The Nigerian Institute of Building has called on the National Assembly to pass the National Building Code into law in order to curb the incessant cases of building collapse across the country.
In his address at the recent 2022 conference/Annual General Meeting of NIOB, Abuja Chapter, the Chairman of the institute in the Federal Capital Territory, Omale Ameh, also urged the Federal Government to task Nigeria’s lawmakers to pass the building code into law.
He said, “We have again called on the National Assembly to pass the National Building Code into law. While we continue to agitate for the passage of the National Building Code into law, we will continue our advocacy and public enlightenment activities.
“We wish to call on government and relevant stakeholders to rise up to the challenge and call on the National Assembly to expedite action with the passage of the NBC into law and enforcing it as it remains a key-gate to the production of safe buildings in Nigeria and a solution to this problem of building collapse.”
Ameh noted that in order to effectively respond to the challenges of building collapse across the country, the AGM Planning Committee opted for the theme, “Curbing the menace of building collapse in Nigeria: An appraisal of the salient issues.”
He said the continuous sad commentary of building collapse and unwarranted loss of lives and properties was an embarrassment to the built environment professionals.
This, he said, had negatively impacted the sector, adding that other problems that had worsened building collapse include lack of collaboration by professionals, indiscriminate importation of substandard materials and lack of adherence to the regulatory framework.
He added, “Until these are put in place and quacks are expelled from handling construction works, buildings may continue to collapse and the consequence of these is the continuous loss of valuable lives and property.”
On his part, the Secretary-General, Nigerian Bar Association, Adebiyi Adetosoye, described the theme of the AGM as apt, considering the spate of the collapse of buildings across the country.
He commended the FCT chapter of the NIOB for its commitment to interrogating the subject, stating that it was only when professionals were accorded their rightful patronage that the challenge of building collapse would be addressed.
Source: Punch
