Nigeria’s construction sector put on the spot over building collapse

• Experts weigh in over worrisome level

The rising spate of building collapse in Nigeria, especially in  Lagos, the economic nerve centre of the country, is putting worrying shivers down the spine of investors, the government and the general public especially in regards to the huge financial, economic and social implications.

According to documents obtained from the Building Collapse Prevention Guild, at least 271 buildings have collapsed in Nigeria over the past ten years, accounting for 50 percent of the total 541 reported cases in Nigeria between 1974 and 2022.

The incidence of buildings collapsing in Nigeria  has gotten to an alarming level that it comes at no surprise that the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction ranked Nigeria number one in the frequency and intensity of building collapse in Africa, a poor representation of a country striving for sustainable development and economic growth.

The recent collapse of an uncompleted 7-storey building at First Avenue, Banana Island, Lagos was a topical issue of concern that dominated Nigeria’s discourse atmosphere over the week.

Business A.M. gathered that the building, which was one of the four units being developed by Joe Faraday, a property development company based in Lagos, collapsed on April 12, 2023, around 5 p.m. while concrete casting was ongoing on the sixth floor.

Interestingly, Banana Island, the neighbourhood where the building collapsed, hosts several high end residential developments owned by some of the wealthiest Nigerians, making it the most expensive neighbourhood in the country, arguably the entire continent of Africa, some would say.

A statement by the Lagos State government reported that twenty-five people were rescued from the site with no record of any casualty.

“Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) scanned the building with a high-precision 3-D Laser Imagery System for life and found no evidence of anyone trapped in the rubble. A roll call has also been done by the site supervisors, with everyone accounted for,” the statement partly read.

According to eyewitnesses, one of the concrete mixer trucks rammed into some load-bearing columns of the building, causing a loud bang, leading to the collapse.

Though no casualty was recorded, concerned Nigerians, investors and experts say the collapse brings to question the structural integrity and level of professionalism  in the nation’s construction industry. Notably, a large number of collapses recorded across the country have been attributed to several avoidable factors, including professional ineptitude, excessive loading, use of low quality materials, flawed design, weak and inadequate foundations, poor monitoring on the part of regulatory agencies, amongst others.

A report by the Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPL) showed that no fewer than 61 buildings collapsed across the states of Nigeria in 2022 alone, of which 20 incidents were recorded in Lagos, representing 48.7 percent of the entire cases last year.

The ugly trend of building collapses has assumed a   worrisome dimension. This is  more so, considering the huge losses in terms of lives and investments wasted as a result of the human disaster.

According to Brookings, an American research group, over 6000 households had been displaced as a result of building collapse in Lagos, with a property loss estimated at $3.2 trillion. The BCPG, on its part, reported that Nigeria has recorded over 1,090 deaths in building collapse from 1974 to July 2021.

Ayodele Alao, chairman, Lagos Branch of Nigeria Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS), going on the record over this issue, said Lagos possibly lost about N66.37 billion from 11 collapsed buildings in the last one year.

It is based on this that  concerned professionals, experts  and stakeholders in the construction  industry have put forth their expertise to address what could be termed a national tragedy in dire need of resolution.

Estate Intel, a data platform that provides insights for data-driven investments, prospecting, and real estate transaction decisions, in its analysis of collapsed buildings between 2017 and 2022,  found that there was a wide range of causes of a collapse, from gas explosions, to heavy downpour of rain, and even old and dilapidated buildings.

“However, the most popular cause of the building collapse was poor construction, accounting for 36% of the collapses. Old buildings accounted for the second highest reason for collapse accounting for  20%,” it noted. 

In all these instances, the analysis emphasised that an overarching trend was the lag on the part of the responsible agency, which ought to uphold construction standards, as well as enforce the regulations.

The incessant rate of building collapses in the country has also been attributed to the non-enforcement of stage certification by regulators in the construction sector such that quacks and non-professionals have manned the business space with lack of quality assurance control to determine the durability of materials.

Olayemi Shonubi, president, Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (FNIQS), noted that for each of these collapses, no serious scientific analysis or investigations were done.

“Usually, they (building collapse) happen on sites or on projects where you have what we call a developer. Somebody who is building just to make profit and trying to cut corners in order to cut costs so that they can manage and maximise profits,” he said.

Emmanuel Oyelowo, managing director of real estate firm, Roccio Carrillo, said Nigeria has a systemic failure, where those who are putting up buildings don’t pay attention or abide by the building control regulations.

“The construction stage of buildings should be handled by those who by training have experience in building technology, and are licensed to construct buildings. In this case, professional builders become liable if anything goes wrong outside natural disasters,” he argued.

Oyelowo also suggested that the enforcement of building stage certification would go a long way in checkmating the frequent building collapse. He stressed that buildings do not just collapse but are made by man-made errors and lack of professionalism which are major contributors to building collapse in the country

Ropo Olajugba, the managing director of Lordsfield Limited, attributed the lack of technology for some of the building collapses in the country.

Olajugba said it is high time professionals and home builders moved up and used technology such as the installation of censors to measure the stability of a building  against structural failure.

The experienced surveyor explained that a censor measures what is called “tilt”, which alerts the builders of a tilt or bend in a building.

“In developed countries, once you put a censor, it measures what is happening on the building from the foundation up,” he said.

Deborah Oni-Ojediran, national vice president, Nigerian Institute of Structural Engineers (NISTRUCTE), suggested that government agencies need to collaborate with private sector consultants to help ensure buildings are protected and help create public awareness concerning construction regulations. 

Oni-Ojediran observed that many people are not aware that civil engineers are trained first of all as  general practitioners and it is those who are specialised or licensed in building constructions that can handle such projects.

The former head of department, Department of Civil Engineering, Kogi State Polytechnic, argued that It is not enough to get a civil engineer to handle a building project, stressing that, it has to be somebody who has been certified a professional in the structural engineering field.

Commenting on the economic implications of building collapse cases, Rotimi Edu, president of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), said the sensitivity of public buildings necessitates that builders and owners imbibe insurance policies.

Edu listed such policies as the Public Liability, Contractors All Risk (CAR) and other prescriptions of Sections 64 & 65 of the Insurance Act, with regards to public buildings.

The insurance professional said if these insurance policies had been in place, the risk of total loss incurred by the owners of collapsed buildings would have been greatly reduced.

Investors too are worried, especially those coming from outside the country who have to either occupy existing buildings or need to have new ones built for them. Their worries bother on trust, about how they can trust the construction industry to do the right thing, especially as safety is paramount in this case.

Many times when these collapses have happened, governments of the states where they happened would scramble to action as if genuinely concerned, only to relapse into inaction until another collapse happens.