Ogun State Adopts National Building Code: Jinx Broken

Kunle Awobodu

Against all odds, the Ogun State Government has blazed the trail of legal domestication of the National Building Code (NBC).

The journey to instituting a national regulatory framework that would attenuate incessant collapse of buildings by setting minimum standards for the building construction sector began in 1987, which was 39 years ago.

Since it gained approval of the Federal Executive Council in 2006, getting a Legislative Act for the NBC  became an impossible task in the face of futile efforts and multiple setbacks.

Lagos State, being the notable epicentre of building collapse and with the high level of awareness of its government on the  relevance of the NBC at addressing this overwhelming problem took a bold step to domesticate the NBC.

Lagos, ahead of all other states of the Federation, pushed far in the pursuit of the Legislative Act for the NBC. Delays encountered in the NBC domestication in Lagos have surprisingly made  Ogun  emerge as the first state in Nigeria to adopt the NBC with  Legislative Act.

This feat, this unprecedented achievement of the Ogun State Government, challenges the inquisitive mind.

The NBC  domestication process in Ogun State was handled  by the State’s Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development. The background and the experience of the ministry’s commissioner evidently contributed to the doggedness displayed in attaining the Olympian heights of the National Building Code adoption, domestication or implementation as the case may be.

The Honourable Commissioner of this Ministry, Tpl. Tunji Odunlami is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners and a Barrister – at – Law. He was a Director in the Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, and he later became the Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Ministry of Housing.

In  professional advocacy, Tpl. Odunlami had been the National Secretary of the  NITP,  and he was the Chairman, Constitution Review Committee of the Building Collapse Prevention Guild.

As shown in the attached flyer, he was a Special Guest at the  Advocacy Programme of the Nigerian Bar Association Ikeja Branch  and  BCPG Ikeja Cell with the theme;  ‘Building Collapse And Application Of Punitive Laws In Lagos State.’

The programme was held at the Bar Centre, Lagos State High Court, Ikeja on Wednesday, 25th October, 2023.

The importance of the nation having a legally backed National Building Code was emphasised by the Guest  Speakers, including the Human Rights Advocate,  Barr. Femi Falana, SAN; the Lagos State Attorney General & Commissioner for Justice, Barr. Lawal Pedro, SAN; and the Lagos State Commissioner of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Oluyinka Olumide, FNIOB.

In a follow-up to the National Building Code Advocacy, as shown in the attached photographs, the Coordinator of BCPG Ikeja Cell, ( currently the President, Project Management Institute Nigeria) Dr. Gbolahan Oyelakin,  an architect; National  Executive Secretary of BCPG, Mrs. Olasupo Bolaji, also an architect; and the Chairman, BCPG Ogun State Chapter, Bldr. Dayo Ogunsola paid a courtesy visit to the Honourable Commissioner, Tpl. Odunlami in Abeokuta on Tuesday, 14th November, 2023.

By the time a member of the National Building Code Advisory Committee on monitoring, Bldr. Kunle Awobodu paid a visit to Tpl. Odunlami in Abeokuta on Wednesday, 4th April, 2026, the process of the NBC domestication had advanced to the acme. It had passed through the Ogun State Ministry of Justice  with the bill subsequently passed into law by the State’s House of Assembly in 2025. The Act was  merely awaiting  official gazettIng thereafter.

On Monday, 4th May, 2026, the Ogun State Government unveiled, in a press conference,  ‘Ogun State Building and Construction Code 2025’ , and other related regulations.

With this development, Ogun State has written its name in  gold, challenging the Federal Government and other States to rise above rhetoric in order to prevent premature deaths and wanton destruction of property caused by the avoidable building collapse.

My prayer is that successive governments in Ogun will staff the regulatory agencies adequately with people that have technical expertise required and train them to monitor compliance effectively.

