A Dangerous One-sided Story is Prowling

Notes for File

Immediately Mr. Femi Osibona’s 21-storey building on Gerald Road, Ikoyi, buckled, a certain narrative, which sought to explain away what might have happened, surfaced and had stayed the cause, even as you read this. This particular narrative had simply passed a death sentence, yet, on the dead.

Apparently, a shrewd businessman, whose first instinctive disposition to every business idea was to maximise profit, those who claimed to know the late Chief Executive Officer of Fourscore Homes Limited, had insinuated compromise, not just of official approvals but also of standard building materials.

Unfortunately, for the dead but a good play for those behind this equally plausible narrative, a certain letter of withdrawal of consultancy by Prowess Engineering Company, the one that reportedly handled two out of the three buildings, surfaced and testified to the assumption of a compromise in no small measure.

But the truth is, running with this obviously one-sided story is not only dangerous and misleading to the public, it could also preempt the outcome of the investigation set in motion by the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

Without siding with any of the conspiracy theories doing the rounds, the manner the 21-storey came down was no less controlled. The closest to this was the BOI building brought down by the Lagos State government under Babatunde Fashola. Indeed, typical of that experience, everyone around also testified to the ‘near-tremor experience’ in Ikoyi and environment as well as the explosive bang that rent the air.

Of course, there have been several other incredible suspicions that seek to support the theory of sabotage as much as compromise in the estimation of different people. Whatever are the misgivings of anyone about Osibona, it is better to err on the side of caution, especially, given the number of lives so far lost to this unfortunate incident, including the property owner’s. It is, therefore, better to keep an open mind in this case than to sell an idea that’s not truly foolproof.