Why Buildings in Lagos Keep Collapsed

A building collapsed in Nigeria’s major city of Lagos, an average of one building collapses every two weeks. so far this year.

While the commercial costs can be calculated, the value of the lives lost under the rubble can never be calculated.

Gaps between buildings, replaced by rubble, reflect a failure of management and have also given rise to accusations that contractors are trying to cut costs to save money.

There are regulations, there are maintenance schedules, there are inspectors – but the system doesn’t work.

Those responsible are never held accountable, and so nothing changes.

Lagos, dubbed by one expert as the “building collapse capital of Nigeria”, has seen at least 90 buildings collapse in the past 12 years, killing more than 350 people, according to the Nigerian Engineering Regulatory Council.

One of the most infamous incidents occurred in 2021.

Sunday Femi was just metres away, in the upscale suburb of Ikoyi, when a 21-storey luxury apartment building under construction collapsed, killing 42 people.

After the loud crash, he was engulfed in dust.

“Like many others, I rushed inside to see if I could help some of the people trapped. Sadly, I know some people died and I think about that every day,” he said, recalling what happened nearly three years ago.

The beverage vendor talked to some construction workers just before they entered the site.

He still works nearby and locals often gossip about those events and what might have happened.

Metal panels protect the structure from prying eyes, but piles of broken concrete can still be seen through gaps in the gate.

When they knocked on the door of the ill-fated building, two fierce-looking security guards opened the door and said they were under orders to not let anyone into the premises except state government officials.

Just as the site is sealed off from the public, so too is the official investigation into the collapse – it has been on the governor’s desk since he took over in 2022.

A list of recommendations is said to have been drawn up by a panel of experts following the inquiry but has also not been made public.

The BBC has repeatedly asked the Lagos state government to see its recommendations and reports on the Ikoyi building collapse, but they have not been provided.

However, the police investigation spoke out and in 2022, she did not keep silent.

In his sentencing judgment regarding the deaths, Chief Justice Oyetade Komolafe attributed the building collapse to the negligence and negligence of government agencies that were supposed to approve and supervise the plans and construction process.

Lagos’ population is booming and is now estimated to be over 20 million people.

As the city grows, so does the demand for housing and commercial real estate, sometimes it feels like being on a giant construction site with construction going on everywhere.

Before construction can begin, plans need to be approved by the Lagos State Physical Planning Authority. Inspectors from the Lagos State Building Control Authority (LASBCA) will then inspect the site and check progress at every stage of construction.

And the Standards Organization of Nigeria must ensure that only suitable building materials are released into the market.

But in many cases, these procedures are not followed.

Inside the LASBCA office, things seemed calm – there was no sense of urgency about the issues or challenges the organization was facing.

Spokesman Olusegun Olaoye acknowledged the criticism but denied allegations that officials took bribes to issue fake certificates and blamed a lack of resources.

“We currently have about 300 building inspectors and supervisors but we are looking to add more,” he said.

Experts agree that more supervisors are needed.

Muhammad Danmarya, an architect and construction expert, said the number must be in the thousands.

“Three hundred is not appropriate for a state like Lagos. Each local government area should have at least 100 inspectors and supervisors and Lagos has 57 such areas,” he argued.

“There is always construction going on everywhere, so it is important to always check and monitor.”

Due to the lack of this regime across the state, some unscrupulous companies are violating building codes, using poor quality materials and hiring poorly trained workers – three of the reasons cited for the high frequency of collapses.

“They just come here to pick us up whenever they have work for us and pay us after the job is done,” said laborer Habu Isah, who has worked at construction sites for many years.

“I never went through any training, I just learned everything on the job.”

But even after discovering violations after the collapse, the state building agency did not take any legal action.

“To my knowledge, there has never been a prosecution in relation to building collapses in Lagos,” admitted LASBCA’s Olaoye.

“I know the statistics are worrying but efforts are being made to stem this trend.”

Political influence is alleged to be a barrier to prosecution.

One Lagos state politician, who did not want to be named, told the BBC: “If you have connections with people in power, even if you are the culprit in a building collapse, nothing will happen to you.”

“We have seen this many times, some serious cases involving people in high positions and they are still walking around freely.

“In Nigeria, when you are rich and have connections, you can easily avoid problems.”

With 19 building collapses recorded by the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency this year, the final figure is likely to be the highest in the past decade.

But there may still be lessons not learned.

The head of Nigeria’s Engineering Regulatory Council recently said the country does not have the capacity to properly investigate what is going on.

“We don’t have the expertise, equipment and resources to do that,” said Professor Sadiq Abubakar.

Meanwhile, construction workers and others will continue to pay with their lives.

Additional reporting by Andrew Gift