I consider the reply to a commendation message I indited to Tpl. Odunlami as  a subtle challenge to me:

‘Thank you, Bldr. Awobodu, FNIOB, PPNIOB. Your tenacity to this cause is our inspiration. Blessings.

This commendable development in Ogun State should energise and hasten members of the National Building Code Advisory Committee and the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development to take the bull by the horns and meet the expectations of Nigerians by overcoming years of delay in getting legal backing for the National Building Code.

In a recent meeting with the Special Adviser to the Lagos State Government on Urban Development, Dr. Jide Babatunde, he raised my hope that the domesticated NBC for Lagos State would soon be launched.

In this crusade against building collapse, a service to humanity, honour must be given to whom honour is due. I marvel at the spirit  of an elder statesman who, after attending an important state function on Tuesday, 28th April, 2026, had to come back to his office simply because of a meeting I scheduled to have with him on building collapse prevention.

I felt guilty meeting the 89- year- old sympathiser and adviser to our chosen cause of building collapse prevention resting in his office. At 5 p.m., he was supposed to have been at home after playing his role,  earlier in the day, as the Chairman of the Lagos State Governor’s Advisory Council ( GAC).

In those days, when Prince Tajudeen Olusi was a councillor in Lagos, the government regulatory framework on building control was very effective. Building collapse was a rare occurrence. Hence, he has been a supporter of the advocacy of the Building Collapse Prevention Guild, which is for public good.

To him, the safety of building occupants is paramount. Consequently, he volunteered to make personal contacts with some members of the National Assembly on the urgent need to address the  National Building Code Bill  once it was presented.

Indubitably,  the revered Prince Tajudeen Olusi (shown in the attached photograph ) remains the hero of adherents of building collapse prevention.

Going back in time to the morning of Sunday, 17th July, 2005, a building of three suspended floors collapsed at 6, Princess Street, Onola, Lagos Island,  endangering the lives of occupants.

 In the afternoon of that day, the then Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, paid a visit to the gory site as shown in the attached photograph. In the atmosphere of grief, lack of enforceable building code was lamented and brought to the fore.

If today the National Building Code gains the required legal backing, it would be a relief to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and a dream come true.

The National Assembly is not oblivious to the damage the incessant collapse of buildings has done to the country’s image in successive global assessments. Having been impressed by the relentless advocacy and activities of the coalition of built‑environment professionals under the aegis of BCPG, certain roles aimed at attenuating this menace were assigned to BCPG, as indicated in the motions moved in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The outcome of BCPG’s meetings with the leadership of the National Assembly showed a positive disposition on the part of the Assembly toward the passage of the bill that could address the monumental problem of building collapse.

An array of seasoned  professionals, imbued with dynamism,  who make up the new National Building Code Advisory Committee  combined with the wealth of experience of its  Chairman, Arc.  Mohammed Faworaja has raised hope and ignited expectations of a well-ordered built environment in Nigeria.

The erstwhile Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, taking into cognisance the interest of the National Assembly in this public‑safety matter, had already begun assembling the updated draft of the NBC in preparation for the required bill.

Invariably, it is hoped that an enforceable National Building Code that will ensure the safety of building occupants is a unique present that the new Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Engr. Dr. Muttaqha Rabe Darma will give President Bola Ahmed Tinubu before the 40th anniversary of the commencement of the NBC journey, which is to be marked next year, 2027.

The days of the elusive National Building Code are gone. The enactment of an enforcement act for the provisions of the NBC by the National Assembly and  its subsequent adoption and domestication by states will, hopefully, take place soon. This will be a honour to those that have passionately, over the years, sacrificed their resources to sustain a humanitarian struggle against building collapse.

Determination breaks a jinx when the spirit of delay has been conquered.

Bldr. Kunle Awobodu,

● Pioneer National President, Building Collapse Prevention Guild

● Past National President, Nigerian Institute of Building;

;●Member of the National Building Code Advisory Committee;

● Member, Federal Government Task Team on  Building Collapse

● Council Member, Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria.