution of the
various impact assessment tasks. Consequently, serious bottlenecks and bureaucratic confusion are
created in the process. The result is a waste of resources, financially and materially. This paper examines
the statutory regulatory framework for the EIA process, and the inadequacies and misinterpretations of
the various statutes, which have often led to delays in the execution of EIAs in Nigeria. An attempt will
be made to streamline these various responsibilities through a reorganization of the regulatory
environmental framework. This way, it is hoped that the bottlenecks and wastage of resources will be
eliminated.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT SYSTEM

Features

The principal legislation is Decree 86 of 1992 which made EIA mandatory for both public and private
sectors for all development projects. It has three goals and thirteen principles for how these are to be
achieved.

The goals are:

• Before any person or authority takes a decision to undertake or authorize the undertaking of any activity
that may likely or significantly affect the environment, prior consideration of its environmental effects
should first be taken.

• To promote the implementation of appropriate procedures to realize the above goal.

• To seek the encouragement of the development of reciprocal procedures for notification, information
exchange and consultation in activities likely to have significant trans-state (boundary) environmental
effects. FEPA categorizes mandatory study activities into three categories.

Category 3 activities have beneficial impacts on the environment.

For Category 2 activities (unless within the Environmentally Sensitive Area) full EIA is not mandatory,
while Category 1 activities require full and mandatory EIA.

Either listing or an initial environmental evaluation (IEE) system is used to determine projects requiring
full EIA.
68 The minimum requirement of an EIA report includes not only the description of the activity, potential
affected environment, practical alternative, and assessment of likely or potential environmental impacts,
but also identification and description of the mitigation measures, indication of gaps in knowledge,
notification of trans-state adverse environmental effects (if any) and a brief non-technical summary of all
the above information. Impartial and written FEPA decisions indicating mitigation measures based on a
detailed examination of environmental effects identified in the environmental impact assessment (after an
opportunity within an appropriate period had been given to the stakeholders and the public for their
comments) is made available to interested person(s) or group(s). It provides, where necessary, that
potentially affected States or Local Government Areas are notified.

PROCESS AND PROCEDURAL FRAMEWORK

The EIA process is the various stages a project undergoes from proposal to approval for implementation,
resulting in the issuing of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and certificate.

The term encompasses several stages, viz:

• determining if FEPA environmental laws/regulations have been triggered;

• screening a project for potential environmental effects; • scoping to determine the spatial and temporary
dimension of environmental effects;

• carrying out detailed base line studies to determine the environmental condition prior to project
implementation; • preparing a detailed assessment report;

• carrying out a panel review of the EIA report if this is necessary; and

• obtaining authorization/approval, where appropriate. For FEPA, the Director General/Chief Executive is
the responsible officer.

The National Procedural Guidelines show practical steps from project conception to commissioning. The
steps are:

• project proposal

• initial environmental examination (IEE)/preliminary assessment

• screening

• scoping
• EIA study

• review

• decision making

• monitoring, and

• auditing.

The proponent initiates the process in writing to the responsible officer. A notification form is duly
completed with all relevant information on the proposal. Using the criteria of :

• magnitude – probable severity of each potential impact;

• prevalence/extent and scope – extent to which the impact may eventually extend;

• duration and frequency – is activity short term, long term or intermittent;

• risks – probability of serious environmental effects;

• significance/importance – value attached to a specified area; and

• mitigation – measures available for associated and potential environmental effects FEPA does internal
screening (IEE) to determine the project‟s category under the mandatory study activities list. Where no
adverse environmental effects exist, the EIA is issued and the project commences with appropriate
mitigation and monitoring measures. Otherwise within ten working days of receipt of the proposal, the
screening report is sent to the proponent for scoping and the preparation of Terms of Reference (ToR).
The ToR embodies the scope of the proposed EIA study and this is examined and the scope of the study
defined accordingly by FEPA.

The proponent carries out the study, generally using consultants, and the draft EIA report in 15 copies is
submitted to the responsible officer. For this draft report to be complete it must as an annex record the
results of public participation in a public form. Within 15 working days of the receipt of the draft report,
FEPA concludes evaluation of the draft and determination of the review method which it communicates
to the proponent in writing.

The four methods are:

• In-house review.
• Panel review (sitting may be public).

• Public review – an elaborate display of the report for 21 working days with appropriate display venues
chosen by FEPA for the convenience of the public stakeholders and communities.

Through newspaper advertisement FEPA invites interested groups /persons to participate.

