Synagogue church building collapse

Building collapse in Nigeria is a frequent occurrence, blamed largely on improper adherence to, sometimes bypassing, strict building codes. The Ikotun Egbe premises of SCOAN of televangelist Temitope B. Joshua are popularly associated with large number of worshippers from all over the country and abroad. The building that collapsed served as a guest house for […]

Building collapse in Nigeria is a frequent occurrence, blamed largely on improper adherence to, sometimes bypassing, strict building codes. The Ikotun Egbe premises of SCOAN of televangelist Temitope B. Joshua are popularly associated with large number of worshippers from all over the country and abroad. The building that collapsed served as a guest house for foreign worshippers. Among the 114 casualties were 67 South Africans, according to the country’s president, Mr Jacob Zuma. A senior official of the Zimbabwean opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was also a victim. There were some 130 survivors.
Officials of the Lagos State government blamed the collapse of the two-storey building on illegal additional construction work for two more floors. Work on the extension was in progress when the entire structure gave way. The officials said the management of SCOAN was denied approval for the extension work.  Indeed, the officials added that a squad was despatched to stop further work on the building, which was then sealed off. But when the squad left, the church officials ordered workers to continue with the building.
The immediate cause of this tragic even therefore would appear to be the wilful disregard of town planning and building rules and regulations.  There is no other rational explanation; the assertion by the church’s founder that a ‘strange aircraft’ was seen overflying the building at the time of the incident and could somehow have been responsible for the collapse certainly does not sound as one.  
In any case, the true picture of what really happened that lead to such a colossal but painfully avoidable loss of lives should emerge from the investigation that the Lagos State government has already launched. But the immediate remedial action would the enforcement of the building code on this particular site. Beyond the SCOAN incident is a more fundamental issue of administration and supervision of building projects by government officials.
Buildings for residential and commercial purposes are designed and supposedly built to withstand all contingencies to offer maximum protection to occupants and the environs. This is why building construction is governed by stringent regulations and codes of practice. These rules cover critical issues as the quality of material used, construction procedures and competence of construction workers. These conditions should be verified even before actual construction commences for any building.  
The practice in Nigeria appears to be different. At any stage of the life of a typical building, whether during initial construction, routine maintenance or even renovation and extension, rules and relevant expedients are thrown overboard, thereby leaving the builders to their devices. The result has been the frequent incidents of building collapse.
All this happen in spite of the existence of building and property development and regulatory officials in every state of the federation, who often compromise public safety by approving poorly developed buildings.
The SCOAN building tragedy epitomises the sorry state of affairs in the nation’s building sector. The present parade of blames by the SCOAN management and the spirited effort of the Lagos State government to explain their failure to follow up on the threat to demolish the additional illegal structures, is not helpful, even as the result of ongoing investigations by the various authorities may be of limited utility if their outcome do not address the deeper rot in the machinery of administering property development in urban centres and the rest of the country.  
President Goodluck Jonathan called his South African counterpart to express Nigerians’ condolences; we add our note of sympathy, and extend it to all those who may have lost relations in that tragic incident, and pray that it never recurs.