AS relatives of the old woman who lost her life in the three-storey
building which collapsed at Odunfa Street in Lagos Island mourn the
demise of their loved one, fears are rife that more rickety houses in
the traditional Isale-Eko neighbourhood would take their turn sooner or
later.
This is because the Isale-Eko landscape and other high density squalid neighbourhoods are littered with “coffins” which people live in as houses. Although the frequency of building collapse in the nation’s “centre of excellence” reduced in the dry season, Wednesday’s collapse raised fears that more rickety buildings may collapse in the area.
Isale-Eko, the traditional home of the Aworis in Lagos-Island, is
well-known as the commercial nerve centre of Lagos. The vast area starts
from Eko Bridge to Apongbon, Ebute Ero, Idumota, Nnamdi Azikiwe Street,
Dosunmu Street, Idumagbo to Adeniji Adele Road. The area also includes
Martins Street, Broad Street, Balogun Street, Oluwole, Mandilas and
Tinubu Square. Buildings in this sprawling neighbourhood are old and
distressed.
Apart from cramped buildings which adorn the landscape, making accessibility to the area very cumbersome, Isale-Eko is notorious for its high crime rate. In fact, it is the home of miscreants popularly called “Area Boys or Alaye” by Lagosians. Despite these ugly sides of Isale-Eko, the area retains its position as the commercial hub of Lagos.
Shylock developers
Although a few new developments by Shylock developers are springing in the area, Vanguard checks reveal that most of these new buildings may not stand the test of time because of the substandard materials used.
1,104 buildings sealed in four months – LASBCA
Responding to enquiries on how the state monitors distressed buildings, General Manager, Lagos State Building Control Agency, LSBCA, Mr Shola Aderibigbe, an engineer, said the agency had sealed 1,104 buildings in the last four months. One of such houses, particularly those at Isale Eko could house up to a hundred occupants. Aderibigbe said, ”The structure that collapsed on Wednesday at Odunfa Street was already marked for integrity test with 14-day ultimatum served on the owner.
“However, the residents usually refuse to comply with safety directives. The ultimatum had expired before the collapse. We asked them to conduct Structural Stability Test, SST, on the building and they agreed. We were still waiting for them to conduct the test before the building collapsed. The test would have helped us ascertain if the building was distressed or not. Some buildings can be defective but it is only when the test is conducted that we are able to know if the building can be renovated or demolished.
“We had opened a file for that particular building. Marking a building does not mean we are demolishing because no building can be demolished until a test has been conducted or its stability ascertained. In the last four months, we have sealed 1104 buildings for lack of compliance. Some are illegal structures, while some are distressed.”
Residents recount ordeal: A young man who simply identified himself as “God is good,” said he lived in a dilapidated building at Odunfa Street in the heart of Isale Eko where the three-storey building caved in on Wednesday. God is good who now resides in Eputu in the Ibeju Lekki Local Government Area, recalled his sojourn in Isale Eko, first as an apprentice trader and as a young man who was working hard to make both ends meet. According to him, the collapsed building at Odunfa Street was marked for demolition by the Lagos State Government several years ago but the owner of the property would always “settle” the planning authority. He stated that although many houses in the neighbourhood are distressed, the residents have continued to live in them because they do not have the money to rent better accommodation.
LASURA’s efforts: Although the Lagos State Urban Renewal Authority, LASURA which was carved out as a parastatal in the Ministry of Urban and Physical Planning in 1991, to facilitate the process of improving the living conditions in blighted areas through upgrading and empowerment of the communities, is trying to give Isale-Eko a facelift, their activities have often being misconstrued by the residents.
Mrs Mary Ogele, a resident told Vanguard how LASURA took over the property where she lived. According to her, she and other tenants were paid N50,000 each by LASURA to look for alternative accommodation while the landlords were resettled in an an unidentified place. Many landlords, Vanguard gathered, were not favourably disposed to this arrangement.
They allegedly hinged their fears on what transpired when the state government forcibly evicted occupants of Maroko in Victoria Island. Property owners in Maroko were relocated to Jakande Housing Estate, Ikota, which has today become a massive slum while Maroko was developed into a haven for the affluent. When Vanguard contacted the spokesman of LASURA, he declined to speak because he is on vacation. The General Manager of the Authority retired recently and the acting General Manager could not be reached for his comments.
Experts seek structural audit of properties: A former President of the Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers, NIStructE, Mr. Kunle Adebajo, explained that most of the houses in Isale Eko were built several years ago hence they are now showing visible signs of structural weakness. He noted that even those buildings which were put up for residential purposes have been converted into storage and other commercial uses, thereby weakening them. Adebajo advised property owners and residents of the houses to be wary of danger signs like cracks. “For anyone with property in that area, the best thing to do is to get a structural engineer to assess the building.
Structural engineer
“If people discover certain signs like cracks, they should quickly call a structural engineer to inspect the building. It is important to do this so that people can rest. Ignoring signs such as cracks on the walls can be very dangerous. It could be likened to somebody having headache and ignoring it or just taking panadol without consulting a medical doctor,” he said.
