CLIENT IS DICTATOR


Prototypical Private City Projects
In the commercial city of Onitsha up to 95% of private apartments and residences are privately generated and financed as such the client controls almost every project procurement process.
In this kind of scenario the client is more than King-the client is more of a dictator and wields as it were ‘the power of life and death’. Since he finances the project most times unaided from financial institutions he makes decisions to the tune of his financial muscles and most times to the detriment of the project’s quality.

From the onset of the project, the inclusion of a qualified architect on the team is almost a taboo since the major project realization strategy is cost reduction even if it means resorting to un-professional methods.
In the clients view point the use of architectural services is uncalled for since he can quickly adapt a typical apartment in the neighborhood to his personal end.

The resulting city planning product is what the cityscape looks like- a cluster of cloned buildings as if molded from the same block making machine. A glance at the cityscape shows this to be a fact.
I’m of the strong opinion that the architect still has the responsibility to educate and sell the professional imperative of using the services of the architect to initiate generate and administer any type of building type in the Onitsha cityscape.

As megacities are evolving on a global scale the Onitsha city should be guided on a part that should produce the best architectural products which have a lot to offer the occupants of these buildings in terms of sustainable living habits and stress free housing quality and stock.
As we noted earlier every professional in the building industry should be evolved in the struggle to enthrone true professionalism in line with the new National building code.  
Ikpe Okafor 

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