Engineers decry spate of building collapse, task public on quacks

The Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers (NICE) has called on the general public to tread with caution while acquiring properties by performing in-depth due diligence on the expertise of the developer as panacea for the menace of building collapse, particularly with reference to the Lekki Garden tragedy of the penultimate week.

The national chairman of the institution, Robbie James Owivry, made the call last week while addressing the press on the spate of collapsed buildings in the country, which he described as an ugly situation and an embarrassment to the body of civil engineers.

He equally stated the Institution’s readiness to always assist members of the public in this regard who take the initiative of seeking professional help at the crucial point of making real estate transactions.

He said: “ In the aftermath of the recent collapse of last week, I feel a deep sense of bereavement at the unfortunate fate that befell the victims of that fatal occurrence. It was a rather disappointing and embarrassing experience that this sort of incidence should occur in a country that boasts of seasoned civil engineers who can hold their own anywhere in the world.”

He lamented the negligent attitude of Nigerians in patronizing developers indiscriminately and called for serious caution, as the industry has witnessed large scale infiltration in recent times, by persons who ordinarily have no business with the industry.

“Nigeria has come a long way to be grappling with man-made problems of this nature. Not that anything is wrong with seeking the services of developers but not carrying out due thorough investigations on the profiles of patronized developers to ascertain if they have qualified civil engineers in their teams of project executors , cannot be overlooked.

He stated further: “Suffice it to say that Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers has a robust data base of qualified civil engineers that can be recommended for projects supervision and we are very much wiling to render the service of recommending civil engineers for construction projects at no cost.