In saner countries of the world, aworkman takes pride inthe quality of his
products. Apart from the pecuniary incentives of his labor,he appreciates
his moral obligation to society to uphold professional standardsin his
work, and, for his credibility, he strives for the excellence of his
outputsfor they define his professional hallmark. On the other hand, due
to the moraland ethical collapse of the Nigerian society, the workman is
indifferent tosocietal expectations and his professional credibility to
the point of total disregardsto the quality of his output.
Asa result, some Nigerian builders mortgage professional standards, worthy
workmanshipand quality to profit maximization, and thus, end up building
structurallydefective buildings. But then, it may be understandable that
an entrepreneur drivenmostly by profit violates professional standards and
circumvents building codesand ordinances for profit. But what about the
government agency empowered by lawto regulate the builders and ensure that
they adhere to government stipulated constructionstandards? In Lagos
State, the agency responsible for these is the Lagos State BuildingControl
Agency (LASBCA).
Thepowers and responsibilities of the agency are enormous: controls and
regulatesevery phase of the construction process, and identifies and
demolishesdistressed and nonconforming structures. If this agency is
incorruptible andefficient, there will be virtually no building collapse
in Lagos State. It isthe corruption and inefficiency of LASBCA that
account for the repeated buildingcollapse in the state. LASBCA officials
accept bribes from builders and thenrelax the stringency of the approval
and inspection processes. Thus, allowingfor the use of substandard
materials and unqualified labor, and breach ofbuilding codes and
ordinances, and ultimately, the construction of structurallydefective
buildings that will, sooner or later, collapse.
Dueto corruption also, LASBCA has not been effective in the demolition
ofdistressed and nonconforming structures. As such, although the collapse
of a buildingis preceded by conspicuous signs that allow LASBCA ample time
to evacuate anddemolish it, buildings still routinely cave-in on their
residents, trapping, maimingand killing people. On March 13, 2019, a three
storey building, still inhabitedby businesses, residents and an illegal
primary school, collapsed in the Ita Fajiarea of Lagos Island. For long,
the building showed glaring signs of imminent collapse.And, on three
different occasions, officials of the LASBCA marked it for demolitionbut
it was never demolished. It was alleged that each time it was marked
fordemolition, the landlord forestalled it by bribing LASBCA officials.
Finally,the building caved-in, and twenty persons, many of them pupils of
the school, died.In this country of ours that glories in violence and
trivializes human life, weare inundated with figures of human death that
it is beginning to lose its enormityand gravity; it just has a statistical
ring.
Butthen, “statistics are like bikinis, what they reveal is important but
what theyhide is essential”. The statistics (twenty deaths) hid poignant
and tear-jerkingnarratives that attended the Ita Faji tragedy. A father
was lamenting the deathof his three children. For two weeks, they stayed
home because he could not paytheir school fees. Then, on that ill-fated
day, he got their school fees readyand sent them back to school. As the
build collapsed, all his three childrendied. It was his birthday, and this
10 year old boy refused to go to school. Hewanted to stay home and romp
around in celebration of his birthday. But hisparents objected;
reluctantly, he went to school. He died in the buildingcollapse. On
receiving the news of the death of her two children in thebuilding
collapse, a young mother stepped out of her house, bought poison, tooka
portion of it and died. Statistics hid the personal trauma, anguish
andsorrow of those that lost their love ones. It failed to reveal the
personalagony of each life irretrievably shattered by that preventable
catastrophe.
Thepreventable catastrophe was not prevented because of the corruption,
greed and disdainfor human lives of the Nigerian society. A society that,
in its convolutedreligionism, becomes progressively selfish, corrupt,
fraudulent and murderous asit becomes increasingly religious. It would
have been prevented, if not that venal,voracious, conscienceless officials
of LASBCA, repeatedly took bribe and renegedon the demolition of a fatally
defective structure that imperiled the lives ofmany, including children.
It was not prevented because unscrupulous officialsof the state Ministry
of Education, evidently, evidently, for a bribe, consentedto the continued
operation of all illegal school with one hundred registeredpupils; and the
school operators, in their negligence, betrayed the trust reposedon them
by parents: that the school could guarantee the safety of theirchildren in
their learning environment.
Asusual, the governor visited the site of the disaster, displayed genuine
concerns,ordered investigation, etc. But, in the characteristic Nigerian
modus operandi,the hoopla that attends this tragedy will die down after a
few weeks, and itwill all relapse to business as usual. And, as usual,
government officials willcontinue with their ingrained habits of accepting
bribes from builders toapprove shoddy constructions, and landlords to
avoid the demolition of dangerously,defective structures. Invariably,
buildings will continue to collapse and kill andmaim the innocent and
unsuspecting.
Theantidote to this macabre routine is accountability on the part of the
government.Accountability demands that the chairman of LASBCA and the
state Commissionerfor Education take personal responsibilities for the
corruption and derelictionof duty of their subordinates, and resign, and
individual officials, in the agencyand ministry, whose actions and
inactions led to the Ita Faji calamity, should beseverely punished:
arrested, prosecuted and jailed. Secondly, the bereavedfamilies should sue
for damages demanding billions of naira. Those to be suedinclude the state
Ministry of Education, LASBCA, the landlord and the schoolproprietor.
Althoughnothing can retrieve the dead or totally relieve the trauma and
anguish of thebereaved, it is extremely important that government
officials, builders andlandlords learn the hard way that they will be held
accountable for theiractions and their consequences. This will be a power
deterrent on their corruptactivities, irresponsibility and moral remiss
that, in the past, resulted tobuilding collapses in Lagos.
TochukwuEzukanma writes from Lagos, Nigeria
0803529 2908
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