When I received an alert that a building has just collapsed within the precincts of Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos, I hesitated. Incredible! I became a doubting Thomas, making frantic phone calls to that vicinity in order to verify the videos sent to me.
Building collapse within the most expensive terrain, a community well-organised or deemed well organised in Nigeria sounded an aberration. Banana Island is the pride of all who admire the environment.
Most nouveau riche in Nigeria crave (for) a residential slot on this artificial Island. The ostentatious ones admire the denizens of this peculiar area of Ikoyi. Banana Island residents are in a class by themselves. Eulogy!
Painfully, it dawned on me that the collapse was not mere rumours. It happened! It was real. This is a threat to the safety of human lives and the value of land in one of the highly rated and secured abodes in Africa.
A sad day for the headship of the Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development. Pity. In a crisis situation such as this, many officials will be deprived of sound sleep. Transient insomnia!
The image and reputation of those of us in the Nigerian building industry are at stake before the whole world. What excuses are we going to offer for the latest imponderable building collapse?
It is unfortunate that nobody has been successfully prosecuted for building collapse offences in Nigeria. Quackery, compromise and impunity proceed unchecked.
When human beings are not subjected to the law of consequence, misdeeds are absolved in sentiments. Alas, loss of lives and property becomes a continuum!
Hammurabi code?
On Thursday evening, the Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG) updated its record of building collapse in Nigeria (1974 – 2023) to 552 with Lagos State accounting for 59.06 percent (that is, 326 collapsed buildings).
While awaiting more information on the collapse, I empathise with anybody who may have been unfortunately affected by this incident.
Builder Awobodu, an advocate against building collapse, is immediate past president of the Nigerian Institute of Building, past president of the Building Collapse Prevention Guild
