Town planners have been urged to resist being used by corrupt individuals,who are bent on bringing the profession into disrepute.
The professionals were also charged to always uphold integrity and ethical standards in all their undertakings.
These admonitions were given by the president of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), Mr. Nathaniel Atebije and the Executive Director, Housing Development Advocacy Network (HDAN), Mr Festus Adebayo, an honorary member of the institute, during an interactive session with town planners in the management cadre of the body in Abuja.
Atebije urged members to make integrity their watchword, noting that there was a need for a critical reform of their images and perception as professionals before the members of the public.
The members had come together to chart the way forward through content analysis and reasoning together towards addressing some of the challenges facing town planners, particularly in the FCT as well as exploring available opportunities
Having been part of the system in the FCT, the national president said he was quite aware of the challenges confronting the image of practitioners.
Those challenges, he said ranged from capacity to integrity, equipment, political will, poor funding and other institutional problems.
Individually and collectively he said town planners were faced with the problem of character, attitude, corruption, poor remuneration and other vices.
“The impact of these on our public image is numerous, to the extent that the public does not trust us. We have become hated and endangered among other professionals,” he said.
The president recalled that members have been beaten up, stripped, publicly disgraced, and embarrassed countlessly in the process of carrying out their professional duties.
He also lamented the non-recognition saying that no town planner had been deemed fit to be honoured nationally or have a street named after them.
“Even institutionally, we are endangered, we have been denied recognition. Not even a street in the FCT was named after any town planner and whether it is accepted or not, town planners made Abuja what it is today, even if it has not met the ideals, dreams, and aspirations of Nigerians. Without town planners, it would have been worse,” he said
The president appreciated the leadership of the FCT for giving them a location for the National Secretariat and urged members to seek partnership towards developing the site.
Adebayo urged members to take advantage of the green area to accommodate the climate drive by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank.
“I am passionate about promoting anything housing through the housing show programme aired on AIT, TVC,” he said.
He enjoined the professionals to bring their expertise to bear by supporting the leadership of the body, both in the FCT and nationally, restating his commitment to support the professional body through knowledge sharing.
Credit: Dayo Ayeyemi