Nigeria seeks sustainable solutions to curb building collapses

The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Musa Dangiwa on Wednesday inaugurated an expanded Ministerial Task Team on building collapse in Nigeria.

This initiative is coming at a time when there have been several reports of building collapse across the country, with two of such collapse reported in Lagos in the last 72hours.

The expanded Task Team, according to a statement issued by the Director of Press and Public Relations of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Badamasi Haiba, comprises representatives of key professional bodies and regulatory agencies in the built environment, as well as professional staff of technical departments of the ministry.

The professional bodies and regulatory agencies included in the task team are the Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON), Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Quantity Surveyors Registration Board of Nigeria (QSRBN), Town Planners Registration Council of Nigeria (TOPREC), and Surveyors Council of Nigeria (SURCON).

Others are the Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria (ESVARBON), Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON), and Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG).

Dangiwa, in his remarks, frowned at the alarming frequency of building collapse incidents in Nigeria and described it as unacceptable and a national embarrassment.

He said: “These avoidable tragedies have led to the painful loss of innocent lives, permanent disability for survivors, destruction of property, and irreparable psychological trauma for families.”

The minister stated that last year he set up a committee on building collapse in Nigeria to examine the root causes of the problem and propose practical and sustainable solutions.

He added that the committee headed by Arc. Maji Liberty Alkali submitted its report and proposed 18 key recommendations.