FG urged to reduce building collapse

Concerned by the recurring incidents of building collapse, the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN) have called on the Federal Government to enforce standards in the building industry.

They also urged government to engage the services of qualified indigenous engineers to check the rising wave of infrastructural collapse in Nigeria.

NSE President, Otis Anyaeji gave this charge at 17th Conference and Yearly General meeting of the Awka chapter of NSE with the theme: “overcoming the challenges of housing deficit” in Awka.

He advocated that integrity test be conducted in all buildings suspected to be substandard in all the states across the federation to avert future re occurrence.

Anyaeji, who submitted that most of the buildings that collapsed after construction were handled by quacks, counselled that engaging indigenous professionals would reduce to the barest minimum the high incidence of building collapse across the country.

He said: “Though the Engineering Regulation Monitoring (ERM), Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), and other agencies are tackling the problem, the major solution lies in training and engaging experts who are Nigerians from the onset.

“The problem we have in this country is poor funding of education system in our Tertiary institutions and lack of equipped laboratories and plants for Nigerians Engineers across the six geo-political zones.  People no long do the right thing, experts are not used, while quacks have taken over the jobs of trained engineers”, he added.

Also, Anambra State Chairman of APBN, Dr. Celestine Ezeagu blamed government and its agencies for not living up to their expectations in properly monitoring standard of buildings in the country.

Ezeagu expressed worry that so many lives have been lost in this country because contractors have continued to compromise standards and government has failed to supervise them.