By Sulaimon Yusuf
When the 7-storey building collapsed at Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos on April 12, 2023, the holy month of Lent /Easter and Ramadan/Eid-El-Fitri seemed desecrated. However, for this incident to have occurred around this sacred period, an auspicious time to intensify the evangelism against building collapse and stir the conscience of those who are currently the domineering factor in the Nigerian Housing Sector is now!
Real estate and housing development have become an alternative booming business for investors following the collapse of the stock exchange and manufacturing in Nigeria. So many business-oriented people, who possess nil training in building construction, have flooded the nation’s construction sphere with little respect for professionalism and due process.
When there are no eligibility criteria, requirements or
qualifications that restrict admission into a sensitive and critical sector,
the consequence will endanger the much-cherished lives and property. And in
‘all comers affair’, where professional advice is hardly adhered to as
profiteering is elevated above safety, compromise becomes the order of the day.
This abnormal and unacceptable situation became a concern to those
of us in the built environment professional services. Town Planners, land
surveyors, architects, engineers, quantity surveyors, builders and estate
surveyors & valuers came together to form a coalition named Building
Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG) in 2011. Of course, the membership was huge
and well spread across different localities and reticulated into various cell
formations.
The ubiquitousness of our members was to augment the low capacity
of the government staff at monitoring the massive expanse of developed and
rapidly developing built environments. The huge BCPG network enabled
information on substandard building construction works and distressed buildings
get to the notice of the relevant government staff. The system was result-oriented,
effective, and still subsisted in a unity of purpose.
When
people are passionate about a cause, performance in a voluntary service becomes
remarkable. What could have motivated BCPG members into doing a work that
lacked material gains? In this global village, every building collapse causes
incalculable damage to the reputation of the Nigerian built environment
professional. He or she is regarded as inferior in the eye of foreign
counterparts.
The price being paid by Nigerian construction professionals is
high in image damage due to the activities of quacks. Hence, the earlier the
menace of building collapse is put to rest, the better for the practitioners in
the Nigerian building industry.
The spirit of giving back to the industry/society, where we earn
our income, in order to uplift our professional image is a form of social
responsibility that we naturally align with. Hence, we shall continue to expend
our personal resources to fight causes of building collapse. Twelve years of
collective, relentless and consistent service to humanity! Despite series of
disappointments and discouragement, we cannot afford to give up. There is no
man-made problem that defies solution.
The size of developers has become enormous, thereby overwhelming
the government monitoring apparatus. 90 per cent of developers do not belong to
the association and quite a number of them are very influential. The culture of
inducement being promoted by many developers has encouraged compromise in the
circles of government officials.
In light of the foregoing, we hereby appeal to developers to abide
by the building regulations and engage the appropriate professionals in the
pre-construction, construction and post-construction stages of the building.
They should consider the risk involved in building construction more than the
gains.
Developers embarking on multi-storey building construction should
desist from direct labour methods and engage the services of reputable
construction companies. It is a clever way of mortgaging risk. Saving cost at
the expense of human life could result in huge financial losses, chorusing the
foolhardiness of penny-wise pound-foolish.
We
equally appeal to the government to lessen the burden on developers by reducing
the high development fees and taxation. Expensive preliminary costs incurred in
building plan approval etc tempt developers to cut corners/cheat.
Greed is the major weakness of most developers. We pray to God to
help them overcome this evil spirit.
Investment in the housing sector is a pertinent developmental
contribution that provides appreciable returns. However, investment in
buildings that will not stand the test of time, endangering the life of
occupants is an investment in futility. Every developer should endeavour to
deliver a building with the heart and intention of occupying it by himself or
herself.
Any developer that is in doubt of the stability or quality of
building(s) already constructed by him or her should have the courage to
contact us for remedy. Keeping quiet might spell imponderable disaster for
many.
It is pertinent to seize this opportunity to remind those handling
building projects for their relations and friends in the diaspora to bear in
mind that God has a way of rewarding sincere people that do not engage in the
diversion of project fund to the detriment of building production quality.
Morality and ethics can help raise the bar for our entire building
industry.
Those who invest rightly are considered wise developers. May the
developers in this clime become wise and lessen the fears of incessant building
collapse.
May the Almighty God double your blessing as you build
conscientiously.
Amen.
*Yusuf
is national president, Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG).
No comments:
Post a Comment