• Mediation. Within one month of the review process, review comments are furnished to the proponent.
In this review stage, the public participates only when FEPA‟s chosen method of review guarantees its
participation.

The final EIA report, addressing and proffering answers to review comments, is submitted within six
months to the responsible officer. At this early stage, and on mutual agreement, FEPA and the proponent
set conditions establishing a follow-up program (mitigation, compliance and monitoring plan), a
monitoring strategy and audit procedure. A „no project‟ decision is communicated to the proponent if the
review comments are adverse and/or improperly addressed in the final report and the final EIA report is
unsatisfactory. The decision-making body is the FEPA technical committee chaired by the Director
General/Chief Executive. Within one month of the receipt of a final EIA report which has been adjudged
as satisfactory, the committee approves and issues the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) followed by
certification by the responsible officer complete with appropriate conditions and with a validity period.
Armed with the certificate, the proponent commences the project subject to the conditions and
specifications contained in the EIS. If the project is not commissioned within the validity period on the
certificate a revised and updated EIA report becomes necessary for revalidation. The progress of the
project is monitored to ensure compliance with all conditions and mitigation measures. Environmental
audit, assessing both positive and negative impacts of the project, is carried out periodically. In its
exercise of discretionary powers, FEPA refers any project likely to cause significant environmental
effects that may not be mitigated (or where public concern about the project warrants it) to the FEPA
council for mediation or panel review. The EIA study team usually is a multi-disciplinary panel of experts
and the report is prepared using a systematic, interdisciplinary approach incorporating all relevant
analytical disciplines to provide meaningful and factual data, information and analyses. The presentation
of data should be clear and concise, yet include all facts necessary to permit independent evaluation and
appraisal of both the beneficial and adverse environmental effects of alternative actions. The detail
provided should be commensurate with the extent and expected impact of the action and the amount of
information required at the particular level of decision-making. FEPA certifies consultants and reviewers.
Only research institutions and limited liability companies of proven competence are so certified. Sadly in
the oil sector, there is confusion as a result of multiple regulators. The Department of Petroleum
Resources and the State Environmental Protection Agencies have enabling instruments which permit
them to conduct EIA without limitation. DPR‟s instrument is its regulation, EGAS 1991, which
empowered it to conduct EIA, but there is no legislation so empowering it directly. The States
instruments are subject to Federal enactment and other than inordinate show of relevance they are to
merely monitor the process for, and on behalf of, FEPA. FEPA should as early as possible inform the
relevant State EPA at its secretariat stage.

Development control
Introduction
The British Town and Country Planners Act of 1817 defines development “ as the carrying out of
building operations, engineering, mining and other operations in , on, under or over land, or the making of
any material change in the use of building or other land”. Similarly, the Nigerian Urban and Regional
Planning Decree number 88 of 1992 describes development as “the carrying out of any building,
engineering, mining or other operations in, on, over, or under any land, or making of any environmentally
significant change in the case of any land or demolition of buildings including the felling of trees and the
placing of free-standing erections use for display of advertisement on land”.
Meanwhile, control means the process of exercising power over ones area of jurisdiction. Development
control can thus be defined precisely as the process of implementing building and land sub-division
regulations and specifications. The word control is exercised when what is actually happening is
compared with and guided towards the achievement of the proposals and specifications in approved
building and layout plans.
One of the most notable features of many Nigerian cities is the very disorderly nature of the cities. There
has been a phenomenal growth of urbanization resulting in our major cities growing and expanding in an
unplanned manner.

