Alakija Building Collapse Deaths Expose Gaps, Experts Demand Tougher Enforcement in Lagos

Bennett Oghifo

The loss of lives and property in the recent building collapse at Alakija in Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State has renewed concerns about weaknesses in building regulation, professional supervision and emergency response, with built-environment experts calling for tougher enforcement, regular inspections and earlier action to prevent further tragedies.

The four-storey building collapsed on Old Ojo Road, near Alakija Bus Stop, off the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, Satellite Town, Lagos State, Nigeria. Eight persons died while 26 persons were rescued in the incident which occurred on Thursday, June 25, 2026.

The experts said the collapse highlighted the consequences of poor construction practices and weak oversight, stressing the need for competent professionals, quality materials and proper monitoring of buildings from construction through occupancy and maintenance.

These built-environment experts spoke at a conference organised by the Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG), Amuwo-Odofin Cell, in Satellite Town, Lagos, with the theme, “Building a Resilient Lagos Through Synergy.”

The conference brought together the regulators, officials of the Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority, Lagos State Building Control Agency, Lagos State Materials Testing Laboratory, Lagos State Emergency Management Authority, the Nigeria Police and the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Corps.

This event served as a stakeholders’ meeting that enabled the regulators to interact with construction professionals, building artisans, developers, academics and the community representatives led by Mr Victor Okunola and Dr Michael Imitinito to discuss ways of improving building safety and urban resilience in Lagos.

The Coordinator of the BCPG Amuwo-Odofin Cell, Chubike Okafor, a builder, said the building collapse at Alakija, in this neighbourhood, was among the incidents that prompted the conference. According to him, the incident exposed weaknesses in emergency coordination and highlighted the need for better early-warning systems.

Okafor urged residents, property owners and community leaders to report structural cracks, flooding, settlement, tilting, spalling concrete, persistent water damage and other signs of building distress to qualified professionals or relevant authorities before they develop into emergencies.

The Chairman of the conference, Dr Austin Otuoke, an architect, said building safety could not be guaranteed by one profession or institution alone, particularly in a rapidly growing city facing increasing demand for housing and infrastructure.

He said professionals and regulatory agencies must ensure that buildings were properly planned, approved, constructed and maintained, with clear responsibility at every stage.

In his opening remark, the Chairman of Building Collapse Prevention Guild Lagos State Chapter, Pastor Joseph Akande, a town planner, stated that the BCPG has been adopting a grassroots approach to addressing the challenges of building collapse. Built-environment professionals residing or working in each of the local government areas of the state constituted themselves into a local BCPG Cell on a voluntary service to help promote construction of standard buildings and discourage unethical or unprofessional practices that could lead to building failures. Whistleblowing to the regulators on discovering a site of substandard building construction and defective or distressed structures, he further said, was part of the services the BCPG members have been rendering in order to protect the safety of the built environment.

The General Manager of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), Mrs Florence Gbaye, a builder, warned against the use of substandard materials and unqualified workers for critical construction activities.

Gbaye also criticised professionals who take on several projects but leave important responsibilities to unqualified persons. She urged developers and practitioners to involve regulatory authorities throughout the construction process.

She said LASBCA’s Certified Accreditors Programme, involving more than 150 private practitioners, was designed to improve regulatory efficiency and professional participation.

The Vice President, Africa, International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Dr Sebastian Ozoamalu, a geotechnical engineer, said proper checks on soil and ground conditions before construction could help prevent structural failures.

He warned that neighbouring properties could have different ground conditions, making it unsafe to copy a foundation design simply because it had worked on another property.

Ozoamalu urged practitioners to work within their areas of competence and seek specialist advice where necessary.

Speaking on flooding and drainage, Ogonna Agwu, a surveyor, said accurate information about land levels and proper drainage planning were important to building safety, particularly in low-lying parts of Lagos.

He warned that errors in land surveys and poor connections between private and public drainage systems could increase the risk of flooding and damage to buildings.

He advocated better mapping and drainage planning, as well as measures to manage stormwater and erosion.

A retired Permanent Secretary in the Lagos State Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Mrs Olayinka Patunola-Ajayi, an estate surveyor and valuer, said building safety should be viewed as part of the wider resilience of Lagos.

She said the city’s rapid population growth, low-lying terrain, coastal exposure and interconnected infrastructure meant that problems with housing, drainage, transportation and utilities could have wider consequences.

Patunola-Ajayi, who was once a director in the Lagos State Ministry of Housing, called for major projects to undergo broader risk assessments and for buildings and infrastructure to be managed throughout their useful lives. She also highlighted the potential of mapping and other digital technologies to improve planning and monitoring, while stressing that technology should support, not replace, professional responsibility.

A quantity surveyor, Tomi Ogundare, cautioned that cost, inflation should never be a reason for compromise in the standard of building construction. He called for the use of building collapse investigation outcomes to prevent recurrence of similar incidents by identifying and managing risks before failure.

According to BCPG records cited in his presentation, Nigeria recorded 817 building-collapse incidents between October 1971 and July 27, 2026, including 477 in Lagos.

Of the Lagos incidents, 325, representing 68.1 per cent, occurred while buildings were occupied, while 121, or 25.4 per cent, occurred during construction and 31, or 6.5 per cent, at the end-of-life stage.

Ogundare identified gaps in building records, investigations and early intervention as areas requiring urgent attention.

He recommended risk-based inspections, stronger controls on building alterations and changes of use, improved building records, updated fitness certification and a system for tracking distressed buildings until identified problems were resolved.

The Dean of the School of Environmental Studies, Yaba College of Technology, and Third Vice-President of the Nigerian Institute of Building, Dr Adesina Aladeloba, a builder, called for the training and recertification of artisans and craftsmen. He identified poor planning, inadequate financing, abandoned projects and weak project management as other challenges affecting the construction industry.

Aladeloba, who is also an estate surveyor and valuer, cautioned against the tendency of government prioritising revenue generation over the regulatory functions of its agencies.

The General Manager of the Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority, Kehinde Osinaike, represented by Mrs Busola Olatunji, a town planner, urged residents to adopt a “See Something, Say Something” approach by reporting unsafe buildings and unauthorised construction. She strongly warned against constructing buildings that did not pass through proper building approval process.

Other participants at the conference raised concerns about poor-quality construction materials, inadequate site investigations, poor workmanship and weak supervision. They warned against hiring professionals only to obtain building approval and then excluding them from the actual construction work. They said supervision was particularly important during foundation work, reinforcement, concrete work and other critical stages.

Some stakeholders at the event said building safety required more than regulations and approvals. They called for tougher enforcement, ethical professional practice, quality materials, competent supervision, regular inspections, effective maintenance and timely intervention.

Considering the importance of cement in mix ratio that could add durability to the elements of buildings, technical team of HBM Nigeria Plc (formerly Lafarge Africa Plc) made a demonstration at the interlude.

The Chairman, Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria, Lagos State Chapter, Bldr Bashir Asimiyu, commended the approach of BCPG that usually brought various professionals together in finding a lasting solution to building collapse crisis. His predecessor, QS Ayuba Akere, who was the moderator of the conference, lent his voice behind this professional synergy as a pragmatic, result-oriented way of proving to the world the professionalism ingrained in the Nigerian system.

In his closing remark, the National President of BCPG, Tpl Sulaimon Yusuf, enjoined other state chapters of BCPG to replicate the grassroots stakeholders’ meeting in order to bring the advocacy close to prospective building owners, occupants, developers, building materials suppliers and constructors.