NLC blames UBA fire on corruption,negligence
….Says Nigerian workers not expendables
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has condemned the tragic fire outbreak that razed the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Afriland Building on Lagos Island, insisting that Nigerian workers are not expendables to be sacrificed on the altar of negligence and corruption.
At least six people were confirmed dead in the inferno, while several others were injured and hospitalized. The incident came only days after another blaze consumed shops and warehouses in the same axis of Lagos, destroying goods worth billions of naira.
In a statement signed by NLC Acting President, Comrade Prince Adewale Adeyanju, the Congress squarely blamed systemic rot, corporate negligence, and government inefficiency for the recurring tragedies.
“The NLC mourns with heavy hearts the needless loss of lives in the tragic fire outbreak… Our grief is further deepened by the fresh memory of another devastating inferno that only a few days earlier consumed a long stretch of buildings, shops, and warehouses in the same axis of Lagos Island.
“These fires are totally not accidents of fate. They are products of systemic rot, institutional negligence, and the reckless disregard for safety rules and human dignity that have become the hallmark of governance in Nigeria,” the statement read.
It accused UBA of possible negligence in safeguarding its workers and customers, stressing that profit-driven motives were endangering lives.
“The case of the UBA, which may be a case of negligence by such a huge Bank to put safety measures in place to protect the lives of its customers and workers. In situations where the lives of workers are disregarded in pursuit of corporate profits, what you get is that basic safety precautions for workers are either downgraded or totally disregarded,” NLC noted.
The Congress expressed dismay over the images of Nigerian workers leaping from windows to escape the blaze, questioning the absence of proper crisis management and emergency preparedness.
“One wonders if there was any significant safety precautions in designing and managing the building and whether the workers were adequately trained and prepared for such eventualities,” it queried.
While lamenting that fire disasters had become an “annual ritual” in Lagos markets due to the failure of government at all levels to provide adequate safeguards, the NLC described the recurring tragedies as evidence of state abandonment of its primary duty to protect lives.
“We believe that when we are seriously prepared as a result of our learnings from previous experiences, we can handle subsequent outbreaks better if not reduce their occurrences drastically.
“What does it say about a nation when its fire services are without hydrants, its emergency management agencies lack functional equipment, and its citizens are left to perish in flames because the state has abdicated its most basic responsibility to the citizenry,” it queried.
The Congress demanded an immediate and independent probe of the UBA fire and the Lagos Island inferno, with accountability for negligence, urgent strengthening of fire services, mandatory enforcement of safety standards, and compensation for victims.
It insisted that the lives of workers and citizens must take precedence over the greed of profit-seekers.
“No worker should leave home in the morning and end up in the morgue because of preventable disasters. No trader should watch their sweat and blood go up in flames because those in charge of safety see governance as a business venture.
“The blood of the workers who are victims cries out for justice. The ashes of burnt buildings are testimonies of state failure. The tears of widows, orphans, and workers remind us that the struggle for a just society is not an abstraction but a necessity,” the body stressed.
Furthermore, the Congress reaffirmed solidarity with victims and their families, vowing to continue pressing for a Nigeria “where human life is valued above profit and where tragedies like these become impossible, not inevitable.”
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