Time without number, the incessant occurrence of building
collapses have dominated daily agenda setting of the media on a possible way
out to address the situation, yet the prevalence of the phenomenon lingers.
The incident which is in link with series of factors has
successfully and continually claiming the lives of the people in the country,
while other set sustaining sorrowful live injuries. Despite this tragedic
circumstances, government and the law enforcement agent that is directly
involved are giving little or no priority to their responsibilities.
To be more realistic, the spate of the recent building
collapses have clearly indicated the level of sluggish, shameful and failed
government we have in the country. To mention but few in the wake of the year
2010 to this moment, the collapse building in Abuja and a 3 – storey
uncompleted building at Ikeja, Lagos claimed 38 and 40 lives respectively. Also
in attendance is a four storey building under residential under construction
near Ojuelegba which led to loss of lives of construction workers and the
people taking shelter from the rain.
On a tragedy note, the collapse building of a mosque in Lagos
also killed some Islamic scholars likewise the incident of a storey building
collapsed in Kano accommodating some Islamic students, in a similar case with
the OworonShoki building collapse a few days after where eight people were
feared dead. Relatively, the scenario of the collapse storey building behind
Federal Capital Territory police command in A Abuja killed 14 people working.
People mostly consider the incident such as flood, earthquake
and the likes as natural disaster couple with their belief that nobody can
fight nature. So how do we describe the spate of the collapse building
disaster, a divine, natural or manmade?
Assembling in the aircraft of this embarrassing situation are
the outdated regulations guiding the building industries, non inclusion of some
of the Nigeria factors in the regulation, violation of the existing regulations
and using of substandard materials among other factors which of no doubt ended
in a destructive journey.
Most Nigerians are no longer having interest in functions or
quality of good materials but the visible quantity for their immediate
satisfaction and later harmful to their lives. Priority is being giving to a
deal at the detriment of their health and safety.
The problem of quark builders who mostly find it difficult to
read and interprete building plan for standard construction is not in
absential. Suddenly, contrary to the initial plan of the contractor or owner a
2 storey building may be multiply to four with changing the standard of the building’s
foundation.
Nevertheless, it is also observed that the dilapidated
buildings in most occasions forewarned the residents by giving signs even by
merely looking at it which the problem may have been curbed if giving immediate
intervention but no necessary action is exercised by the people concerned.
However, if notable development will be recorded in this
sector, government at all level need to review the building rules and
regulations to feet the Nation’s Housing conditions rather than the adapted and
plagiarised version of some British Standard.This must go a long way with full enforcement by the authority in charge
without tolerating any sort of bias.
Any unprofessional architects involving themselves in the
business should be fish out and face the wrath of law according to the gravity
of their offence. Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) which saddled with the
responsibility of maintaining standard on any product, goods and services
should not left any stone unturned in carrying out their assignment.
This is the high time for all stakeholders to strategize
better solution to the collapse building which almost becoming graveyard in the
country.
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