AVERTING RECURRING FIRE DISASTERS
Regulatory authorities should enforce the law
No fewer than 133 lives and N19.72 billion worth of property were lost to fire incidents in Lagos State in 2025, according to statistics from the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service (LSFRS). This paints a dreary picture of avoidable disasters. According to the LSFRS Controller General, Margaret Adeseye, there were 1,685 fire incidents with 473 victims rescued alive. These are in spite of operational challenges like inadequate water supply during emergency response. While disclosing that carelessness and negligence were the major causes of fire disasters, Adeseye advised Lagosians to be safety conscious. It is a counsel we recommend for all Nigerians.
We urge authorities at all levels to be concerned about the growing numbers of preventable disasters across the country. But we must commend the Lagos State government for keeping records of these incidents, and it is worthy of emulation by other states. They must establish critical institutions that not only deal with these challenges but also keep tabs of them. That is the only way preventable measures can be put in place to avert future occurrences.
That fire is becoming all too frequent should concern all critical stakeholders in the country. Several reports have shown that these disasters occur largely due to human errors, most of them arising from the failure of citizens to abide by basic rules and regulations established by extant town planning and physical development laws. Few buildings, for instance, have water sprinklers or fire extinguishers at strategic and accessible points for use in case of fire outbreak. Besides, many building entrances are not wide enough for fire engines to access in the event of fire incidence.
While non-compliance with safety regulations might have been largely due to ignorance as many citizens do not engage the services of qualified professionals to handle the construction of their property, there is also considerable evidence of lack of diligence by property developers who compromise standards in a despicable effort to cut corners to reduce costs. Whatever the situation may be, it is the failure of enforcement of regulations that has led to most disasters. For instance, town planning officials are required by law to monitor physical development and ensure that building codes and safety standards are complied with at every stage of construction. In the same way, road traffic regulators, including the police and the road safety corps, are mandated to ensure compliance with traffic regulations not just on speed limits but also on axial load, particularly of articulated vehicles.
What is found generally is that regulatory authorities in Nigeria are more reactive than proactive. Meanwhile, even their reactive approach to enforcement is fraught with unbearable inefficiency given response time to distress calls. The result is that lives and properties are usually lost before the intervention of the management agencies. That is unacceptable in any serious society.
Going forward, we recommend that the reactive approach to enforcement of regulation must change if the nation is to fundamentally check the spate of disasters enveloping it. Regulatory agencies need to apply the rules in accordance with extant laws that require them to provide effective supervision of physical development at every stage of construction. We also consider it necessary for the various regulatory agencies and disaster management bodies to collaborate and embark on a massive public enlightenment on safety regulations, dangers of non-compliance and basic steps to take in the event of any untoward occurrence.
Overall, we must institute a culture of voluntary compliance, which will lessen the task of the regulatory bodies and draw the curtain on the increasing spate of disasters plaguing the country. And there must be a conscious effort by the people to take the issue of safety much more seriously.
