At a time developed and developing countries of the world are striving to take buildings to the skies, Nigeria is still battling with the worrisome menace of how to overcome the problem of building collapse. In this report, GEORGE OKOJIE writes on how to nip the problem in the bud.
While the country and its leaders are battling with the daily killings and bombing of innocent citizens by members of the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna lidda ‘ati wah Jihad, popularly known as Boko Haram, another hydra headed monster, ‘sneaked’ into Lagos last Wednesday night to kill over 20 people, destroying property worth millions of naira.
The last building collapse that occurred at Mogaji Lane, Idumota in Lagos Island was so painful because the victims were trapped for days waiting for help that never came because of the distortion in the physical planning of the bubbling commercial enclave which made rescue operation impossible.
Heavy duty equipment could not find their way to the location of the building said to be housing about 60 people who were already back home as at the time of the collapse. This is a country where the people and government are not prepared for disaster management.
The concerned residents engaged themselves in rescue efforts using local implements and by the third day after the collapse, the stench of the decomposing bodies scared the neighbours away from the vicinity.
The bereaved have wailed and cried to high heavens asking questions, and as usual, the government, professionals and other stakeholders in their usual manner have traded blames without profferring lasting solution to the problem.
It is sad that despite the importance attached to shelter in man’s hierarchy of needs and our culture,building collapse is almost a recurring decimal in the Nigerian society.
Apart from the losses incurred by the victims any time a building collapses, the attendant shame is even more embarrassing. Worse still, it is often disheartening that a country that prides itself as the giant of Africa could get right the process of erecting a sound structure.
The fact remains that human errors, ignorance,carelessness and error of intent by greedy developers are responsible for frequent cases of building collapse in Nigeria .
Rather than address this national nightmare, the leaders of the country and relevant stakeholders prefer to spend huge resources on discussions bothering on zoning of political positions, bickering over who occupy what position in the country, forgetting that building product is an investment on its own and a bulwark against the vagaries of economy and fiscal turbulence.
As at the last count, Lagos State recorded the largest number of building collapse and casualties in the country with 10 lives lost in the building that collapsed in Ojerinde Street, Mushin in Lagos. Within a period of six years, no fewer than 63 persons died in the state as a result of a series of building collapse.
The highest figure was recorded on July 18, 2006, when 28 people died in a four-storey building known as ‘Titanic’ which collapsed in Ebute Meta area of the state . Lagos is quickly followed by Port – Harcourt and Abuja .
Whether the government has the political will or not to tackle the problem, more Nigerians may still be sacrificed if nothing was done urgently.In Lagos alone, over 1,923 buildings have been marked for demolition.
Just recently, a building nearing completion at Ori-Okuta in Lagelu local government area of Oyo State suddenly came down on its own because of structural defects.
The simple truth is that building process does not require rocket science. One country that has not only cemented itself on the world property development map as having produced the tallest building in the world, but reputed for building properties with best specification is the United Aran Emirate.
In obvious display of its construction wizardry, after five years construction, the phase one of the iconic Burj Khalifa opened its doors on January 4, 2010, with lots of illumination by a display of 10,000 fireworks.
The tower originally named Burj Dubai officially holds record as the world’s tallest structure. It has 160 floors, thereby dwarfing its nearest rival, the Taipei 101 Tower by 320 meters and doubles the height of the empire state building in New York .
Interestingly, the construction experts in the country are aware that if the building had collapsed in the course of its production, or after, it would be the end of Dubai property industry.
Thus, they ensured that all the factors responsible for structural failures were tackled in the process of erecting the structure.
Proffering solution to problem of building collapse, Amr Al Baward, the director of construction of First Group, a property development giant and winner of Arabian Property Award told
LEADERSHIP in an exclusive chat in Dubai, that,” Before we start any project we comb everywhere and engage specialised property development consultants who do studies on soil, making soil investigations for all the plots. Based on the soil investigation report, it will be decided which way the design will go.
“ Whether we will go with what is called raft foundation design or the palling design. That will be step A .Based on these findings the consultant will design. Normally in Dubai , the design must go to the Dubai municipality office.
There is a very strict rule about the structure and design. Building in Dubai is about integrity. We are aware that the day a building collapses in Dubai , that will be the end of Dubai property industry .
“Always, whenever you have a tower which is B+ that is above 20 floors.
You need to get a three part approval. The professional resident in the municipal office that specialises in structural design will look through it and approve the design done by the consultant.
After that the design goes back again to the client to see through it again to also stamp the drawing and return it to the Dubai municipality office to finally approve the drawing.
“That is the process and procedure and it is a long one, but it is for the safety and integrity of the country.
We are pleased to have this kind of system, that always provides stability for the buildings.”
On how long the approval process takes in their country , he said from the cause of design stage to the approval, it takes up to eight months to get a building approved. That is the time you can have the contractor on site.
Before you have the building approved, it is a taboo to have a contractor on site to do anything.
“ Building materials must be certified. The contractor normally submits list of materials to be used to the consultant for approval and the consultant who will have to approve it technically and commercially and the client will always want quality for his own good.”
Continuing, he said, the country metes out severe penalty to any developer that tries to cut corners , pointing out that “It is imposed by the authorities and the clients also. As a procedure here in Dubai, you cannot cast or pour a cubic meter of concrete without getting the inspection done by the consultants.
Then it goes to the inspection of Dubai municipality.
“ They cannot pour anything without government approval, but if it is discovered that they have done the pouring of the concrete, God forbid, the project will be abruptly terminated, no matter who owns the building, they will be penalised, downgraded and all that stuff.”
Back home, the professionals in the nation’s building sector have also been unanimous in their identification of the problem. It has to do with honesty and dedication to discharge of duties professionally either as a client, developer or government official.
According to the first professor of architecture in Africa, Professor Ekundayo Adeyinka Adeyemi, “In line with prescription of the national building code,the architects do the drawings and we also have the construction people.
We have some contractors who do not buy the required materials to get the job well done.
I think the engineers and the contractors have to be more faithful in their jobs so as to curb the menace of unnecessary collapse of buildings.”
The women through the president of Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN), Mrs. Inibong Louisa, also blamed frequent cases of collapsed buildings across the country on the quality of professionals handling the projects.
“The presence of unprofessional engineers against the actual engineers, coupled with compromises of standard, play roles in causing many disasters of collapsed buildings across the country.”
At this point, the nation’s construction industry can no-longer remain passive, but needs to wake up from its seeming slumber and take responsibility like other developed countries to curb the menace.
?