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Islamic approach to tackling incessant building collapse, by Ayo-Adeyemi

By Sulaimon Salau
13 November 2015   |   3:17 am
IRKED by the incessant building collapses in the country, the Founder and Missioner, Islamic Mission Organisayion, Tola Ayo-Adeyemi, has identified compliance with technical specifications, regulations and religious guidelines as the missing factors.
 A collapsed defective building

A collapsed defective building

IRKED by the incessant building collapses in the country, the Founder and Missioner, Islamic Mission Organisayion, Tola Ayo-Adeyemi, has identified compliance with technical specifications, regulations and religious guidelines as the missing factors.

Adeyemi, in his popular lecture series, ‘Aboundance of Good’, said the issue of structural failure leading to building collapse are many and complex, such as failure to carry out proper site investigations, lack of proper and accurate calculation of design loads, inability to prevent the use of substandard building materials, lack of proper supervision by professional, inadequate enforcement of the existing enabling building regulations, illegal conversion of buildings, which often leads to structural deficiencies among others.

He urged the regulatory agencies across board to up the ante in ensuring strict compliance with the regulatory standards, and ensure zero tollerance to substandard materials.
According to Adeyemi, prayer is the key to success, hence asking the clerics to pray against further occurence might be right, but corrective efforts must also come from man.
“ I know, you will advise that as cleric we should pray over this problem because there is nothing God cannot do, but I will assure you that you are perfectly correct but there is a lot that God will not do,” he said.
He quoted from the holy Quran “God will not change the condition of a people until they change their own condition,” (Q.13 vs 11).

If the situation is properly investigated, he said it would be traced to compromise of laid down principles by the regulators for a pecuniary benefit. “I am sure you will call it corruption –no doubt.”

Quoting the construction engineers, Adeyemi said the authority should impose stringent penalties on those responsible for building collapse, and suggested that the site of the collapse building should be confiscated and the owners including the builder sanctioned.
“One other area to be examined is the role of artisans and labours on the site. The issue needs to be critically examined. Who is in charge of the site? Is it the site-engineer, site supervisor, the bricklayer or the casual labour? Unless we wish to kid ourselves, the controller of works on most building construction sites are the causal labourers. They dictate the tune, not the engineer or the supervisor,” he said.

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