Former Deputy National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, has reacted to the collapse of the 21-storey building on Gerald Avenue, which occurred, on Monday afternoon, describing the incident as a symbol of a systemic state failure, even as he declared that everything about the building spelt doom.
George said this, on Tuesday, in a release made available to newsmen, and further described the sad incident, which claimed about 14 lives as a reflection of greed, the arrogance of power and sheer lawlessness.
“The collapse of the 21-storey building on Gerald Avenue, on Monday afternoon, is a symbol of a systemic state failure. It is a reflection of greed, the arrogance of power and sheer lawlessness.
“Everything about the building spells doom and yet the state appears comatose and indifferent,” he said.
George, who is also Atona Oodua of Yoruba land, expressed worries that a 15- storey building was approved and yet the developer raised it to 21, while the structural engineer wrote a letter since February last year detailing all the anomalies, and informing the authorities about the looming danger, but the developer still went ahead, negating the building codes.
“There is definitely a lot wrong with a government that cannot exercise a firm grip in ensuring that its own laws are abode with. Some builders apparently take dangerous short-cuts to evade the law with the obvious connivance of those who are supposed to regulate their activities,” George stated.
The elder statesman, while describing the collapsed storey building as “an obvious disaster waiting to happen and yet everyone ignored it,” said people of Lagos State “deserve to know the whole truth about the real owners of Fourscore and not the hapless fronts who are sadly buried in the ruins.”
“And the only way to unveil the truth is to set up an independent Technical and Judicial Commission which will be composed of the brightest of our architects, structural engineers, foundation and soil engineers, impeccable jurists who will never compromise their professional probity.
“Only then we will really know what happened on that terrible Monday afternoon and why it should never happen again. This is one building disaster too many. This is also a moral to the electorate to choose wisely at the polls and make sure that those who are elected effectively represent their interests,” Chief George said.
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