The Institute for Environment Research and Development (IERD) is registered as limited by Guarantee by the federal government of Nigeria to carry out scientific research on issues related to environment and development and publish same appropriately. As a tradition, the institute is headed by an outstanding professor with a specialization in an environmental discipline.
IERD has successfully over the years, hosted several events at the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh sessions of the World Urban Fora in Nanjing, China (2008), Rio-de-Janeiro, Brazil (2010), Naples, Italy (2012), and Medellin, Columbia (2014). The result has been very outstanding as the institute has made outstanding contributions to the final report of the UN-HABITAT world urban fora reports for over a decade. This consistency of IERD at UNHABITAT activities elevated the institute and was listed as one of the UNHABITAT’s partnering organizations of the African New Urban Agenda programme in 2013.
In 2014, as a research institute, IERD facilitated the launch of the United Nations Habitat’s report on the State of World Cities at Caleb University, Lagos Nigeria.
The twelfth edition UNHABITAT has graciously approved IERD in conjunction with other organizations, to jointly host Voices From Cities event on the 6th November, 2024 in room D at 9.30 am at the International Convention and Exhibition Centre in Cairo venue of the WUF.
The event will largely espouse on developmental prowess as encapsulated in the Voices of Nigerian Cities. All the thirty-six states of Nigeria were carefully analysed and significant cities with outstanding results were selected for their voices to be heard at the global event with more than 25,000 participants from 181 nations of the world in attendance. Dr Wole Akiode, a former research fellow at the IERD and currently the head of the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences at the University of Kampala, Uganda listed five key areas of the selected Voices: The smartness of the city, the innovative approach to city development, city prosperity index and the security, peace and conflict management, and finally intercity collegiate.
Espousing further on the need to assess cities, the Special Adviser to the President of the African Development Bank, on Industrialisation, Prof Oyebanji Oyelaran, when approached on the issue, advised that prudence in governance spending should be a major criterion. He emphasised the growth in industrialisation as the major clue to African recovery from extreme poverty.
Dr Marwan Abdulkarim, the Executive Director of Della Sustainability and Resource Institute, opined that a grassroots and all-inclusive governance approach would be an additional consideration in raising the Voice of Nigerian Cities in the global comity of nations. Dr Marwan, who was on the 5th session of the World Urban Forum in Naples, Italy, maintained his position on the need for a UN-HABITAT event.
In reaction to this development, a renowned professor of urban planning and cities who retired from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Prof Mathew Dayomi, identified urban transportation as a vital key to the assessment of urban governance.
The Institute for Environment Research and Development (IERD) would subject these factors to global debate and assessment at the Cairo summit. The Director, of the African Regional Office of the United Nations, Mr Oumar Sylla, indicated his intention to witness the event. The Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr Oluyinka Abiodun Olumide, an outstanding Physical planning administrator, would also share his wealth of experience at the event.