THE NATURE AND SCOPE OF DEVELOPMENT CONTROL

Before going on to discuss the nature and scope of development control, the word development needs to
be understood. Development, according to the Urban and Regional Planning Decree (1992) means "the
carrying out of any building, mining or other operation in, on, over or under any land; the making of any
material change in the use of any land building structure, or conversion of land, building structure from its
established or approved use, and / or including the placing or display of advertisement and urban furniture
on the land, building or structure; the making of any environmentally significant change in use of any or
demolition of building including felling of trees.
Development control is seen as a mechanism to maintain standards. It is process laid down by legislation,
which regulates the development of land and building. It is the professional activity carried out by town
planners in order to ensure compliance with the approved master plan thereby ensuring orderliness.
In line with the above definition, development control actually regulates any building or rebuilding
operations in, on and under the land. It also ensures an orderly growth of settlements by stipulating
adequate standards for all aspects of land-use through the provision of adequate lighting, ventilation, open
spaces and other socio-cultural facilities that make life worth living. The power to grant or refuse as well
as attach conditions to permissions for development to take place gives the public agencies the big teeth.
Ogunsesan (2004) opined that development control is the „front line‟ of planning and the part, which
affects the general public most. There is a direction in the exercise of development control on developers.
The direction according to Ogunsesan (2004) is the objectives of development control, which include: the
protection and enhancement of the built environment; the coordination of both public and private
investments in land and property to ensure that land is efficiently used; and the control of pollution.
In development control process, time is a very important factor. There are two types of time factors in the
development control process as pointed out by Faludi (1973): „internal and external time lag‟. The
internal time lag as he explained is the time it takes to act upon information received, while the external
time lag, he explains as the time it takes for the action to be effected.
Development control is carried out by planning authorities that have legal powers conferred on them to
ensure that development is secured. The authorities according to Faludi (1973) are empowered to: plan,
promote and secure the physical development and environmental improvement by economic; as financial
developers they can initiate planning schemes and develop the area wholly or partly‟. Kimaryo (1992) is
of the view that „though the planning authorities are empowered legally to carry out their duties, it may
still be restricted. Its effectiveness reduced by lack of political backing and support from the top echelon
of government functionaries‟. Furthermore, development control is seen as a powerful implementation
weapon in the planning armory. Positive encouragement is given to developers to compel them to
willingly develop their land with due respect to the requirement of the planning authorities. Public
enlightenment is usually embarked upon which tend to encourage the public to want some sort of control
over physical development.
Communication is a vital tool necessary for development control to succeed. An effective and efficient
communication ensures „control development with people and not for people‟; for if people are carried
along in development control process, the authority will be able to guide development with ease and
achieve their set objectives of a well planned built-up area with good road network, building set-backs,
ventilation, lighting and pollution free environment. On the other hand, if the members of the public are
not informed, they may not accept the idea of control, with feelings that since they owned the land, they
can as well carry out development the way they want and at their own time without due consideration.
DEVELOPMENT CONTROL IN NIGERIA: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
The genesis of development control can be associated with the land tenure system operated by both the
North and Southern parts of this country. Land was vested in the Emirs, Obi and the Oba for onward
usage as it may be necessary and conditions were set for acquisition. The out break of different types of
disease and the need for effective. Town and country planning necessitated the formulation of ordinances
that touches on health, land use, environmental preservation, and roads; classification of towns became
operational. Planning scheme approval committee was set up in 1924 and in 1928 Lagos Executive
Development Board (L.E.D.B) was established and became effective in 1929 for planning and
development in Lagos. Later Town and country planning gained recognition with the introduction of
more planning schemes and planning authorities with the promulgation of Nigerian Town and Country
Ordinance No. (4 of 1946). Between 1954 and 1963 a regional systems of planning was adopted in Lagos
with the law in 1958, west as cap 123 laws of western region of 1959, East as cap 126 laws of Eastern
Nigeria 1963 and North as cap 130 laws of Northern Region 1963.
With the creation of Town planning division to enhance planning and the introduction of planning
authority and development unit in the old Mid-Western State with Edict No. 3 of 1969 herald the National
Development Plan which became operational since 1920 through 1980. Of importance in the policy are
planning of urban centers, designing and planning of new settlement and urban renewal scheme.
To make, Town and Country planning more relevant and effective, their power to function was vested in
the local government area and with the creation of more local government areas in 1976 planning
authorities were established to handle planning matters.
Various issues relating to land matters were tackled by the promulgation of Land use decree of 1978. This
effort was aimed at making land available to Nigerians and exercise control over land. It has been
established that most development control measures are not adhered to because the benefits expected are
sometimes not easily recognized. For this reason people are usually reluctant to comply with such
directive. For example some clients did not see it necessary to obtain approved building plan before
embarking on construction of buildings. Until when there is problem associated with developments,
which contravene existing laws relating to development, that is when developers will be responsive. This
reaction is based on previous experience where approval is regarded difficult or impossible. Officers are
often accused of misusing the powers vested in them to the detriment of the public. This development has
generated complaints from stakeholders. With the present commitment on the part of concerned officers,
agents and bodies responsible, an appreciable success is being recorded. The preparation for the visit of
Queen Elizabeth of England around 1958 accelerated one of the planning schemes that rejuvenated part of
Lagos which the inhabitants acknowledged. Areas that are orderly and traces of planning are noticeable
especially in districts, neighbourhoods, housing estates and in some part of settlements are not always
difficult to manage and cheaper in term of renewal such example can be found in Oyo State, Bayelsa
State and some Eastern states, where world bank assisted fund was made available for the projects.
Development control measures have not been successful in some states of the federation because
necessary support is not coming from the government. Uncertainty, fears are associated with the exercise
not actually knowing that the gains derivable from it outweigh the disadvantages. Lagos State government
housing computerization exercise which is being introduced in Edo State is a typical example. This will
aid research and investigation regarding settlement. Experience in the past has shown that most of the
blame arising from physical development efforts is usually directed at selected professionals. In deed
Town Planners are recognise as professional in charge of development control. There are other
professionals in the building team who have roles to play. This is to ascertain that various contributions
are being made, and will still be made.
In addressing these physical development control measures and to improve the general wellbeing of the
people, the Urban and Regional Planning Decree (88) of 1992 was promulgated. The surprising thing is
that the law has not come to full operation since then. For physical development and social well being to
be realized, there is need to actualize the usage of the act.
TOOLS AND MACHINERIES OF DEVELOPMENT CONTROL
Basically, there are two instruments or tools often used in the development control process. These are:
(i) ENFORCEMENT NOTICE: This is served on any breach of Town Planning law relating to carrying
out development without the planning permission (approval). It relates to illegal building, engineering,
mining, change of use and so on. This notice may be served either for demolition of such building without
approval or the restoration of an altered building to its previous condition pursuant to section 47 (1) of the
Urban and Regional Planning Decree (88) of 1992. Non-compliance with an enforcement order is
punishable.
(ii) STOP NOTICE: According to section of the Urban and Regional Planning Decree (88) of 1992, a
stop work order could be issued where it appears to the control department that:
a. An unauthorized development is being carried out,
b. Where a development does not comply with a development permit issued by the control department.

