For the umpteenth time, a building collapse was recorded today in the Centre of Excellence- Lagos. What could be more excellent about that?
The collapse of structures in Nigeria’s commercial capital is one trend that has continued unabated and does not appear that it would end very soon.
News emanating from Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, states that a 25-storey building has caved in, leaving an unspecified number of persons trapped in the high-rise structure.
The building was reportedly under construction when it went down at about 1:30 pm on Monday, November 1, 2021.
As rescue efforts by a team of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) are ongoing to free those trapped in the rubbles, it can be argued that this will not be the last incident as the authorities charged with the responsibility of checking the standard of structures in Lagos have continually failed in their role; a development that has led to the loss of countless lives.
The Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) is the body charged with the responsibility of ensuring that all necessary steps are taken before structures are erected and are later certified for habitation.
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A check on the responsibilities of the Lagos State Building Control Agency shows that they are responsible for:
- Building control in all its ramifications.
- Approval to commence construction after obtaining development permit.
- Inspection and certification of various stages of building construction.
- Verification of your General Contractor’s All Risk and Building Insurance Policy.
- Issuance of certificate of completion of building construction and fitness for habitation.
- Identification and removal of distressed and non-conforming buildings.
- Public Health control in Buildings.
- Identification and removal of distressed buildings.
If the foregoing are the duties of the agency checking the erection of structures across the soon-to-be Mega City, and buildings continue to cave in with reckless abandon, then someone, somewhere is not doing his job, properly, and should be axed.
The lives of many other people cannot be sacrificed over the negligence or irresponsibility of a few persons.
The government of the day, led by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, therefore, needs to task his men on the need to ensure that standard testing is carried out on structures before completion.
Many building collapses have occurred due to poor or substandard building materials. If proper testings were carried out on such structures, they would have been marked for demolition and the lives of many innocent persons would have been saved.
As the government is called to action, private individuals also need to understand that the onus lies on them to ensure that proper materials should be purchased for building projects, while standard procedures should be followed in the erection of buildings.
