Glory Christopher, a young mother of two, emerged from the rubble that had been her home for years not only battered and bruised; she also emerged a widow.
Her husband was not lucky enough to escape the tumbling blocks of the four-storey apartment that they had resided in for years in Lagos. He bravely made sure his family was out of the collapsing building, seconds before the cascading concrete buried him.
His mangled body was among the scores that were pulled out of the massive rubble hours later.
Thousands of people have died, and more injured, in the multiple cases of collapsed buildings in Nigeria over the last couple of years.
The horrific statistics have spurred the Council of Registered Engineers of Nigeria (COREN) to propose the death penalty for owners, and people involved in the construction, of collapsed buildings. This proposal has been made to the House of Representatives and it remains to be seen whether federal lawmakers will adopt this suggestion and kick-start the motion to put it into law.
However, stakeholders say it would be far better for all parties concerned to concentrate more on seeking laws that will ensure that the regulation of construction in Nigeria is effectively enforced. Some of the factors blamed for most of these collapses are those of poor quality of construction materials, improper soil, inadequate maintenance, incorrect planning, etc. The fact remains that these factors exist because non-professionals are involved in building houses.
A situation where property owners engage quacks as civil engineers, who then turn around to take advantage of lax enforcement of statutory regulations, cannot be allowed to continue. A true professional will not on compromise on standards, even where the principal bullies him to cut corners.
“Clients (developers) and contractors can be stubborn,” says Bashiru Pedro. “Some of them do not listen to your recommendations while building their houses. There is this building that collapsed last year in Maryland, Lagos. It was being built as a hotel, the owner refused to listen to the engineer who told him that the (structural) requirements were not met. The building collapsed on the day that the hotel was supposed to be opened.”
To eliminate such scenarios, industry experts have called for, among other things, the enactment of a National Building Code and the establishment of a Construction Industry Commission. The solutions were contained in a communiqué issued at the end of a national dialogue session on collapsed buildings organised by Lafarge Cement WAPCO Nigeria Plc, in Abuja in June.
While these suggestions are welcome, the greater focus should be on regulation. Existing regulators need to put their boots on the ground to ensure that quacks are eliminated from the industry. Building a house is akin to performing surgery on a human being, only a true professional should be allowed to do it.
The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) has also moved to tackle this worrisome trend. In a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with COREN, the anti-graft agency aims to help in addressing challenges of wrong perception where some unqualified persons are seen as engineers by members of the public.
This is a welcome development; and it is hoped that both organisations, as well as other industry stakeholders, will embark on a sustained sensitisation campaign to ensure that people like Mrs Christopher can breath easy when next a crack appears on the walls of their homes.
It will be recalled that a few months ago, Many people were feared dead, injured, while dozens of others remain trapped following the collapse of a building belonging to the Synagogue Church, Ikotun in Lagos.
A couple of weeks ago, Naij reported a story about the collapse of an Imp Film Academy.
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