Harmful Renovation of Distressed Buildings

Kunle Awobodu

At 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, 28th October, 2025, No. 43/45, Coates Street, Oyingbo, Ebute-Metta, Lagos was a hive of tense activity. Excavators stood poised to resume the search for survivors or more bodies. Every new building collapse is a dirge in the advocacy expedition of the Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG). Each incident reopens old wounds, deepening a tragedy we have warned against for years.

While I observed the mangled ruins of the three-storey structure that failed at midnight on Monday, 27th October, 2025, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and recognised a familiar face, Mr. Rotimi George – one of the few highly skilled soil test drillers in Nigeria’s geotechnical sector. Looking lugubrious, he recounted, with trembling voice, how he and his daughter narrowly escaped death when their home gave way. He had lived in that building since 2003, shortly after it was built. His shock was not simply physical; it was the grief of a man who had unknowingly lived on borrowed time.

That encounter triggered a cascade of memories. Only a year earlier, the collapse of a three-storey building at 32, Amusu Street, Orile-Iganmu, Lagos at about 8 a.m. on Monday, 14th October, 2024, had nearly claimed the life of another driller, Godwin Usoro. The anxiety expressed by his employer, a Geologist, Frank Ikuewan, former General Secretary of BCPG Ikeja Cell, only eased when he learned that Godwin had narrowly escaped death in the incident.

The building, it was learnt, had been marked distressed, but occupants, in search of alternative accommodation, had not evacuated. A lot of lives were saved as the building collapsed at the time when most of the tenants had left for work.

The General Secretary of the BCPG Yaba Cell, Bldr. Funmi Olaitan ( a registered builder) was monitoring the rescue operations at the site of the five-storey building ( including a pent house ) that collapsed under construction at No. 335, Borno Way, Alagomeji, Yaba, Lagos at about 7 p.m. on Friday, 12th September, 2025.

To her astonishment, she discovered that the ironbender, who was rescued alive from the debris 65 hours after the collapse, was her neighbour at the Iwaya area of Yaba. She remembered seeing the man of about 30 years named Toyeeb Tiamiyu as he stepped out for his daily bread on the day the building sadly collapsed on him.

In another related experience, at about 1 p.m. on Thursday, 27th May, 2025, a three – storey building under construction collapsed along Obafemi Awolowo Way, Ota Ona, Ikorodu in Lagos State, killing two siblings, Abdulmalik and Ameera, and their 74 – year – old uncle, Mr. Idowu Bolaji Osinowo. On humanitarian grounds, members of the BCPG Ikorodu Cell decided to find out the parents of the dead children. The father, Saheed Akeredolu, and his wife, Dupe Akeredolu, must be undergoing excruciating trauma. How would they overcome the depression? They would need support at this critical period.

Hence, on Sunday, 29th June, 2025, a delegation of BCPG Ikorodu Cell paid a condolence visit to the bereaved family. During the visit, the picture of Mr. Bolaji Osinowo was displayed. A former Coordinator of BCPG Ikorodu Cell, Arc. Bayo Amusan, who is a lecturer in the Department of Architecture, Lagos State University of Science and Technology, Ikorodu, almost collapsed.

He and Mr. Osinowo were former employees of the National Directorate of Employment at the GRA, Ikeja, from 1992 to 1995.

Mr. Osinowo, an accountant, returned from Britain recently to inspect the family building project and, unfortunately, met his tragic end on the site.

In another instance, Isiah Alabi was assigned by his company to go and inspect the sewage treatment system for a 20- storey (wrongly termed 21-storey) building under construction along Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos. It was while he was carrying out the inspection at about 2. 45 p.m. on Monday, 1st November, 2021, that the high-rise building under construction collapsed. His mentor, Arc. Dr. Gbolahan Oyelakin (an architect), who is the Coordinator, BCPG Ikeja Cell, could not recover fully from the loss of such an enterprising young man in the calamitous building collapse.

One should not wait for personal experience before one realises the enormity of the danger building collapse has hung, like an albatross, around the Nigerian built environment. If this menace is not seriously addressed, a visitor to a building, even a passer-by, can become a victim.

The tolerance of a system that accommodated all comers affairs in building production and construction processes has led to the existence of feeble buildings.

Ebute-Metta area of the Lagos Mainland Local Government has long been designated the haven of substandard building construction done by all sorts of developers.

In a campaign led by the erstwhile Coordinator of BCPG Lagos Mainland Cell, QS Mrs. Nike Lanre – Ladenegan (a quantity surveyor) and her successor, Engr. Felix Chi-kwu ( an engineer), a lot of attention was drawn to the peculiar situation in Ebute-Metta.

The government responded by assigning the Lagos State Materials Testing Laboratory to conduct non-destructive tests on some of the suspected weak buildings.

The distressed ones were identified, conspicuously marked red, and slated for demolition by the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LABSCA).

On 9th July, 2021, one of the sick buildings earmarked for demolition collapsed totally while it was being renovated. This residential building was located at No. 31, Coates Street, Oyingbo, Ebute-Metta.

Unfortunately, this history has just repeated itself at No. 43/ 45, Coates Street, Ebute-Metta, as another 3-storey building that was earmarked for demolition by the government following its poor state collapsed despite taking a dose of renovation. Two of the occupants died. Some were injured while many lost personal belongings in the rubble.

In November, 2015, members of BCPG Agboi – Ketu Cell in Lagos State, under the leadership of Mr. Dele Mafimidiwo, a quantity surveyor, carried out an investigation supported with building condition survey on a distressed 3- storey building that was undergoing renovation in their locality. The outcome of the investigation enabled BCPG to alert the public over this hazardous practice.

One day, a prominent developer breezed into the BCPG office on Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos. Having been impressed by the relentless efforts of BCPG towards the prevention of building collapse, he decided to pay us a visit. As one of the leaders of the developers’ association that operated exclusively on the Lagos Island and Ebute-Metta in the Lagos Mainland, he felt like assisting our cause.

Suddenly, he volunteered a sepulchral confession that it might be difficult for anyone to guarantee the structural stability of many of the buildings he and his colleagues developed mostly on the Lagos Island and Ebute-Metta area.

He explained that most of them who ventured into the business of building development were primarily traders. The frequency of building collapse and the concomitant loss of lives and property were becoming unbearable for them. Most of them developed insomnia, especially during the rainy season in anticipation of whose building would be the next to collapse.

In this part of the world, driving rain has become a veritable instrument for testing the stability of the building.

Eventually, he appealed to BCPG to advise the government to redevelop these infirm buildings and pay compensation to the developers and landowners under the urban regeneration system.

In a twinge of conscience, he lamented that both developers and the monitoring government officials would not have compromised if both rightly envisaged the fatal consequence. Part of the blame should be placed on the area boys (thugs) who, at times, disturbed the building site inspection of the building control officials.

Having turned a new leave, the developer hinted that the days of quackery were gone for good. Developers had resolved to engage professionals in their subsequent building projects, espousing standards, but then the professionals should endeavour to make their charges affordable for the financially struggling developers.

The visit of the developer was quite disturbing. I could not have a sound sleep that night.The unknown number of infirm buildings that posed a serious threat to public safety could be scary.

Mobilising leaders of the built environment professional bodies and the leadership of building artisans, I led a large delegation under the aegis of the Building Collapse Prevention Guild to the palace of Oba of Lagos, HRM Riliwan Akiolu on Tuesday, 10th November, 2015. Representatives of BCPG Lagos Island Cell led by Tpl. Hakeem Bishi (:a town planner) and Bldr. Mubarak Gbaja – Biamila ( a builder) welcomed us to their domain.

The challenges of developers and allied issues of building collapse were presented to the Kabiyesi and the white cap chiefs. In unison, the Brazilian emancipados were eulogized for constructing buildings that stood the test of time on Lagos Island and its environs. For instance, Mr. Candido Da Rocha’s two-storey building, popularly known as Water House on Kakawa Street, Lagos Island, remained firm since 1875 when it was built. On the contrary, buildings developed based on a built – operate – transfer model might become distressed before the 20 – to 30 – year agreement elapsed. The need to take a tough stance against developers of substandard buildings was unanimously echoed. The traditional chiefs were charged to caution families to examine the capacity of prospective developers before handing over their inheritance for redevelopment into multi-storey buildings.

Lessons learnt from this meeting helped define a new approach. The existence of housing shortage and the inability of government to make adequate provision brought to fore the entrepreneurial intervention of developers. Since developers were needed to fill the gap, BCPG began to engage ethically and technically those developers that decided to come together, becoming the ‘Association of Real Estate Developers Of Lagos State (AREDOLS)’

BCPG provided free lectures and counselling for AREDOLS members. But then there were other developers who lacked interest in joining the association. The pertinent role of the government in finding the lasting solutions could not be substituted.

