Lagos tops as Nigeria recorded 461 building collapse incidents in 47 years

No fewer than 461 incidents of building collapse occured in Nigeria in the last 47 years (October 1974 to July 2021).

Within this space, the total number of recorded deaths is about 1,090, with an uncountable number of the injured.

According to an analysis by the President of the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), Mr Kunle Awobodu, while Lagos topped other states with 295 incidents, amounting to 65 per cent of the cases in Nigeria, Lagos Island alone accounted for 67 (23 per cent) of the incident in the state.

Speaking on Tuesday, during the ongoing 51st Builders’ Annual Conference in Lagos, Awobodu stated that within the period of 47 years, Abuja recorded 16 incidents of building collapse; Oyo -16 cases, Anambra -15, Kano -9, Ondo -9, Abia- 9, Kwara -8, Rivers-8, Delta-8, Enugu -7, Ogun-7, Plateau -6, Kaduna -6, Edo -6, Imo -5, Osun-5, Benue -3 and Adamawa -3 incidents.

Others are Ebonyi -3, Niger -2, Kebbi -2, Ekiti -2, Cross River-2, Sokoto -1, Bauchi -1, Akwa Ibom -1, Kogi -1 and Katsina -1 cases respectively.

The conference, with the theme: “Advancing Technologies, Systems and Standards for Sustainable Building Construction,” had built environment industry’s stakeholders, builders across the states of the federation, experts, regulators, lawmakers, military personnel and traditional leaders in attendance.

While blaming activities of quacks and pervasive ignorance for most incidents of building collapse, Awobodu said the outcome of many investigations of collapsed buildings in the country has revealed a prime cause, which is quackery.

He lamented that it should be a matter of concern to all stakeholders that individuals are dabbling into a profession they lacked competence.

According to him, the primary motive of those who engaged in quackery was to make immediate pecuniary gains, giving little consideration to the risks involved.

“Quackery in building construction has really turned gains to pains in many homes. Quackery has left on its trail a tale of woes,” he said.

According to him, until quacks involved in cases of building collapse are brought to book to serve as deterrents, building construction work would remain an attractive business for charlatans.

This trend, he warned that it posed a dangerous phenomenon for the Nigerian nation.

Awobodu explained that those who are engaging in building construction work must be well trained and should keep to the approved standards as enshrined in the National Building Code.

Corroborating Awobodu, the Guest Speaker at the forum, Mr Femi Falana, SAN, decried incessant incidents of building collapse, calling for stringent penalties through the prosecution of culprits in line with the law.

According to him, owners of buildings and quacks or builders who were involved or negligent in building collapse are liable to be prosecuted.

He enjoined builders not to wait until the building collapses before they act, saying they should take proactive steps to halt the trend.

He promised to provide free legal service to NIOB to ensure that culprits of building collapse are prosecuted while victims are compensated.

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Lagos tops as Nigeria recorded 461 building collapse incidents in 47 years