The document is issued pending the service of an enforcement notice on the owner, occupier or holder of
such property. It takes an immediate effect upon service on such property. The time frame is usually 21
days within which such developer shall comply with the provisions of section 53.
THE NEED FOR DEVELOPMENT CONTROL
Rural- urban migration has caused congestion in the urban areas and left the towns and cities sprawling
endlessly into the countryside with dire consequences for the provision of essential urban infrastructure.
That is, the rate of expansion of each of old and newly emerging town led to the emergence of
uncoordinated land-uses, winding road network, traffic congestion, uncoordinated provision and
distribution of socio-physical infrastructure, uncollected waste and the like, amongst others with great
impact on the socio-economic well being of the inhabitants. All these are resultant effects of uncontrolled
development in both rural and urban settlements in Nigeria.
The rapid growth of our settlements, particularly urban areas need to be controlled to prevent chaotic and
haphazard physical growth and development, which certainly takes place in the absence of any
development control measure. However, some of the rationales for effective development control are the
achievement of balanced, coordinated and good development of the environment; it ensures structural
soundness and the adequate provision of necessary utilities, services and facilities for the proposed
buildings; protection and the development of the environment so that the activities of men do not have
adverse effects on it. This uncontrolled development has led to the environmental situation as presently
witnessed in some squatter settlements of Lagos (Somolu, Bariga, Ijora, Ajegunle, Mushin) and other big
town and cities in Nigeria.
Development control also ensures that real estate developers or owners of landed property use their lands
and buildings in conformity with approved town planning schemes or master plans for the town; for if
development control is not enforced, landowners and estate developers will build anywhere and anyhow,
causing the chaotic and disorderly growth of the town concerned.
Development control ensures the proper use and or development of land and building in conformity with
the approved town planning schemes or comprehensive development plans, which presents a more
beautiful and unique environment; it also eradicates inadequately and uneven distribution of government
facilities to compliment demography. This applies to the locational advantage, distribution system and
general servicing load of services like schools, hospitals and so on.
Also, because of negative externalities generated by some users of land such as industrial areas, which
generate heavy traffic or pollute the environment so much as to cause a decline in the value of adjacent
land uses such as residential, it is therefore, pertinent to separate such land use activities from each other.
There is then the need for the government to establish rules about how land would be used and not leave
this function to the market allocating process because the market cannot be trusted to produce a rational,
efficient land use system. Urban land as a scarce resource needs to be husbanded in a way that will
balance long and short term need of the community and also balance the conflicting claims of different
interest groups. Development control ensures and regulates the character and appearance of buildings,
their relationship to one another and to open spaces, hence create healthy environment for living and
working.
Development plan ensures that there will be adequate light, ventilation, playgrounds for children, open
spaces for relaxation and recreation. It regulates the orderly planning and growth of a country, town, or
city by stipulating adequate standards for all aspects of planning. It also ensures that residential,
commercial, industrial, educational and agricultural areas are properly and carefully zoned to prevent
conflict and promote a harmonious interrelationship.
Development control is aimed at checking the activities of developers and landowners by ensuring that
they do not develop their property, as they like and to the detriment of public interest. A development
plan cannot work without development control. As a road is to a motor vehicle and as salt is to food, so is
development control to a development plan.
DEVELOPMENT CONTROL MECHANISMS
The development control mechanisms provide tools through which planning goals and ideals are
achieved.
Robert (1975) identified two technical devices used in development control processes. These are land –
use zoning and planning standards. The planning standards also have two main divisions. These are the
prescriptive and the regulatory standards. The prescriptive standards are the guides or specifications used
in dimensioning in the preparation of a disaster risk reduction plan or any development plan for that
matter. Planning standards are used in Town Planning as recognized model for imitations (Keeble, 1976).
They are legislated standards which in most cases are mandatory and inflexible. They serve as tools or
specifications before building operations can be approved under the law.
Examples of the planning standards are residential density standards, plot ratio, setbacks from the stream,
rivers or roads, airspace standard car parking control standards and highway standards among others.
Above all, the planning standards are entrenched in the building and sub-division regulations as well as
the sanitary and zoning codes of local government councils for enforcement (Adeleye and Olayiwola,
2006).
PROBLEMS OF DEVELOPMENT CONTROL
Despite the fact that it is over two decades of enactment of urban and Regional Planning Decree No 88 of
1992, numerous constraints still militate against the effectiveness of development control especially in
urban areas. Some of these constraints include:

