The Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG) has raised concern over frequent cases of building collapse in different parts of Nigeria.
It noted that urgent steps must be taken to nip the problem in the bud.
According to the group’s National President Sulaimon Yusuf and General Secretary Adenike Ayan, when a seven-story building collapsed on Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos on April 12, 2023, the holy months of Lent/Easter and Ramadan/Eid-El-Fitri seemed desecrated.
The group saw building collapses as a recurring issue because real estate and housing development have become alternative booming businesses for investors in Nigeria following the collapse of the stock exchange and manufacturing.
The statement reads: “When the 7-storey building collapsed at Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos on April 12, 2023, killing a person and in a quick succession, another one, a 3- storey building collapsed on Sunday, April 23, 2023, at the GRA, Apapa, Lagos (45, Ladipo Oluwole Street) the holy month of Lent /Easter and Ramadan/Eid-ul-Fitri seemed desecrated. Death or injury could have been associated with the Apapa building collapse if not for the Eid-ul- Fitri holiday observed by the construction workers.
“However, for building collapse to have occurred in highbrow locations around this sacred period, an auspicious time to intensify the evangelism against building collapse and stir the conscience of those who are currently the domineering factor in the Nigerian Housing Sector is NOW!
“Those two buildings collapsed while under construction, and they were being constructed by developers. The recurring decimal brings to mind the 4-storey building, under construction, that collapsed at 4th Avenue, Gwarimpa Estate, Abuja on February 2, 2023, resulting in the death of 2 persons ; 9-storey building, under construction, that collapsed at Oniru Estate, Victoria Island, Lagos on September 4, 2022, recording 4 deaths; and the 20- storey building, also under construction, that collapsed at Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos on November 1, 2021, claiming the lives of the developer and 51 others. Many got injured in these incidents. All the aforementioned buildings flouted building approval regulations.
“Real estate and housing development have become an alternative booming business for investors following the collapse of the stock exchange and manufacturing in Nigeria. So many business-oriented people, who possess nil training in building construction have flooded the nation’s construction sphere with little respect for professionalism and due process.
“When there are no eligibility criteria, requirements or qualifications that restrict admission into a sensitive and critical sector, the consequence will endanger the much-cherished human life and property. And in ‘all comers affair’, where professional advice is hardly adhered to as profiteering is elevated above safety, compromise becomes the order of the day.
“This abnormal and unacceptable situation became a concern to those of us in the built environment professional services. Town Planners, (Land) Surveyors, Architects, Engineers, Quantity Surveyors, Builders, and Estate Surveyors & Valuers came together to form a coalition named Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG) in 2011. Of course, the membership was huge and well spread across different localities and reticulated into various cell formations.”
“Hence, we shall continue to expend our personal resources to fight causes of building collapse. 12 years of collective, relentless and consistent service to humanity! Despite series of disappointment and discouragement, we cannot afford to give up. We are resolute in this mission. There is no man-made problem that defies solution,” it added.
