The recent collapse of a 21-storey building under construction at Ikoyi, Lagos, is a huge tragedy and a sad commentary on our national life. Over 30 persons were confirmed dead and many injured in the ghastly incident that trapped the workers and visitors to the site. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has expressed displeasure and also ordered a probe into the incident.
While we await the outcome of the fact-finding panel, we unequivocally condemn the frequent building collapse that Lagos has become notorious for. The Ikoyi tragedy apparently overshadowed the case of a two-storey building that failed on the same date, November 1, in the Lekki area of the state. The building, which was also under construction, was said to have caved in after the downpour on that night.
Earlier, the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) had confirmed the partial collapse of a three-floor structure in Aguda, Surulere area on October 25, 2021, which was attributed to the wrongdoing of the landlord. The General-Manager of the LASBCA, Arc. Gbolahan Oki, revealed that the owner had carried out illegal renovations and added attachments to the building without recourse to the agency.
In July 2021, a three-storey building at Church Street on Lagos Island partially collapsed in the night while residents were asleep. The LASBCA said that the structural failure of a part of the beam carrying a water tank was responsible for the incident. In the same month, a two-storey building under construction at Isawo community in Ikorodu described as an attachment, collapsed and killed the owner
According to the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), no fewer than 43 buildings under construction collapsed in Nigeria in 2019 and many lives were lost in the incidents. The National President of NIOB, Kunle Awobodu, said that 17 of the cases were recorded in Lagos alone. The rest occurred in other parts of the country.
While we condemn this ugly incident across the country, the frequency with which buildings collapse in Lagos, the nation’s commercial hub, is worrying. The fact that virtually all the cases were traced to abuse of process and application of inferior materials suggests that intransigence has become common in the sector. The act of deliberate negligence and collusion of regulatory authorities cannot be ruled out.
It is improbable that property owners, contractors, builders and other professionals would embark on building constructions with impunity for wrongdoing, at a great cost to human lives and resources.
The development brings to question the relevance of the Cement Grade Policy introduced by the Standards Organisations of Nigeria (SON) in 2014 under Dr. Joseph Odumodu, former Director-General, to curb the menace of building collapse across the country.
Majority of the stakeholders during the public hearing submitted that “non-adherence to professional ethics, wrong combination of materials, poor supervision, corruption”, were responsible for the building collapse. They called for decisive enforcement and monitoring of the National Building Code. But SON went its way and ‘enacted’ the controversial Cement Grade Policy, overlooking the priority that should have been given to the existing rules.
The National Building Code created in 2006, was initiated by the National Council on Housing and Urban Development to address the professional and regulatory deficiencies in the building industry. To achieve these laudable objectives, state governments were required to integrate the provisions of the Code into their local laws, particularly those relating to design, construction and maintenance (post-construction) and efficiently monitor the implementation of the Code.
On its part, Lagos introduced the state’s Building Code and Regulation with statutory agency and instrument setting out the minimum requirements for the design, construction and maintenance of buildings. It is obvious that compliance to the requirements of the extant Building Code has been in the breach. The failure to decisively enforce and comply with the building control code or law has largely been responsible for varied building failures in the state.
We call on Lagos and other states to ensure strict compliance with the National and State Building Codes. Government should ensure strict enforcement of the Builders Liability Insurance/Insurance of Buildings under Construction. This component of the Compulsory Insurance Scheme launched in 2003 requires that every owner or contractor of any building under construction with more than two floors, must take an insurance policy to cover liability against construction risks caused by the negligence of the contractor, owner, servants, agents, consultants which may result in death, bodily injury, or property damage to workers or the public.
The insurance must be undertaken from the construction stage. The purpose is to guard the public against construction risks that may be caused by negligence. The insurance should also cover the collapse of the building.
The Lagos State Government must ensure adequate investigation into the incident and see to it that all those found culpable, no matter how highly placed, are made to face the law.
