The recent collapse of a three-storey building at the Yaba area of Lagos State has raised fresh concerns over recurring cases of collapsed buildings in Lagos State and other parts of the country. Only one person was rescued alive from the rubble while five people died from the unfortunate incident.
The collapse of the building, which was under construction, came some months after the collapse of 21-storey building in Ikoyi, Lagos, which reportedly claimed over 40 lives. The Ikoyi incident was quickly followed the next day by the collapse of a two-storey building in Lekki, Lagos State.
Although building collapse occurs in virtually all parts of the country, Lagos State has recorded more of such cases. Apart from Lagos State, such incidents have been recorded in Anambra, Imo, Abia, Kano, Kwara, Benue, Taraba, Ogun, Ondo and other states. Available statistics revealed that over 461 buildings collapsed in the country and over 1,000 people killed from 1974 to 2021. According to reports, Lagos State led others in cases of building collapse and accounted for 50 reported cases of the incidents between 2013 and 2019. It has also been reported that out of 84 building collapse that occurred in the country between 2011 and 2019, only 21 occurred outside Lagos State.
For instance, a five-storey building collapsed on Tinubu Street, Victoria Island, Lagos in 2011. Also, in 2014, a guesthouse at the premises of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) at Ikotun-Egbe area of Lagos State collapsed and over 100 people, including foreigners, either died or injured. In 2016, a five-storey building collapsed in the Lekki area of Lagos State and killed not less than 35 people. Similarly, in 2019 a three-storey building caved in at the Ita-Faaji area of Lagos Island and claimed 20 lives.
It is unfortunate that Lagos State is still recording frequent collapse of buildings despite measures put in place to check such incidents. In 2016, the Lagos State government marked for demolition not less than 40 distressed buildings which were located in some parts of the state, including Lagos Island, Ebute-Meta, Bariga, Surulere and others.
The frequent collapse of buildings in the state may be due to so many factors, including non-adherence to approved building plans, building codes and use of sub-standard building materials as well as the use of quacks or non-professionals in building houses. There is no doubt that inadequate supervision of buildings by regulatory agencies in Lagos State must have triggered the incessant collapse of buildings in recent times.
To address the problem, the Lagos State government must map out workable measures to ensure that relevant regulatory agencies in the building sector are alive to their responsibilities. In particular, the officials of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority and Lagos State Materials Testing Laboratory must diligently perform their duties.
Also, the Nigeria Institute of Architects (NIA), Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), Nigeria Society of Engineers must ensure that qualified professionals are engaged in any building project. In the same vein, the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) should make sure that quality materials are used in the building sector.
We condemn the frequent collapse of buildings in Lagos State and other parts of the country and the attendant loss of lives and investments. We call on the government and the relevant building agencies to work concertedly to check the menace. We urge the Lagos State government to muster the political will to prosecute the developers of all collapsed buildings and other people involved in the approval of the building pplans. This is the time the government must bare its fangs and deal with those responsible for recurring building collapse in the state.
It has become imperative that all officials of the state government, especially those in the building regulatory agencies, found complicit in the matter, must be prosecuted and adequately punished. It is by punishing all those responsible for frequent building collapse that the government can prevent such incidents in future. Perhaps, the implementation of the recommendations of the panel on Ikoyi building collapse will go a long way in curbing the menace.