 Non-implementation of the long approved Nigerian Urban and Regional Planning Law (Decree
No 88 of 1992, amended as No 18 of 1999) by all tiers of government except in few states like
Lagos and Oyo. That is, the establishment of the National Urban and Regional Planning
 Commission, State Urban and Regional Planning Boards and the Local Planning Authorities,
which are yet to take effect in Nigeria.

 Compared to other sectors of the economy, physical planning programs suffer a lot of set-backs
through inadequate funding. Government particularly at local government level misconstrues
Planning Authorities to be revenue generating unit rather than social service providers.

Lack of planning tools which includes up- to-date base maps for settlements and regions. This has
hindered the preparation of development plans for settlements, particularly regions and urban areas.
 There is political intervention and the manipulation by government functionaries. For instance,
government functionaries at all levels connive with other departments in the ministries and local
governments in carrying out siting and development of projects without (legal) approval from
development control agencies.
 Lack of public enlightenment on physical planning issues by government at all levels makes
members of the public “ignorant” of physical planning programs. Consequently, leading to
development of illegal structures over space both in urban and rural settlements.
 There is also no proper monitoring of planning schemes, which leads to abandoning of plots in
some cases by allotees.
 Inadequate number of professional town planners in government service, that is, shortage of man
power in physical planning agencies is a major problem. For instance, by the provision of the
Nigerian Urban and Regional Planning Decree No 88 of 1992, each of the Local Planning
Authorities is to have a minimum of six professionally qualified Town Planners to effectively
man various units.
 Poor attitudes of employers that is Federal, State and Local Governments in sponsoring Town
Planners for training, retraining and refresher courses.
 Corruption among development control agencies in their decision to process and give approval to
development proposals. This act has spread to official who collect bribe in the name of processing
fees.
HOUSING POLICY DEFINED

As defined by Wikipedia, (2011), a policy is a principle or rule to guide decisions and

achieve rational outcome. It may also refer to the process of making important
organizational decisions, including the identification of different alternatives such as
programs or spending priorities, and choosing among them on the basis of the impact
they will have. Policies can be understood as political, management, financial, and
administrative mechanisms arranged to reach explicit goals. Agbola and Alabi (2000)
also defined it as a plan of action, a statement of aim and ideas. Housing policy is thus a
guideline provided by government which is aimed at meeting the housing need and
demand of the people through a set of appropriate strategies including fiscal, institutional,
legal and regulatory frameworks (Agbola, 1998). A housing policy therefore provides a
guide which delimits action and sets goals but does not necessarily specify any defined
strategies for achieving the goal other than broad strategies. It establishes guidelines and
limits for discretionary actions by individuals responsible for implementing the overall
plans of action (Olatubara, 2002). Duruzoechi (1999) noted that some housing policy
decisions (written or implied) express the overall past work of government while others
are goal statement or prescription of elemental rules for the conduct of personal or
organizational affairs. Policies are thus well reasoned, carefully articulated and presented
documents (Olatubara, 2002). Housing policy is essentially necessary as a guide or
control on the various actors in the housing sector. The main objectives of housing policy
according to Duruzoechi, (1999), are to obtain the optimum use of existing housing
resources in other to ensure adequate housing for the people, guide the location of new
housing, and be responsive to the housing needs of special people.

