‘No Structural Engineer Involved in Building Collapse in 2024’

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

The Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers(NIStructE) has said  no single member of the body has been implicated in building collapse this year.

The President of NIStructE,  Johnson Adegboyega Adeyoye, stated  this yesterday while briefing the media on the institution’s forthcoming 2024 conference and 37th annual general meeting (AGM) scheduled for Abuja from October 15 to 16. 

Adeyoye attributed several cases of building collapse to quackery and people who didn’t want to pay the little percentage due to structural engineers or professionals to construct safe buildings.

He made reference to the collapsed 21- storey building in Ikoyi, Lagos, on November 1, 2021, where 40 persons died.

He said a panel set up by government after the event blamed the developer for not making use of Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) certified structural engineers to supervise the project.

He also lamented that many developers still prefer to employ quacks, who accept any amount of money to carry out structural engineering job.

“Many older buildings that adorn the landscape are still standing because they ensured the use of professionals in the supervision of projects.”

 “But the same cannot be said in present times because of hard times and because some people want to cut corners. We must do the right thing so that we get the right result,” he said.

While painting an outlook of the industry, the President and Chairman in Council of NIStructE, decried the state of the industry in Nigeria, attributing many recent cases of building collapse in the country to structures that don’t meet development standard. 

“What we do as structural engineers is that when you put the right people in right project, you achieve durability and save lives. Your investment is also safe and secure when you use right professionals as structural engineers. But over the years we have been Naira wise, kobo foolish because of the preference for artisans to replace structural engineers.”

Adeyoye also condemned the glaring preference accorded foreign firms by politicians at the expense of Nigerian engineers.

He said that foreign firms collude with politicians to get contract, while Nigerian engineers don’t get patronage because they don’t cut corners.