4 months ago
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The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria has expressed concern over the incessant building collapse in the country, stating that Nigeria cannot investigate such incidents.
The President of COREN, Professor Sadiq Abubakar, made this known during a press briefing in Abuja recently.
According to him, building collapse is not peculiar to Nigeria, but the country’s inability to investigate and prosecute those responsible is a major challenge.
“We can’t investigate building collapse in Nigeria. We don’t have the expertise, the equipment, and the resources to do so,” he said.
Abubakar attributed the frequent building collapse to several factors, including the use of substandard materials, structural failure, illegal conversion of buildings, quackery, and inadequate supervision during construction.
He also mentioned that the rising cost of cement and the use of undersized reinforcement roads were contributing factors.
The COREN president disclosed that from July 14 this year alone, 22 cases of building collapse had been reported in Nigeria, with Lagos accounting for 28 per cent of the incidents.
He also stated that over 91 buildings had collapsed in Lagos since 2012, resulting in the deaths of over 354 persons.
Abubakar commended the efforts of emergency services and security agencies in responding to building collapse incidents but emphasised the need for a collaborative effort to address the menace.
He announced that COREN would organise a national summit to bring together stakeholders to find a lasting solution to the problem.
The COREN president also revealed that the council had taken steps to monitor and prevent building collapse, including the training and licensing of engineering regulation and monitoring inspectors and the establishment of an ERM task force in each of the seven regions.
He also mentioned the approval of the establishment of engineering intelligence and surveillance whistleblowers to report non-compliant construction sites.
He stressed that building collapse was a national emergency that required a coordinated approach to address.
He called on the general public to share useful information about distressed buildings and encouraged the cross-personalisation of ideas to manage the menace.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria, Dr Samson Opaluwah, has recommended the enactment of laws to enforce the provisions of the National Building Code, which had long been approved by the Federal Executive Council, as a matter of urgency.
Opaluwah also called for interim executive orders to be issued on compliance of all building construction in the country with provisions of the National Building Code.
“Specifically to stem building collapse, the immediate enforcement of provisions of Sections 2.44 and 2.62 of the National Building Code (2019) which require the submission and usage on site of Builders Construction Methodology, Builders Project Quality Management Plan, and Building Construction Programme prepared by a registered builder, in the construction of building projects,” he noted.
He also called on the state and local governments to domesticate the National Building Codes in their states to ensure sanity and professionalism in the built environment.
The Chairman of the Federal House of Representatives Committee on Housing, Ahmed Lera, also expressed concern over building collapse cases and the loss of lives and property.
The chairman urged the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, to come up with a plan to integrate regulatory compliance and enforcement in the housing sector.
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