By Maduka Nweke
The Building Collapse Prevention Guild Ikoyi-Obalende Cell has frowned at the deteriorating state of some national monuments/federal government’s property within Ikoyi, where President Bola Tinubu’s personal residence is located.
The Guild, drew the attention of the President to the rot, calling for an urgent step to restore it.
In a statement made available to Daily Sun and signed by Bola Arilesere and Adebola Adeyera Coordinator and Secretary respectively of BCPG, Obalende-Ikoyi Cell said, the Guild noted that the modern Ikoyi now boasts of significant infrastructural development, including the construction of contemporary high-rise buildings, luxurious waterfront buildings, upscale shopping centres, and recreational facilities, establishing it as a premier residential and commercial destination in Lagos.
According to them, as a focal point of cosmopolitan development in the state, building collapse was a rare phenomenon in the Ikoyi axis of Lagos. “In those days, Ikoyi was noted for strict adherence to building regulations. From our records, Ikoyi has experienced five incidents of building collapse. The first reported case of building collapse in Ikoyi was at 6A, Milverton Close, in 2006. The building collapsed as a result of the dilapidation of the car park steel beams. Lack of maintenance was the cause of the first building collapse in Ikoyi.
“The second incident was the collapse of a semi-detached residential building at 19a & 19b, HFB Way, Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi on 18th April, 2015, caused by the explosion of a cooking gas cylinder.
“The third collapse happened on 1st November, 2019 when a building under construction collapsed at the Glover Court. The project was in its third storey with columns in place for subsequent floor(s) when it collapsed, claiming the life of one person. The fourth collapse was the tragic collapse of a 20-storey (Wrongful and severally described as 21-storey) building on Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, on 1st November, 2021, killing not less than 52 persons. Then, the fifth was the collapse of the proposed nine-storey building (including the penthouse) while construction work was ongoing on its 7th floor (this was widely reported as “7-storey building”) at Plot L15 and L16, Close 102, First Avenue, Banana Island on 12th April, 2023, taking the life of one person. It is our earnest prayer that such preventable tragedies would not occur during your tenure as the President of this nation.
“From our analysis, we observed that in all the cases of collapse-during-construction in Ikoyi in the past 4 years, all of them were built by developers. A worrisome common denominator for these three buildings that collapsed under construction was the obvious flouting of building regulations with no government officials held accountable contrary to the outcomes of investigations.
Next factor is the need for building and services maintenance. Mr. President, horrors of building collapse witnessed are preventable.
We recall that you visited the gory site of building collapse on the Gerrard Road, Ikoyi on 6th November, 2021 where you addressed the rescuers and BCPG representatives on ground and sympatised with Lagosians. There is the need to curtail the excesses of unscrupulous developers with no regard for quality and human lives. Building occupants and owners, including the federal government, should also be seen to demonstrate this commitment to building maintenance.
“Some neglected Federal Government buildings in our neighbourhood have become havens for criminals, illicit drug peddlers, squatters, and illegal occupants, tarnishing the reputation of Ikoyi. We are concerned that lack of occupancy and regular maintenance are contributing to their faster dilapidation. We also know that steel scrap thieves and vandals are becoming widespread. Steel structural components in abandoned buildings and under bridges have become their target. Hence, blighted Federal Government buildings could be at risk over time. Notable among these abandoned Federal Government buildings is the multi-storey Federal Secretariat Complex, Ikoyi, an expired symbol of national pride in its prime. Also, we have the Ikoyi Towers (an equally Federal Government property, comprising three blocks of 12 floors labelled A, B, and C behind the abandoned Federal Secretariat). These multi-billion public investments should not be allowed to go to waste, especially at a time when the affordable housing sector is in crisis.
“In view of the negative social, economic, safety, and security implications of such blighted buildings in any high-brow neighbourhood, we urge you, Mr. President, to leverage your influence to foster the rejuvenation of these decaying infrastructures in Ikoyi. In line with the Renewed Hope Agenda and the interests of Nigerians, we implore you to intervene and facilitate the revitalisation of the dilapidated Federal Secretariat, surmounting bureaucratic hurdles and legal complexities to salvage the economic waste of such monumental buildings. These national monuments should unfold benefits to tax-paying Nigerians and not become a burden on the neighbourhood.
“In conclusion, as we mark the one-year anniversary of your administration, we appeal to Your Excellency to call for peace and possibly out-of-court negotiations to mitigate the wanton economic waste of the Federal Secretariat Complex. For the Ikoyi Towers, public-private partnerships can transform these buildings into low-cost residential apartments, technology hubs for developers, co-working spaces for small and medium-scale businesses, or other creative mixed-use purposes. We urge you, Mr. President, to kindly use your elevated office to conscientize the parties involved about the need to rid Ikoyi of these potential hideouts for nefarious activities that could lower the quality of life in this neighbourhood. We thank you and wish you a more successful second year in office,” they maintained.