In view of this, on Monday, 15th May, 2017, the BCPG National President, BCPG Lagos State Chapter Chairman; Chairmen of the Built Environment Professional Bodies in Lagos State under the umbrella of BCPG rounded up a preparatory meeting at the secretariat of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners Lagos State Chapter, Alausa, Ikeja. We proceeded to the Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, a short distance away.

A meeting was held with the Commissioner of this ministry, Tpl. Wasiu Anifowose; the permanent secretary, Mrs. Boladele Dapo-Thomas; and the Managing Director, Lagos State Development and Property Corporation, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu. We conferred, exploring possible solutions to housing shortages, emergence of uncertified developers, redevelopment of weak buildings, and prevention of substandard building construction. Unfortunately, the difficulty surrounding accessibility and structural verification of suspected feeble buildings in Police Barracks remained untreated.

The collapse of a three-storey building within the premises of Police Barracks at Pedro in Shomolu, Lagos, on Monday, 30th June, 2014, aroused concerns. The Coordinator of BCPG Shomolu Cell, Surv. Mrs. Yemi Ajidahun ( a land surveyor ) led a team to the barracks. The feedback from the assessment team initiated the BCPG visit to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Cornelius Kayode Aderanti, at the GRA, Ikeja, on Friday, 16th January, 2015. An audit, subjecting the buildings in the Police Barracks to structural integrity tests, was recommended. Inadequate maintenance of the buildings was highlighted. Apprehensively, the commissioner established a link between the Technical Department of the Police and BCPG.

Inertia on the identified distressed buildings lingered. Out of the 149 defective or distressed buildings that were identified for demolition by the Lagos State Government across the state, 48 of the buildings were located on Lagos Island. Among them was the five-storey building at No. 63, Massey Street, Ita Faaji, Lagos Island. The cracks on the walls were patched in a continual renovation. Despite the spalling of concrete, the residential building, partially converted to a school, continued to be used.

At about 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 13th March, 2019, disaster struck as the building could no longer sustain the loading. All footings lost, the components of the superstructure bowed speedily to disintegration, terminating the lives of over 20 people, mostly pupils, and maiming many.

As a member of the panel that was set up by the Lagos State Government to investigate this pathetic building collapse at Massey Street, I wondered why the lessons learnt in that incident could not prevent the recurrence that brought the same set of government workers to Coates Street on rescue mission.

The explanation being given before me by the survivors of the collapsed building at Coates Street was similar to the one the survivors of the collapsed building at Massey Street gave me. In the face of impending danger, the developers and the tenants were appealing and negotiating allegedly with government officials for extension or cancellation of demolition notice while embarking on renovation.

The narration of the survivors of this latest building collapse in Nigeria reminded me of a video that trended on social media immediately after the collapse of four – storey residential building at 32, Ibadan Street, Ebute-Metta, Lagos on Monday, 2nd May, 2022. In the said video that captured the meeting held by the tenants prior to the collapse, financial constraints could be adduced to their recalciltrance or reluctance to evacuate.

I left Coates Street, ruminating on the steps taken by the government in the eradication of building collapse menace and the implementation challenges.

Competence could not be overemphasised in the Nigerian building industry that is beleaguered with building collapse due, mostly, to quackery.

Rising to the challenge of quackery at the theatre, the field of activities, and with the intention of preventing the construction of buildings that might become distressed, the Lagos State House of Assembly under the leadership of Rt. Hon. Mudushiru Obasa, in 2019, made some improvements in the Lagos State Building Control Agency Regulations, which were assented to by the Governor, H.E. Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

Section 4 sub-section 2 of the Regulations stipulates that, ‘ The site execution of every building under construction shall be managed by a registered builder. ‘

Added to this section is sub-section 3, which states that, ‘Supervision to ensure that execution of building construction conforms with designs shall be carried out by the architects and engineers. ‘

This should not be considered a privilege or an invitation to a tea party as punishments await incompetence and non- satisfactory performance.

In view of this, section 13, sub – section 5 of the LASBCA Regulations warns that, ‘ In case of defects, failure in such a building, causing its eventual collapse due to negligence, the builder, engineer (s), architect, and developer shall be held liable.’

