Cities
By Chinyere Nwachuwhu
Lagos July 25, 2018 (NAN) Prof. Banji Oyeyinka, a former Chief Scientific Advisor of UN-Habitat, says Nigerian cities have the potential to be among the top 50 Smart Cities in the world.
Oyeyinka, a professor of Urban Studies and Industrial Development said made the assertion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of the ongoing 2018 Africa Smart City Agenda on Tuesday in Lagos.
He said that Nigeria could achieve the feat if it could harness the human and natural resources it was endowed with.
The international conference has the theme: Conceptualising, Creating, Co-Producing’’ organised by the Faculty of Environmental Sciences of the University of Lagos.
The don said that Nigeria’s natural resources were its people of about 200 million, a huge market and natural resources to actualise the dream of the smart city agenda within a short time.
“But we need to get our acts right, put proper infrastructure in place, particularly power, internet and train people couple with the knowledge to handle the digital age.
“Some works have been done in this regard; there have been movement of people to Lagos and some other parts of the country.
“We are already there in some ways, as it is safe to say that the future is already here, but we must be able to articulate what smart city entails.
“What I mean is, how we can conceptualise it, apply it to the challenges we face as a nation and as a developing country.
“I will like to commend the organisers, university of Lagos for the initiative as I think it is a very timely meeting that points to us about what we should be doing in the future.
“And now, we have come to the conclusion that smart city is not just about technology, it is not about science but about human beings.
“Human beings should be at the centre of all our plans,’’ he said.
The don presented a paper with the title: Africa’s Smart City Agenda; Re-positioning Africa through Technology and Urban Innovation.
He said that smart city solution could be applied to urban planning, sanitation and traffic congestion.
“But that at the end of it, the discussants have concluded that in order for Nigeria to rank high in terms of living in smart city, it must prioritise its human resources.
“Our message in this conference is very clear; that whether we participate or not, the world is moving very fast.
“The digital age is a very fast moving train and we have the means. There should also be a lot of collaborations with universities.
“University of Lagos has indeed shown that it is a centre of knowledge. We need to network with all the major actors in the country,’’ he said.
Oyeyinka urged Nigeria to adopt the solutions and suggestions after the conference and see how it could leverage on them to change the lives of the populace.
“A new index has just been released on top 50 smart cities in the world and has shown that no Nigerian city is mentioned but cities such as London, New York, Paris and others are on top of the list.
“It is not too hard to attain this. I will like to say all things being equal and putting all other things in place, in the next 10 years, I will like to see Nigeria getting in the top 50 smart cities.
“That is my dream. It is all about finding solutions, making the city more livable, more human, and ensure the citizens enjoy their daily lives, devoid of being caught up in traffic for hours or breathing bad air because of pollution, having good water system, good sanitation, among others.
“All these are some of the solutions that smart city agenda must solve.
“No matter where we are now, I believe that recent history has shown that a country can develop very quickly, like China has done,’’ he said.
The Vice- Chancellor of the university, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe said that the choice of the theme of the conference was apt as it showed the currency of the faculty on city development.
He noted that the critical issues of concern in city development were not only on the beauty of the city, but that emphasis should be on citizens’ inclusion, access to information technology, consolidation of municipal services and quality of infrastructure and services.
“It is expected that the papers presented at the conference will provide in-depth discussions and resolutions on how Africa can exploit the opportunities offered with the liberalisation of access to information technology for sustainable development,’’ he said.
Ogundipe said that it was also the hope of the institution that at the end of the conference, it would take advantage of its location in one of the most vibrant urban locations in Africa to support a research cluster on smart cities.
“This will be our laboratory where experts can collaborate to advance research and learning in this critical area of the 21st urban development discourse.
“I want to encourage the faculty not to rest on its current progress and I urged the dean to continue to show academic and administrative leadership and sustain the legacy of
the founding fathers.
“This conference is one of the unique contributions of the faculty in quick succession following the construction summit organised by the faculty and must be commendation for its consistencies in the pursuit of academics as demonstrated recently when the faculty won the ARUA research grants.
“We will continue to be open for collaborations,’’ he said.
Prof. Leke Oduwaye, the Chairman of the Local Organising Committee of the conference, said that there was need to domesticate global urban agendas, agreements, protocols at the local level, adding that there was no need to re-invite the wheel.
He said that the world was changing very fast with the massive deployment of ICT and Africa could not afford to be left behind, because of the grave consequences of the future of Africa.
“However, there is need for extensive interdisciplinary research through which we can identify our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities to fast track Africa integration in the global city development trends.
“It is upon these among others that the conference is focusing on the conceptualisation, creating and co-production of Africa Smart City as the focus of this conference.
“During this conference, we will be engaged in discussions to be led by Mr Igno Herbert, Consul-General of German Embassy in Lagos as keynote speaker among others.
“We also have over 150 abstracts of research papers that will be presented during parallel sessions by scholars from local and international institutions and organisations,’’ Oduwaye said. (NAN)
CCN/GY
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Edited by Grace Yussuf