Building collapse with attendant consequences, are wholly man-made adversities that are completely preventable. The responsibility for the prevention is firstly on the developer before the regulatory authority and other stakeholders in the built industry.
What are always responsible are the violations of development guidelines and regulations, quackery, and compromise by the public officials charged with the responsibility for regulating the activities. For the developers they are prompted by the naked desire to maximise returns on investment.
We must accept that multi-storey buildings are very expensive ventures. Those who don’t have enough resources must not try to use lean resources to cut corners. Otherwise, the expected gains would turn out to be heavily outweighed by the loss of the entire investments, at times with the lives of innocent citizens including the investor, as witnessed in one of the most devastating building collapse in Lagos.
From the previous experience at a neighbouhood center in Garki II District, a four-floor structure, being used as a hotel, wholly collapsed in a single swoop, from the top to the bottom, and in the night. Fortunately prior to the collapse the hotel had stopped operation, and all the staff maintaining the structure had been evacuated, including the security, such that when the disaster occurred no single life was lost and no injury was incurred by anybody.
That was because as soon as the distress sign on the building was noticed, a proactive measure was taken by the developer and the Development Control Department, to ensure the safety of lives, although the property was not saved. Multiple experiences from previous incidences continue to improve the efficiency of the regulating authority in saving lives and ensuring orderly development of the Nation’s Capital City.
Physical development commenced in Abuja in 1982 with the developments of Garki I and Wuse I Districts. Hence, the Cadastral Zone Numbers of A01 and A02 for Garki I and Wuse I Districts respectively. This made the buildings in these two districts to be the oldest in the city. Buildings were first commenced by the FCDA before the private sector made its debut. Thus the age of the earliest buildings in Abuja would not be more than 44 years.
Plot Number 1392 Cadastral Zone A02 Wuse I District is located in Wuse Zone 3 District, not Zone 4 as wrongly reported earlier. It is a three floor structure with estimated age of 33 years. Even being among the earliest buildings in the city, if the development requirements were strictly complied with, it is not old enough to show any sign of distress due to its age.
However, during a regular monitoring of sites and surveillance, officers of the Control Department noticed a strange construction activity. There was no any report or request from the developer to undertake any construction work on the building. Usually whenever a developer wants to undertake a remedial work it must be reported to the appropriate authority, for the purpose of monitoring and professional advice.
The building has already exhibited signs of defects, with a column collapse. Glaringly, there was a lukewarm concern to safety of lives, if any remedial construction activity that was a subject of column failure should be ongoing in a building with occupants. More so there was no formal complaint on the status of the structure. The immediate action would first be measures to save the lives of those within and were not aware of the looming danger.
The developer was immediately ordered by the district officer to stop the work and the building marked for demolition. All the occupants were immediately ordered to evacuate the building with all their belongings under supervision. Not sooner than the completion of the evacuation, the building gave way that same evening. No life was lost. This was similar to the Garki II District incident of 2019.
We can imagine what would have occurred and the lives that would have been trapped in the collapsed building, if the staff of the authority were not vigilant enough, or late by one day in the discovery of the unauthorised remedial construction, stopped the work and evacuated the building. However, to ensure that no life was buried underneath, the Emergency Management Agency did not take things for granted, the rubbles were properly combed.
The spirit of collaboration between the relevant departments and the construction companies in the city is highly commendable. The public agency lacks adequate operation equipment. Anytime there is an emergency situation the multinational companies, that have earth moving machines to assist in rescue operations, are very prompt in responding. This was not exception.
Beyond the contemporary monitoring, the process of the building distress did not happen overnight. The actual reasons will be uncovered when proper investigation is conducted. Some of the contributing factors could be deficiency in the quality of reinforcements, poor foundation, poor soil analysis and concreate mixing when the building was being constructed more 30 years ago. The consequences could take this long before it materialises.
Some of the proactive measures which need to be continuously emphasised are regular conduct of integrity test on buildings. These types of buildings can be identified by adequately trained enforcement officers. It is mandatory for any building that fails the test to be brought down before it gives way and claim lives.