Really, most problems that prepare grounds for future building collapse are incubated on site. To prevent such inhibitions, the professionals that are assigned the sensitive duties on site must pay attention to details, be vigilant, and be conversant with the appropriate building production process. It is the versatile, rugged, and practical oriented ones that can effectively manage building artisans and the complex interwoven activities of building production process. Dismal performance, against expectations, resulting in distressed building could lead to withdrawal of practising license and, eventually, possible career ruination.

As if it was a season of building collapse crisis, on Thursday, 30th October, 2025, at about 11 a.m., building collapse menace, in its reckless fury, escaped from Coates Street and struck at another part of Lagos. A five-storey distressed building already earmarked for demolition collapsed at No.28, Baale Alayabiagba Street, Ajegunle, Apapa, causing the death of one person.

The arrival of LASBCA officials in the area led to the discovery in the neighbourhood of the renovation of a three- storey distressed building that had been listed by LASBCA for demolition.

This distressed building, which was being renovated illegally at No.18, Alayabiagba Street, is currently being demolished by LASBCA.

The report of the BCPG Apapa Cell reminded one of the 3-storey building that collapsed under renovation at No.27, Buraimoh Street, Off Idewu Street, Ajegunle, Apapa, on Saturday, 20th May, 2023. The incident happened just before the date scheduled for new tenants to move in. The Vice President of BCPG, Engr. Imeh Udoh (a structural engineer) led an investigation into the incident.

Meanwhile, the controversy surrounding the five-storey building at Baale Alayabiagba Street, whether it collapsed during manual demolition by the owner or during renovation, could be resolved by thorough investigation.

The BCPG Ojodu Cell, under the leadership of ESV. Emmanuel Nireti (an estate surveyor and valuer) collaborated for years with the Lagos State Materials Testing Laboratory, which is located within Ojodu. The cell encouraged the agency to intensify its efforts at discovering more distressed buildings in order to isolate the dangerous structures in the Lagos built environment.

The official collaboration between the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the Building Collapse Prevention Guild ( BCPG) should be exploited in addressing the prevalence of substandard building materials.

The modus operandi of BCPG promotes harmonious working relationships among built environment professionals in Nigeria. Such a united front of allied professionals, with each respecting the other professionals’ areas of specialisation, is appropriately equipped to attenuate the menace of building collapse.

The common denominator in the enumerated incidents, which is renovation of confirmed distressed buildings, is a practice that the BCPG has long been cautioning against. Cosmetic treatment to buildings that are structurally deficient is counter-productive.

This retrogressive cycle is driven by two forces. The first is economic desperation. A developer tied to a build-operate-transfer agreement with the landowner fears financial loss and seeks to extend the lifespan of a condemned building at all cost. The second is
occupants’ resistance, fueled by the scarcity of affordable housing in high-demand urban centres. These pressures often combine with weak enforcement and the lure of revenue generation from offence penalties to produce discreet compromises, with deadly consequences.

The way forward is clear. The government should expedite action on building condition surveys that include structural appraisal of existing buildings, especially buildings erected by uncertified developers. The price of Non – Destructive – Tests should be made affordable. The government should provide transit camps or temporary relocation shelters for occupants of distressed buildings. Deconstruction or demolition of structurally distressed buildings must not be delayed.

The government needs the essential political will to overcome influence peddling and sentiments that do arise in the process of building demolition decisions and the execution. The importance of insurance can not be overemphasised, considering the need to provide compensation for victims of collapsed buildings. Developers should be encouraged to register with the federal government initiated Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria ( REDAN) and get examined for proper accreditation. Most importantly, buildings must be constructed correctly from the outset because preventing failure is far easier and cheaper than managing collapse.

A change in people’s negative attitude towards compliance will make the robust extant building regulations less undermined during implementation.

When the pendulum of the distressed building swings between demolition and renovation, the regulators must overcome inertia and be decisive.

Compliance must cease to be negotiable. Building regulations, no matter how well written, are meaningless unless the society respects them. We can not plaster over structural decay. We can not paint away danger. We can not continue to bury citizens from preventable tragedies. Until we confront this reality, the ground beneath us will continue to betray us. Lives will continue to be lost – not to fate, but to negligence disguised as renovation.

Builder Kunle Awobodu,
●Pioneer National President, Building Collapse Prevention Guild ( BCPG), and

● Past National President,
Nigerian Institute of Building ( NIOB)