Building collapse: Institute indicts regulating agencies

President of Nigerian Institute of Architects, (NIA), Tonye Briade has said out that the incessant cases of building collapse in the country are serious indictment on the relevant regulating agencies in the real estate sector.
This is even as he called for an audit of the agencies so as to enhance and their relevance to national development.
According to Braide, if Nigeria is aspiring to be one of the leading 20 nations in architecture, we must rise to collectively stop the spate of building collapse in Nigeria. “The buildings are coming down at an average rate of one per month with great fatalities. This is totally unacceptable for a country repositioning towards becoming relevant in global affairs in the industry. It means that something is critically wrong with the structure of building construction administration”, he said.
Extolling the role of architecture in construction technology, Braide said architects are not taking the blame for the crumbling buildings in our cities away from design failures, but building collapse is also due to poor governance structures in the construction process than architectural design failure alone.
His words: “So we may ask who has charge to establish and enforce good governance in the construction process. When a person presents himself for a job he cannot do, it is corruption and Nigeria has the mechanism to fight and contain corruption.
“This when extended to the regulatory process in the construction industry will create a pathway to stop the continuing collapse of buildings and make our Country Great Again Architecturally”, he noted.
Recall that another three-storey building collapse happened few days ago in Ojo area of Lagos State. There were, however, no casualties as residents have already deserted the building located at No. 21 Saka Okoro Street, Ilufe Road, Alaba International Market, Ojo. It was gathered that the building caved in on Tuesday morning in a partial collapse.

Babajide Okeowo