According to Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, human beings’ basic needs are three-fold — food, clothing and shelter. Most people, whether rich or poor, aspire to build or own their own houses or offices. In fact, wealth assessment in Nigeria is done not only in terms of cash at hand or in the bank but houses and other properties owned. Thus, if you own houses in cities and towns across the country, you’re deemed to be very successful and wealthy. Unfortunately, when houses or buildings come down like a pack of cards, killing and maiming its occupants, it becomes a source of concern.
For the umpteenth time, another building collapsed in Lagos on the night of May 1, 2022. It happened at Ibadan Street in the Ebute Metta area of the “State of Aquatic Splendour.” May we not sleep to death. News reports have it that the building, which has been marked for demolition having been discovered to be distressed, gave way around 10:30 pm when many of its occupants were already asleep. It’s another dream cut short for eight people, who were reported killed on Monday night. Imagine, just imagine, that some of them who are Muslims already had high hopes of celebrating Eid el Fitr on Monday but, rather than celebrate Sallah, they have become occupants of mortuary.
It is not the first time such tragedy has happened in Nigeria nay the world. Nor will it be the last. It will be a recurring decimal in as much as malpractice and sharp practices that take place in Nigeria’s building sector are not curbed. There are several causes of building collapse ranging from lack of construction plan, weak foundation, use of substandard and fake building materials, incompetent workmen, wrong building design, non-adherence to building codes, building on flood plains and many more. For me, bribery and corruption also play a critical role in incessant building collapse.
In all the states of Nigeria, including the Federal Capital Territory, there are building regulatory agencies and, indeed, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development. Before buildings of any sort are erected, the landowners are supposed to obtain Certificate of Occupancy and approved building plans. Unfortunately, because of the bureaucratic bottlenecks in getting the needed and necessary approvals, many landowners start their buildings without approved plans. When regulatory agencies come around building sites to ask workers to stop work, property owners resort to bribing government officials to allow them to continue to build. When they mark such buildings for demolition, bigger bribes are paid to avert the demolition. It’s a hush-hush thing. Once money exchanged hands, while the “Stop Work” mark will not be allowed to be cleaned off, the property owner is however allowed to continue to work unharassed. In my neck of woods, where I live in Abuja, there are many such buildings littering the place.
