Tpl. Dr Toba Oyebanji is a distinguished urban and regional planner. He is also an academic with over two decades of experience in the physical planning profession. His expertise spans environmental management, transportation planning, urban management, master planning, urban renewal, housing, and project management, positioning him as an authority in shaping Nigeria’s built environment.

Toba James Oyebanji was born to the family of Late Mr Samuel Oyeniyi Oyebanji and Late Mrs Felicia Mojirola Oyebanji in Lagos State on Friday, February 2, 1975.                                                                                                                                                                                                 He had his primary and post primary education in Kwara State. For his primary education, he attended Christ Anglican Primary School, Ijomu Oro and St. James CAC Primary School, Ilorin between 1980 and 1986. For his secondary education, he was at Baboko Community Secondary School, Ilorin from 1986 to 1992.

A highly qualified professional, Tpl. Dr. Oyebanji later earned a Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning (B.URP) from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he graduated with Second Class Honours (Upper Division) and was recognized as the Second-Best Graduating Student of his set in 2001. He proceeded to the University of Lagos, Akoka for a Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Urban and Regional Planning, graduating with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.07 and producing the best dissertation in his class in 2013. He has just recently completed a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Urban and Regional Planning at Bells University of Technology, Ota.

His professional journey started during his NYSC programme year at the Katsina State Urban Planning and Development Authority in 2002. Thereafter, he worked at some organizations but he went into  full-fledged professional practice of Urban and Regional Planning in 2007 at Frontline Consultants, one of Nigeria’s leading town planning consulting firms, where he rose from the post of a Town Planning Officer to General Manager. There, on behalf of that organization, he prepared various Physical Planning Technical Reports, Planning Advocacy Reports, Environmental Impact Analysis Reports and Traffic Impact Assessment Reports for major clients which included UACN Property Development Company Plc (UPDC Plc) and PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc.

He  authored several technical and financial proposals that won the firms multi-million-naira contracts with the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority and real estate development companies at one time or the other. He also designed and coordinated various professional development workshops organized by the Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) such as Osun State Local Government Service Commission, Lagos State Ministry of Establishments, Training and Pension, Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority and the National Assembly.

In 2013, he co-founded Fortune Plus Consult (now Fortune Plus Consult Limited), a town planning and architecture consulting firm that has since grown into a team of over 30 professionals, with almost half of these members of staff as his former students, delivering physical planning consultancy services to individuals, corporate organizations, and government agencies. As a team leader on major physical planning and housing projects, he was actively involved in the Preparation of the Ore Development Plan in Ondo State, the National Street Naming and Addressing System for the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, the Ife-Ilode/Iyekere Flood Prevention and Urban Renewal Plan in Osun State for the Urban Development Bank of Nigeria, and the Ogun State Regional Plan for Sub-Region 5 covering Ijebu-East and Ogun Waterside Local Government Areas.

He was involved as a project team leader in the Preparation of a Layout Plan/Environmental Impact Analysis Report for South Drift Estate, Ikota, Ajah – a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Project between the Lagos State Ministry of Housing and Multi-Purpose Infrastructural Development Construction Limited. In addition, he was involved with several renowned town planning firms as a sub-consultant in conducting surveys and preparation of technical reports, including Vistaplan Consulting, Spectroplan Konsult Ltd, Sanni and Associates, Femi Ojewale and Partners, Citymatters International, Toyin Ayinde and Associates and Great Scale Planners, etc. on residential layout and development plans.

Tpl. Dr. Oyebanji also currently works as a Lecturer in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the Lagos State University of Science and Technology (LASUSTECH), Ikorodu – formerly Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH) – a role he has held since 2017, where he trains and mentors the next generation of town planning professionals.

A Fellow Member of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (FNITP) and a Registered Town Planner (RTP), Tpl. Dr. Oyebanji has participated in over thirty professional development programmes and conferences at local and international levels. He has served severally in different positions of various Executive Committees or Sub Committees of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners and Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria (ATOPCON) including the post of Secretary General among others.

As a noted contributor to the on-going issues in Nigeria on the pages of newspapers, he had in the past written on numbers of issues which among others are Access to Potable Water, Managing the Environment and Energy Sector, The Goodness in CISCAWP Intention, The Pain of Erratic Power Supply, The Contribution of FERMA and Federal Ministry of Works, etc. These are in addition to his published academic articles in local and international journals, festschrifts, and textbooks.

Tpl. Dr. Oyebanji’s dedication to mentorship, professional excellence, and nation building continues to shape Nigeria’s urban and regional planning profession, inspiring young planners while advancing sustainable development across the country  which earned him an award titled Professional Mentorship Award by the ATOPCON, Lagos State Branch in May, 2025 among other many awards that have been conferred on him.

In discharge of his Corporate Social Responsibilities activities, he is concerned for the weak and/or the poor. He believes the word of God in Galatians 6:2, which commands us all to carry one another’s burden. This is what he does, particularly for the indigent students, orphans, and widows. He has paid the SSCE fees of many of these indigent students and/or orphans in Ijomu Oro, Omu Aran, and Ilorin, all in Kwara State where he hails from. Also, a few numbers of students’ fees were also being paid for in Lagos and Ogun States. Every month, he gave small amounts of money (stipends) as a form of support to the students studying at various tertiary institutions located in Kaduna, Kano, Kwara, Lagos, Niger, and Ogun States in the past years.  Some of these students are already graduates today.

Tpl. Dr. Oyebanji also understands the need to support evangelical work and ministries. He has been supporting some Christian ministries in various forms every month with donations for the past 16 years, particularly for the evangelical outreaches to hospitals and prisons. He also supports ministers of God in various ministries and churches of God, including the Anglican Communion and other church denominations located in Kogi, Kwara, Ogun and Lagos States.

He is happily married to Mrs. Folasade Oyebanji and their union is blessed with children.

It is in recognition of his Sterling Accomplishments in Town Planning and Urban Development Consulting in Nigeria that Tpl. Dr. Toba James Oyebanji is deemed worthy to be conferred with the Nigerian Achievement Award.