RATIONALE FOR THE NATIONAL HOUSING POLICY

On the 26th April, 1985, 25 years after Independence, the Federal Government decided to
have a National Housing Policy and appointed a Committee to draw up same. At the
inauguration of the Committee, the Honourable Minister of Works and Housing disclosed
that:

“Government plans to take positive steps to ensure that the less privileged members of
the society, including the wandering psychotics who require confinement and
rehabilitation, have access to dwelling houses.”

In February 1991, approximately six years after the inauguration of the Committee, the
first National Housing Policy was launched. The document stated that the ultimate goal
of the National Housing Policy was to ensure that all Nigerians owned or had access to
decent, safe and sanitary housing accommodation at affordable cost by the year 2000.

As at today, 51 years after independence and 20 years after the first National Housing
Policy was inaugurated, Nigeria has neither an articulate National Land Policy, nor an
up-to-date National Housing Policy. All efforts since 2004 to distil a National Housing
Policy from the Report of the Presidential Technical Committee on Urban Development
and Housing and the Government White Paper on same, have not been very successful.

In order to redress the unacceptable situation, Government decided to review and update
the Draft National Housing Policy and the Draft National Urban Development Policy in
September 2011, with all relevant facts affecting the housing sector. This review will
result in developing a policy framework for the provision of affordable housing for
Nigerians as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The review
and update took into account the following:

(i) The priorities outlined in Mr. President‟s Transformation Agenda for the sector;
The provisions and priorities of National Vision 20:2020 for the sector;

The imperatives of Financial Systems Strategy 2020 (FSS2020); and

All the issues raised by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at its 30th meeting held
on 10th September 2008, when the Housing Policy was presented to it and ensure that
all the issues raised therein are addressed.

The overriding consideration of this policy is the revitalization of the housing sector to
enable it serves as a catalytic instrument for ensuring rapid and effective socio-economic
development. Of immediate and crucial need are the creation of job opportunities and the
reduction of poverty. Consequently, some of the key priorities for achieving these
objectives are as follows:

i. Reduce the national deficit in housing to meet needs and the effective demand for
housing;

ii. Make housing finance available to the no-income, low and medium income
earners;

iii. Provide the legal and regulatory framework that will attract private sector
investors to develop affordable housing products particularly for the No- income,
Low-income and Middle-income groups;

iv. Rehabilitate and renovate the existing housing units;

v. Develop an effective land administration system to make land ownership

available, secure, accessible and easily transferrable at affordable rate;

vi. Develop and build adequate capacity, including the provision of infrastructure to
support the housing sector, on a sustainable basis;
vii. Strengthen institutions and overhaul systems and processes for a more virile
housing sector;

viii. Establish administrative, legal and regulatory framework for a more efficient and
effective housing delivery system;

ix. Promote the use of alternative building materials and new technologies in housing
delivery; and

x. Establish and develop title and mortgage insurance systems and institutions.

Arising from the above, the priority areas of this policy which require specific
intervention to ensure sustainable housing delivery in Nigeria are as follows:

 Land for housing;

 Housing finance;

 Building materials;

 No-income, low income, co-operative and rural housing;

 Housing supply and demand planning;

 Appropriate institutional framework;

 Implementation, coordination, monitoring, evaluation and review;

 Construction methods;

 Sustainable construction workforce;

 Maintenance;

 Construction costs;

 Infrastructural and estate development financing; and

  Data and statistics on housing.

Achieving affordable housing will raise home ownership to about 50%, improve
Nigeria‟s Human Development Index (HDI) Ranking, expand the construction sector and
the mortgage market, significantly reduce poverty in households, increase the
productivity and quality of lives of the citizenry, and make the housing sector
contribute over 20% to Nigeria‟s GDP, as envisioned in Vision 20:2020.