Nigerian institute of town planners swears-in 2nd female chairman

By Diana Omueza

The Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP) FCT Chapter, has sworn-in Mrs Lami Ayuba, the 2nd female to become chairman of the institute since inception in 1993.

Mr Nathaniel Atebije, the NITP National President said that the men in the institute were beginning to understand that women could do as much as their male counterpart.

Atebije said this in Abuja during the NITP Investiture Ceremony of the 14th Chairman and the inauguration of the 2022/2023 Executive Committee.

He said that the long struggle to break the jinx of a male piloted institute had been done by two dogged women of substance, passion and resilience.

“Today marks another special day in the life of this chapter; that we are celebrating the success God has been giving us in leadership.

“The affairs of this chapter have been piloted by so many men of substance over the years; at a point in life, we singled out a woman loaded with passion to lead this chapter in the person of Tpl. Mrs Morenike Babalola, FNITP.

“She did her best and demonstrated her capacity, compassion, creativity and motherly love to put the chapter in the shape we needed at that time and since she left office in 2010, it has been a men’s affair.

“After four men occupied this office, our sister Tpl. Lami attempted to break the jinx but the ambition was obstructed by the overwhelming dominion of men, he said.

The NITP National President added that “It appeared as if she lost the battle that year but did not loose the fight; and If you call it a loss, then it was a gallant one.

“It was taken only as the will of God for her to wait patiently for a little more time and hearing the voice of God, she obliged.

“And as a woman consumed by passion and vision, and as a dogged advocate, when the opportunity came again, she picked up the expression of interest to serve the Institute in this chapter in the apex office from the base of the ladder.

“And the response of the members assured her that her time had come and the men had started understanding that women can do as much as men would.

“So she was elected and to give the women folk the assurance that their time had come, a woman was also elected as her Vice in our normal convention and line of succession,” he said.

Atebije congratulated the new chairman and other executive members on their election and prayed for God’s wisodm to guide their decisions and activities in office.

He advised the new chairman and her team of executive that leadership was a burden laden with challenges but they were not insurmountable.

Atebije said that there could be misunderstandings through mis-information; however the chairman should not allow any circumstance to kick her and her team off the track.

“Keep good listening ears, refuse to trust gossips, seek for the truth in any manner and address issues dispassionately.

“Also keep working hard, hard work does not kill; but idleness kills faster and I pray for God to grant you the wisdom needed to accomplish the tasks of this office and to go beyond the legacies of your predecessors,” he said.

Mrs Ramatu Tijjani-Aliyu, FCT Minister of State, commended the gender sensitivity of the members and leadership of the NITP in electing and swearing-in the 2nd female chairman.

Tijjani-Aliyu who was represented by Mr Nasir Suleiman also commended the NITP for its tenacity in striving to attain international best building plans and standards to make the FCT a conducive city to live.

“It is a privilege on my part to serve as a special guest of honor at this event aimed at bringing together town planners, allied professionals, academicians and policy makers.

“To brainstorm on the new concept, emerging trends and global agenda towards finding solutions to the developmental and environmental challenges in the FCT.

“With a view to fostering education, training, research and practice, as well as the dissemination of urban and regional planning information.

“And let me use this occasion to commend the leadership of the FCT chapter of the NITP for keeping with the tradition of investiture of the newly elected officials who will run the affairs of the chapter,” she said.

Tijjani-Aliyu said that the world was fast changing and the city planners must change along with the global trend and ensure a continously well planned FCT conducive for living and engagement of its residence in great dealings.

Mr Mustapha Mubdiyyu, the outgoing chairman of the institute thanked the entire members of the NITP FCT chapter for the opportunity and support given to him to serve from 2020 to 2022 as the 13th chairman of the chapter.

“The two years of my tenure have wrapped up as though they were only a few months, but they have been very eventful and impactful.

“In those two years, you gave me the opportunity to become a better person, to relate with all and sundry, as well as be of service to every member of our great chapter.

“In those two years quite a number of things happened; we lost some of our dearly beloved members. We were pained, but we had one another’s shoulders to lean on and cry.

“We were also comforted by the successes of others, those who became Directors, General Managers, those who were elevated to the status of Fellows, those who bagged additional academic degrees, and new members who joined the chapter to make our family bigger.

“| look back to when we started the two-year journey there were lots of hopes and aspirations, we truly may not be where we want to be, but we are definitely not where we used to be,” he said

He said that in the space of the two years of his tenure, the chapter was able to change the narrative about the town planning profession and work was still in progress in that regard.

Mrs Lami Ayuba, the newly sworn-in chairman thanked God, her husband, her children, siblings, friends, women and other members of the chapter for their support.

“I specially want to thank my mentor and professiona| colleague, Tpl Umar Shuaibu, who dragged me back to the town planning profession sometime in 2005.

“I also want to specially acknowledge some great women town planners who midwifed me into the planner I am today.

“My predecessors, especially the immediate past chairman of the chapter; Tpl Mubdiyy Mustapha FNITP have laid the pillars on which I will stand and carry on the leadership of the FCT chapter,” she said.

Ayuba lauded the FCT town planners for well-planned cities in Nigeria from inception, adding that Abuja masterplan provided a blueprint for the development of the country which was very easy to identify through the application of certain planning standards.

These planning standards she said included the separation of different land use zones, separation of building heights and densities, application of building lines and setbacks, location of neighborhood facilities, creation of various planning administration departments and others.

She promised to work in reducing issues of land grabbing, double allocations, fake layouts, overlapping layouts, unapproved developments resulting to evictions/demolition and others city plan challenges in the FCT.

She performed her first official assignment as chairman by swearing-in the 2022/2023 Executive Committee of the NITP.

She also urged the committee to be committed to their mandates, work diligently and support her office with the necessary advice and skills needed to take the institute to greater heights.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mrs Lami Ayuba was elected in the 2022 NITP election as the 14th Chairman of the institute in the FCT Chapter.

Her election brought to end a 13 years male chairmanship jinx since Mrs Morenikeji Babalola the 1st female chairman of the institute left office in 2010.