‘Lekki incident could have been prevented if proper measures were taken’ – experts say

A five-storey building, belonging to Lekki Gardens,collapsed on Tuesday, March 8, 2016.

This incident resulted in the loss of 35 lives and the arrest of officials.

It has also raised a lot over the high rate of building collapses and if they can be avoided.

According to the vice chairman of the Lagos chapter of the

He attributed the latest collapse to the owners’ unprofessional methods.

“All the work that has been done here is nothing to write home about; it is work that was done under no supervision, under no professional engineer or builder. Let them bring the engineer or builder that is involved in the construction. The first two building here, I was involved in it; I taught them what to do. They wanted to raise two floors and they did a piling of six metres for this kind of structure so the structural stability is failure and where we are standing, if you don’t know, was purely water two years ago. Imagine someone building on water and doing a piling of six metres for a seven-storeyed building. I recommend to Lagos state government that every building here painted or not, should be tested. This house we are looking at should also be pulled down in a week. If not, we are looking for another trouble. At this point, I recommend that every house here should be tested to ascertain the structural stability because I don’t think they are habitable”, Adekanbi said.

He was supported by the president of the Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers, a division of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, NSE, Oreoluwa Fadayomi.

Fadayomi said the incident would not have happened if proper building materials were used.

“But if due process was adhered to, by using the services of built environment professionals and adhering strictly to due diligence, the collapse would not have happened”, he said.

They were supported by Kunle Awobodu, the president of Building Collapse Prevention Guild, BCPG, and a former chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Building, NIOB.

However, Awobodu took a different angle.

He acknowledged the real estate company’s desire to provide houses, but urged them to go through proper channels.

“The fact that we are in dire need of housing does not mean that we should build shoddy or substandard houses. Professionals should be engaged to play necessary roles in the built environment sector,” he said.

Do you agree?