Experts to offer options for Nigeria’s bulging urban population
Experts are set to provide options for addressing Nigeria’s rapidly expanding urban population and its associated challenges.
Leading the expert discussion is Paul Collier, a renowned scholar and professor of African economies at Oxford University, United Kingdom.
Collier will be the keynote speaker on the challenge of Africa’s future cities at the event, which is the 14th edition of Centre for Values in Leadership’s (CVL) annual lecture. The event takes place in February in Lagos.
The theme of the lecture is ‘Living Well Together, Tomorrow: The Challenge of Africa’s Future Cities’.
A statement from CVL says the world is faced with the promise and challenge of living well, together, in the face of globalisation, migration, global warming, naturalisation and urbanisation as cities grow on a daily basis.
“Today, many countries and cities find it difficult to accommodate people from other civilisations in view of challenges that new population growth has thrown up. For Nigeria, it is projected that more than 65 percent of the population will live in urban settlements by 2020 at a time housing infrastructure is in deficit of about 10 million,” the statement says.
“In an attempt to answer the question of how to make cities more efficient, experts have proposed smart cities, sustainable cities and resilient cities.
“The big question is this: Is the new model of smart cities, the solution to the challenge of efficient housing for all? Why are inhabitants of cities with the best planning and infrastructure not living well, together?” CVL asks.
The lecture will attract Jabber Bin Hafez, CEO Smart City Dubai and chairman of Smart City Lagos; Akinwunmi Ambode, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and Godwin Obaseki, governors of Lagos, Enugu and Edo states respectively, as well as Liyel Imoke, former governor of Cross River State. Others that will participate are Pat Utomi, founder/CEO, CVL; Fred Olayele, president, Global Economic Institute for Africa in Canada, and Taibat Lawanson, associate professor at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, among others.