Stakeholders Vow To Sustain NRCN As DFID Sponsorship Ends In 2017

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By; JACOB ONJEWU DICKSON, Kaduna.
The year 2017 will be a pivotal year for the Nigeria Resilient Cities Network (NRCN) as it becomes an independent body after the Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility (NIAF) and its partner, the British Department for International Development (DFID) support ceases.
The news was conveyed in a communiqué jointly signed by the interim chairman NRCN BOT, Professor Mike Mutter and interim organizing secretary Simon Gusah after a one-day workshop held at the Hawthorn Suites, Abuja, where stakeholders have pledged to ensure that the initiative is not only sustained, but expanded.
According to the communique, NRCN has adopted the 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) definition which aims at the uniting of all stakeholders in a city to work together in helping the city stay afloat in spite of any shocks they may experience.
“The 100RC definition of urban resilience which has been adopted by NRCN is: ‘Urban resilience is the capacity of individuals, communities, institutions, businesses, and systems within a city to survive, adapt and grow no matter what kinds of chronic stresses and acute shocks the experience.’ It stated.
It noted that the workshop was declared open by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Alhaji Mohammed Bello, represented by the Director, Urban and Regional Planning, Tpl Zalih’au Ahmed who led a team of 10 FCTA staff to the event.
 
While presenting the keynote address, Liz Agbor-Tabi, Associate Director (Africa) for 100RC of the Rockefeller Foundation, shared with the workshop the fundamentals required to institutionalize urban resilience for better city management.
 
Programme Manager for UN-HABITAT Nigeria, Tpl Kabir Yari chaired a session that deliberated on the ‘New Urban Agenda’ recently agreed at the Habitat 3 Conference in Quito, Ecuador.
 
A major talking point for the workshop was a presentation from Abdul Hussein on the need for readily available standardized date for planning and management of cities, which the meeting agreed should be a focal point and an urgent priority for going forward by NRCN.
 
It would be recalled that the first NRCN meeting was held at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria on July 14, 2016.

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