Housing
As the body count increases at the building site of the 21-storey building that collapsed on Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos on November 1, 2021, Nigerians are demanding that the government should put an end to the avoidable carnage associated with it. Bennett Oghifo writes
Building collapse in Nigeria is beginning to look like an uncontrollable rash that needs to end with the introduction of a vaccine in the manner of a Building Code. Regrettably, the government is yet to enact guidelines for the building industry and worse the real estate sector is unregulated, making it a free-for-all market. In this fluid market, owners of buildings and buyers often lose money and there is unfortunate loss lives sometimes when buildings fail, as witnessed in the Gerrard tower in Ikoyi and the building at Osapa London in Lekki, last week.
Building professionals have documented, authored books and discussed at public fora the reasons buildings collapse, but when it occurs, the government set up committees, as the Lagos State Government has done in the case of the Gerrard tower collapse, to understand the cause(s), who to blame for appropriate punishment that will serve as deterrence, hopefully.
These professionals say the causes of collapse range from faulty design, negligence, incompetence, faulty construction, foundation failures, extraordinary loads and corruption.
A former Director General/Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI), Professor Danladi S. Matawal said, “From 2011 till date, NBRRI has taken all cases of Building collapse in the country in its stride and intervened decisively and responsibly to the satisfaction of professional requirements, stakeholders and the public. Every detail from design (including Subsoil investigation, foundation and structural design), construction and supervision, and commissioning were delved into with thorough detailed Site physical study, sampling and tests.”
Matawal said, “As a consequence, today there are NBRRI reports of more than 30 Sites including SCOAN in Ikotun-Lagos, Reigners Bible Church Uyo, collapses in Makurdi, Awka, Ibadan, Benin, Jos, Enugu and other towns.
“These reports were the sole technical docs used in Coronary Inquests and in Court where NBRRI usually appeared under legal cover. I was, individually, also the Chairman FCT Building Collapse Panel and our reports, apart from being subjected to legal scrutiny by clients of dead victims, were also usually taken at FEC meetings and we brought in COREN as collaborators in some cases.
“The point is that the frequency of collapses which we witnessed in 2011 and 2012 made it expedient to officially fund Building Collapse Interventions which were supported by the Executive and Legislature.
“NBRRI has maintained this legacy of Intervention on collapsed sites and it is certain that the agency is already active on the current Lagos collapse site though the scale of this case is another level all together and I think all the experts round the country must collaborate on this case which must have definitely drawn international attention.”
As things stand, in the absence of a National Building Code, most states have drawn up the building regulations, but these are not strictly enforced, as attested to by professionals in the building industry.
So many buildings have collapsed in Nigeria, but this is the first time a building rising to 21 floors has crashed, and worse, in a highbrow area like Ikoyi where land is highly priced.
The highrise market has received a major blow, particularly with the rising number of casualties from this ugly incidence.
Despite the number of casualities, many are still thanking God that the building did not collapse when it was completed and occupied, otherwise the situation would have been worse.
A former President of the Nigerian Institute of Structural Engineers, Teddy Atumonyogo, who examined incidences of building failure in the country on ARISE NEWS, said, “It is not really common to see highrise building come down in that neighbourhood (Ikoyi). Before you can see a collapse of such magnitude, there most have been some system collapse along the way. Nigerian structural engineers have be designing highrises even before independence and those buildings are still standing. You can see the 25-storey independence building, you can see the NETCOM building and other medium-rise buildings on Broad Street.
“So, there must have been some system failures and these things must have to be addressed. Nigerians must imbibe that culture of compliance and respect for professionalism.”
He said it was not proper for him to discuss probable causes of the collapse since the there are committees instituted by the Lagos State Government already investigating the case.
However, he said, “There are three different ways buildings can collapse- there is what you call punching failure, when the columns pierce through the foundations, the building can collapse. We also have what is called bearing failure, whereby the foundation just sinks into the soil because the soil has been overloaded. We also have what is called falderal failure whereby the structural elements, whether the columns or beams give way because they are carrying more load than they’re designed to carry. If a column collapses, the load is transferred to the next column and then because that column is not designed to carry such load, it will collapse and there will be a domino effect and the whole building will come crashing down.”
Interestingly, professionals keep saying building collapse is avoidable if they are engaged from the design stage to delivery, and that this will not only save them money but will also prevent needless tragedies.
Atumonyogo said if the developer and professionals, as well as government agencies play their roles well, then there would be no collapse. “You get a structural engineer who now appoints a geotechnical engineer to do the soil test so that you will know what the soil can carry. The structural engineer will now assess all the loads the building ought to carry and will now design the structure to be able to carry specific load. It is very important that developers respect the opinion of their structural engineers, because some developers are very stubborn, they just want to have their way, and when they are advised to the contrary, they just sack the structural engineer and pick person that will do their bidding, which is very wrong.”
Dismissing claims that the crashed tower’s developer got approval to build a 15-story building but went up to build 21, Atumongoyo wondered when he got approval to increase the height of the building.
“At what stage was the approval reversed and revised for it to carry a 21-storey building? Because if you want to carry a 21-storey building, then it means the foundation has to be strengthened and if the construction had gone past the stage where it can be strengthened then there is no way the foundation of a 15-storey building can carry a 21-storey building.”
Regardless, what exactly happened at that construction site is left to the committees to unravel and it is a good thing that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has promised to make the report public.
Chairman of the Lagos State Tribunal of Inquiry into the collapse of the 21-floor building on Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, Toyin Ayinde, understands the importance of eliciting the trust and buy-in of members of the public who are expected to provide information to the committee.
“These are indeed dark times, a season of mourning the calamity that has befallen us.” Ayinde, a former Commissioner for Physical Planner and Urban Development in Lagos State and presently the President of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, said: “It is at these times that we have been called to ask the ‘What, How and Why’ questions about this circumstance. Arising from past experiences, people may be inclined to ask, why this probe? If nothing has changed since previous investigations on collapses such as this albeit of lower or equal magnitude, what would make this different?
“This exercise can only be different if we agree to place a value on the Nigerian life. If a Nigerian life is invaluable, if it is a life that cannot be bought, no matter the pressure, then this exercise will lead to the preservation of that life. This should lead us to say, the time has come to hold the bull by the horn and let justice prevail.
“As panel members, we promise to be guided by professional standards and hope that we will collectively be able to chart a new course that would guarantee the safety of the life of the Nigerian citizen as far as the construction industry is concerned.
“We thank Mr. Governor for the privilege to serve our beloved Lagos State. We look forward to being able to establish the truth and make wise recommendations that will bring comfort and succour to those who have experienced loss.”
