By Tunde Abatan
tunde2013abatan@gmsil.com 08165660217
Governor Babajide Sanwoolu of Lagos State, Nigeria, is not a man to be envied. This is so because since his assumption of office, his fortune has been a mixed- bag.
Sanwoolu
As he have had to manage the social dislocations brought by the Coronavirus epidemic crisis, so has he contended with the spiral effect of the #EndSars protest, which practically brought his state’s inadequate infrastructural facilities to its knees in terms of loses and the social upheaval.
But in spite of all this, he has tried to grapple with the challenges of his state being the fastest growing in population,and move it forward.
The collapse last Monday of a 21-storey highrise building in high brow Ikoyi ,the residence of the upper elite, where not less than 43 have died so far and 32 still missing, with six in a miraculous rescue after six days in the rubble’s ,has proved the single biggest man made disaster dropped on his tiny hands .
For having to cut short his business trip to Rome barely two days into it proved a responsive leadership.
He made a difference with late second Republic President, late Alhaji Shehu Shagari, who in spite of the National Telecommunications,NET,then the tallest building in Lagos, being on fire, January 1983,still hopped inside the presidential jet for his many trips outside Nigeria.
Today,the collapse of 21 -storey Fourscore high rise building baby of estate developer, Femi Osibona,has added to the many headaches,Governor Sanwoolu has to bear
Hence, without pretenses, Sanwoolu and the system and bureaucracy he leads has to come to terms with the grim realities of a failed policing system in the states building industry as it is in other sectors yet to manifest.
He and his team has to begin an audit of the several cases of building collapses especially on the Lagos Island in the past few years with a view to determine the extent of circumspection of extant rules and regulations guiding erection of high rise buildings in the state and take conscious and deliberate steps to arrest the rot.
Since it has been confirmed that the promoter of the collapsed Ikoyi high rise has expired with his project, what is of essence now is the probing of the flawed processes; identification of the culprits who aided the compromise of the extant codes by the bureaucracy in charge of such projects, due largely to corruption. His government also has to carry out Identification, audit and examination of other building of such still under construction in the state and the level of compromise already in their different stages of construction before they are completed. This is necessary so as to avoid another disaster waiting to happen in such projects.
The comment of Works and Housing Minister,who coincidentally was former helmsman of the state,Babatunde Fashola is instructive here.
As for him, since his administration put in place agencies like Lagos State Building Control Agency,Building Materials Testing laboratories, etc ,which are bodies put in place to guide quality of buildings,what is missing (and rightly so),is the “willingness of state actors in such bodies,to do what is necessary.”
In order words,Fashola is of the conviction that if the various professionals,state actors in the building industries do their work and not cut- corners, the incidence that happened last Monday could have been avoided.
As for minister, it is convenient to aportion blame but, “if we do the right thing with LASBCA which we put in place such an incident will not occur.”
But then,what has gone wrong with our agencies between 1965 when the 25- storey Cocoa House,Ibadan-until now the tallest building in Nigeria was built and still standing today, and now when a similar structure under construction suddenly came down.?
A lot of water have passed under the bridge….death of due diligence; thoroughness; adherence to regulations;quality control and compliance to building codes, have all developed wings and flown out of both our agencies,the various professional bodies in the building industry ,stake holders ready to circumvent the rules by cutting corners to maximise profit and bureaucrats with itching hands ready to compromise standards and rules for personal gains.
The result is what we have in the Gerrad Avenue disaster where the number of the dead are yet to be ascertained five days after the edifice came down.
However,with the end of the three- day mourning decreed by Gov Sanwoolu on Saturday November 6, and the constitution of the six -man professional probe panel,the task before the government and citizenry are many and varied.
While the government has the unenviable task of reconciling conflicting approval stage of the collapsed structure between claims of the suspended General Manager of LSBCA,Gboyega Oki and deputy governor, Dr Ahmed Hamzat who said approval was actually given for 21 storey contrary to Okis 15.
Lagos also has on its hand,the provision of access roads to building and construction sites such that when incidences like this occur,evacuation and rescue of workers are made easy.
Secondly,firms and construction companies handling projects should be made to have a manifest of all it’s workers on daily basis for easy census of workers trapped when such or similar incidences occur.
Thirdly,the Lagos state government and other metropolitan cities in the country have to Rebuild and Regenerate their cities with modern and functional facilities to cater for It’s development and growth level and it’s accompanying challenges.
Furthermore,it is high time haphazard developments in parts of the metropolis are streamlined and controlled while building on drainages have to be met with stiffer penalties upon routine check- ups and not waiting for disaster to happen.
There is a need for various institutions, be it professional bodies, non -state and state actors,to develop keen interest in observance of rules and regulations such that checks and balances could be made on professional bodies in all fields especially to curtail members and to standardise their operations and practices. It will also compel clients to abide and comply with exant rules guiding their practices.
A situation where a client dictate to architects,builders and contractors and experts on how to handle their job is unacceptable as such compromise standards and rules with attendant grave consequences.
As for citizens and stake holders,it is pertinent to learn to abide by rules and regulations guiding buildings, projects such that when evil occurs and they fly in safety or perish as it has happened to promoter of the Gerrad project, we know those to blame.
It also behoves on all of us to ensure that compliance with codes,rules and regulations is always in the overall interest of the people as cutting- corners have more effect on ordinary citizens than the privileged.
Besides,artisans used on sites needed to be profiled and insured to protect them and their immediate families while construction is on going.
Furthermore,with the rise in investments in housing projects in Lagos and other metropolitan cities,there is the need for appropriate insurance of other professionals and personnel on site is necessary to provide cover for them and their families if and when disaster occurs.
Governor Sanwoolu has a daunting task of doing things differently after the submission of the report. He could make a difference by ensuring that the report and white paper of the Toyin Ayinde led six -man probe committee is published and take practical steps to implement and put it into use and not allow the white paper to gather dust in offices as was the practice of such probes in the past.
Governor Sanwoolu definitely needs a lot of courage to make a difference and he has a task to do that for posterity.
