Building collapse remains a major problem bedevilling Nigeria, having become a reoccurring decimal every year.
In 2022, no fewer than 61 buildings were said to have collapsed across Nigeria in a report published by the Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG).
Statistics from the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency(LASEMA) also show that at least, 24 cases of building collapse were recorded in Lagos between January and July 2022. The year 2023 is no exception, as a minimum of 5 deaths is recorded from a single collapse. To tackle this menace, professionals in the industry appear to be giving more attention to this area of concern.
One of them is Dr Tunji Ogunjobi, a Nigerian based in the United Kingdom.
Dr Ogunjobi said; “the continuous building collapse in Nigeria is an expression of a broken system from a professional viewpoint.
Let us take Lagos State for example being the ‘Centre of Excellence’. I think there is a weak link in the building or housing development, approval, construction, and supply chain system. By this, I mean within the government. The agencies managing building approvals, those monitoring the construction processes, the building professionals, and developers, all need to do more.”
Dr Ogunjobi tasked the government at all levels to do more, having a round peg in a round hole, saying there must be consequences for failure.
He said; “There are failings in the system. It is either what we are seeing is a manifestation of corruption in the system or that the professionals involved are incompetent. I can assure you that the last building collapse we saw will not be the last building that will collapse. Unfortunately, no one has ever been prosecuted for their roles. I think that there are lots of square pegs in the round roles within the housing development space.”
In an attempt to shed reason on some of the factors responsible for building collapse, the expert said “there was no due diligence or consideration given to the process of housing development and construction. The fundamental processes of adequate procedures, such as geological and ecological surveys, ground stabilisation and remediation strategies before housing development and construction are most times ignored. Poor designs, inadequate materials specification and inadequate supervision are some of the fundamental problems.”
He stressed that some operatives in the building construction environment are compromising the system to their benefit.
According to Dr Ogunjobi, the primary issue is concerned with ineffective regulation around housing construction, and inadequate housing governance and the second issue is construction management.
He said; “There are no significant regulations in housing. In the United Kingdom where I currently practice, roles are clear-cut under the Construction Design Management Regulations (CDM). Everyone has significant roles to play starting from the client’s project conceptualization to the professionals involved in the construction, and safety, control and planning compliances with the building safety and building physics in mind.”
Considering the present state of Nigeria’s economy, the building consultant urged the government to subsidies construction materials, especially for the development of the affordable housing sector so that Nigerians can key into this opportunity.
“This must be for the project earmark for the low-cost housing and monitored effectively. I remember some years back when the government introduced price control mechanisms on some products, these should be reintroduced on building materials. Local building materials manufacturers should be encouraged and Tax relief on building material importation should be introduced,” he advised.
In the housing localism strategy, he believes there should be a local delivery framework in which communities are involved in their annual housing delivery target through the Local government housing strategy, which is called the called bottom-up approach.
The Expert said Housing solutions must be developed to suit the environment in which the approach is being adopted because the economic, environmental, social and political context differs from region to region.
“In Nigeria, Government needs to recognize the impact of climate change on construction activities. The global sustainable development Goal needs local promotion by the government. We have to look inward. The model that can be suggested to the government based on our housing peculiarities in Nigeria is the Local Housing delivery strategy embraced by the government for sustainable housing delivery through friendly housing policy formulation.
This will ensure that there are no abandoned projects, and the end-users are adequately considered,” Dr Ogunjobi further explained.
He said; “The quest for affordable housing must be hinged on government policies. For example, if building materials are subsidized by the government and VAT-free, professionals are allowed to participate by their code of conduct and within the regulatory framework. I am persuaded that high-quality affordable products will be inevitable.”
Green building techniques
He reiterated the need to integrate green building techniques into housing projects because commercial and residential buildings consume about one-third of the world’s energy. Yet the IEA reports these buildings could account for about 41% of global energy savings by 2035 if construction practices become more energy-efficient.
“The building should be created off-site for sustainability. Modular elements can always be assembled and then merged in less time than it takes to erect conventional housing.
“There is a need for government to cut carbon emissions and capture carbon footprints toward net zero and climate change. Sustainable construction gains part of its reputation from its building materials. From the design concept to the disassembly after the building end-of-life use. Adhering to green standards — whether those be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) popular in the US or Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology (BREEAM)popular in the UK. These accreditations help to build designers and builders seek to better alternatives to toxic, costly materials. The subsequent materials are often easier to handle, healthier and cost-effective. Nigeria must have a similar organisation to monitor sustainable building delivery,” he said.
Dr Ogunjobi urged Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu to commission a housing committee to be tasked with the holistic appraisal of housing policy in Nigeria to reflect Nigeria’s housing needs.
He said; “The low and middle-income earners should be the focal point as well as create a ministry of community housing and regeneration to be responsible for inner-city regeneration and low-income housing development throughout the federation.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
