Nigerian Govt Backs ACRC’s Action Research Work in Lagos, Maiduguri

The Federal Government of Nigeria has hailed the African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC) over its activities in some African cities including Lagos and Maiduguri, in the country’s southwest and northeast regions, respectively.

The Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Sustainable Development Goals (OSSAP-SDGs), Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, gave the commendation recently in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory, during a dinner hosted by the ACRC in collaboration with the SDGs office.

The dinner was part of the activities to welcome to Nigeria the ACRC Chief Executive Officer, Diana Mitlin, a professor of Global Urbanism at the Global Development Institute of the University of Manchester, United Kingdom.

Apart from Mrs Orelope-Adefulire and her team that graced the occasion, representatives of various development partners and government agencies such as UN-Habitat, the National Assembly, Nigerian Governors’ Forum, among others, were in attendance.

About ACRC research work

ACRC is a programme of the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) which the University of Manchester leads with the foundation phase involving 12 African cities including Lagos and Maiduguri.

In Maiduguri, one of the action research works is seeking to provide enhanced tenure security in informal settlements, and it is being carried out by researchers from the University of Maiduguri in partnership with other stakeholders such as community residents, and civil societies.

Meanwhile, for the ongoing implementation phase, ACRC has pegged the number of beneficiary cities to five- Lagos (Nigeria), Accra (Ghana), Nairobi (Kenya), Harare (Zimbabwe), and Kampala in Uganda.

According to Mrs Mitlin, the purpose of ACRC as framed by FCDO is to help rethink an approach to open programming on urban development, considering it as a political challenge requiring skills, and also the complexity of urban systems with their unintended consequences.

She said the initiative is designed to build “on the extensive and longstanding reform efforts that already existed in Africa.”

Mrs Mitlin said: “We felt that we had to acknowledge the work that had gone on already, and our task was to add value to that work. We also acknowledge that the reform efforts were not singular but were driven by the diversity of agencies frequently working together.

“So as academics, we acknowledge the significance of planners, architects, engineers, and others who get involved in the making of urban space as well as researchers on the other side. We also acknowledge the importance of the local government administrators, even as we are conscious of the depth of the NGOs’ efforts, especially the national and city-based NGOs.”

She noted that the foundation phase of the project across the 12 cities showed how evidence-led development could help to catalyse commitment from the elite to address identified problems and build capabilities among relevant state agencies.

Need for partnership

Mrs Mitlin said ACRC recognises that true development must be localised, saying its concern was to align its operation with the ongoing existing efforts in Africa.

“We are not the agencies here, we are the followers, the learners, and to align our work to be effective and be focused. I think what we have already realised is that an alignment with the SDGs is very close and very embedded. As we all know, SDG 11 is all about cities, and creating prosperous, viable, and sustainable cities,” she added.

According to Ms Mitlin, ongoing action research in Ajegunle-Ikorodu area of Lagos focuses on safety and security with a streetlighting project being led by an urban and regional planning researcher at the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, Adewumi Badiora.

According to the researchers, the lack of streetlights significantly contributes to high crime rates, identifying area boys, cult groups, trade unions, and even some security operatives as key actors in the city’s security challenge.

The ACRC CEO also mentioned another action research on water and sanitation in Okerube community in Alimoso Local Government Area which she noted is aimed at improving the health of the residents, and also another that focuses on the city’s climate resilience.

Commendation

In her remark, Mrs Orelope-Adefulire thanked the ACRC team, and Mrs Mitlin in particular, for finding Nigeria worthy of such efforts, emphasising the country’s significance to Africa as a continent.

She said once Nigeria succeeds, Africa would succeed.

“We welcome Professor Diana to Nigeria, a land of peace. This is a country where you can go out the way you like, you don’t have to put on two or three jackets because we have the best weather. We also thank you very much for what you are doing and what you will still do,” she said.

The official spoke about the challenges facing cities globally and particularly in Nigeria where she identified overpopulation as a precursor for urban migration.

She said: “Nigeria is overpopulated and we need to match it with infrastructure so that those in both the urban and the rural communities can enjoy life. And we are sure this is in line with the study your team is conducting in Nigeria. As you may have seen, Lagos is witnessing such a crisis now as the smallest state with the highest population. This has put a lot of pressure on the government of Lagos State in the area of infrastructure to match the population.”

Apart from commending ACRC’s work in Maiduguri and Lagos, she commended the government of Borno State, the federal government, and various development partners for their support for the city when it witnessed flooding in 2024 due to the collapse of its dam.

“So we thank you for coming to Nigeria, and for what you have done in Maiduguri in Borno State, one of the lovely states in Nigeria. It was unfortunate that we recorded a dam collapse in the city killing people and destroying properties. But we all rolled our sleeves to help humanity. Part of our job is what you have come to do, so we appreciate you. We would like to have your report so that we can work on it,” Mrs Orelope-Adefulire said.

Apart from Mrs Mitlin on the part of ACRC at the dinner were also the consortium’s Director of Uptake, Ismail Ibraheem, a professor at the University of Lagos; the ACRC Lagos City Manager, Temilade Sesan, and the Lagos City Uptake Officer, Mojeed Alabi.