Collapsed Buildings, Who to Blame?

The Capital Territory City Abuja, the third fastest growing city in the world and the capital of the most populous black nation can boast of armies of modern buildings that speak volumes of modern day architectural advancement. The elegant and dynamic architectural displays of buildings are a delight. Apart from the aesthetic value, these buildings which like tower in the nooks and crannies of the city help in adding quality to the lavishly and masterfully designed city making Abuja wear the toga of the eight wonder of the world.

However, the story of collapsed of buildings in recent times has left more to be desired. In the last three months, records have it that several buildings within the FCT have horrifying news of a collapsed uncompleted five-storey-building in Ikole Street, off Gimbiya in area 11, Garki, Abuja – Nigeria where about thirty persons were trapped and confirmed dead.

These unfortunate incidences are not just wake up calls on the appropriate authority, but a slap on modern architectural competence. It also raises dust on the quality of Nigeria Engineers who by requirement are expected to supervise such buildings within the Federal Capital Territory. One hopes that the usual Nigerian attitude of “it doesn’t matter” must be done away with in order to forestall further loss of lives and property. Since situations like the issue under discussion are usually as a result of someone’s ineffectiveness. 

Government of Nigeria must ensure that situations like these are properly investigated and adequate punishment meted to any stakeholder found wanting, since no nation can develop through wanton destruction of lives and properties which in most cases are as a result of incompetence or the desire by some scrupulous Nigerians who always want to go the cheap way for maximum profit.

The victims must not be allowed to suffer for the greed of some shylock developers who have thrown standard away by averting the services of qualified engineers for quacks and also taking advantage of the accommodation problem in the major cities by putting up death traps in the name of buildings.

Nigerians must be saved from the trauma of these controllable accidents so that they can sleep in their homes with eyes closed after a hard day’s job.

Innocent Iyke

Abuja – Nigeria

innocentmsn@gmail.com