The President of the Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria, ATOPCOM, Mr. Moses Ogunleye, called for the implementation of the report of the Collapsed Building Tribunal which was set up by the immediate past governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola. The tribunal submitted its report which was very detailed in 2013 but uptil date, the government has not come up with a white paper or implemented the recommendations of the Tribunal. He enjoined Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to dust the report of the tribunal, study it and implement its recommendations.
Regeneration is the answer
The President of Building Collapse Prevention Guild, BCPG, Mr. Kunle Awobodu called upon the state government to embark upon urban regeneration of Isale-Eko. Awobodu who noted that substandard constructions litter the neighbourhood, attributed the ugly trend to the political influence of property owners in the area.
He alleged that some buildings in Isale-Eko which were earmarked for demolition by the Fashola administration because they were found to be distressed, are still standing today because of the political influence of their owners. “The building that collapsed at Odunfa street was marked for demolition but was spared because it is owned by a political heavyweight in Isale-Eko,” he alleged.
Describing Isale-Eko buildings as colonial and sub-standard, Awobodu who is also the 2nd vice president, Nigerian Institute of Building, NIOB regretted that the new ones springing are also substandard.
The NIOB chief also faulted the non-engagement of building professionals by developers in the area. He noted that the dearth of accommodation in Lagos Island contributed to the construction of shoddy houses in the neighbourhood by money-minded developers. “Because of the high rent in the area, developers are always in a hurry to put up substandard structures for accommodation seekers without consideration for the safety of the occupants,” he said.
He also listed faulty design, lack of comprehensive sub-soil
investigation, quackery, use of substandard materials, poor workmanship,
non-adherence to professional advice and greed as major reasons for the
rising occurrence of buildings collapse in the country.
Non-adherence to planning laws
Corroborating Awobodu’s views, another Lagos-based builder, Mr Ayodeji Fashola added further that most developers in Isale-Eko do not adhere to the planning regulations. According to him, most developments in the area do not adhere to the six metres setback and three metres space to the next building.
“They (developers) do not engage the services of building professionals like architects, builders and structural engineers. They also use substandard materials. Whenever a building collapses at Isale-Eko, what you will find as debris is sandcrete instead of concrete. The reinforcement materials like iron rods are also substandard. The houses are so close to each other that there is no cross ventilation. The crowded nature of the area due to ongoing commercial activities, makes Isale-Eko unfit for habitation” he said.
This is because the Isale-Eko landscape and other high density squalid neighbourhoods are littered with “coffins” which people live in as houses. Although the frequency of building collapse in the nation’s “centre of excellence” reduced in the dry season, Wednesday’s collapse raised fears that more rickety buildings may collapse in the area.
Isale Eko in Lagos… begging for renewal
Apart from cramped buildings which adorn the landscape, making accessibility to the area very cumbersome, Isale-Eko is notorious for its high crime rate. In fact, it is the home of miscreants popularly called “Area Boys or Alaye” by Lagosians. Despite these ugly sides of Isale-Eko, the area retains its position as the commercial hub of Lagos.
Shylock developers
Although a few new developments by Shylock developers are springing in the area, Vanguard checks reveal that most of these new buildings may not stand the test of time because of the substandard materials used.
1,104 buildings sealed in four months – LASBCA
Responding to enquiries on how the state monitors distressed buildings, General Manager, Lagos State Building Control Agency, LSBCA, Mr Shola Aderibigbe, an engineer, said the agency had sealed 1,104 buildings in the last four months. One of such houses, particularly those at Isale Eko could house up to a hundred occupants. Aderibigbe said, ”The structure that collapsed on Wednesday at Odunfa Street was already marked for integrity test with 14-day ultimatum served on the owner.
“However, the residents usually refuse to comply with safety directives. The ultimatum had expired before the collapse. We asked them to conduct Structural Stability Test, SST, on the building and they agreed. We were still waiting for them to conduct the test before the building collapsed. The test would have helped us ascertain if the building was distressed or not. Some buildings can be defective but it is only when the test is conducted that we are able to know if the building can be renovated or demolished.
“We had opened a file for that particular building. Marking a building does not mean we are demolishing because no building can be demolished until a test has been conducted or its stability ascertained. In the last four months, we have sealed 1104 buildings for lack of compliance. Some are illegal structures, while some are distressed.”
Residents recount ordeal: A young man who simply identified himself as “God is good,” said he lived in a dilapidated building at Odunfa Street in the heart of Isale Eko where the three-storey building caved in on Wednesday. God is good who now resides in Eputu in the Ibeju Lekki Local Government Area, recalled his sojourn in Isale Eko, first as an apprentice trader and as a young man who was working hard to make both ends meet. According to him, the collapsed building at Odunfa Street was marked for demolition by the Lagos State Government several years ago but the owner of the property would always “settle” the planning authority. He stated that although many houses in the neighbourhood are distressed, the residents have continued to live in them because they do not have the money to rent better accommodation.
LASURA’s efforts: Although the Lagos State Urban Renewal Authority, LASURA which was carved out as a parastatal in the Ministry of Urban and Physical Planning in 1991, to facilitate the process of improving the living conditions in blighted areas through upgrading and empowerment of the communities, is trying to give Isale-Eko a facelift, their activities have often being misconstrued by the residents.
Mrs Mary Ogele, a resident told Vanguard how LASURA took over the property where she lived. According to her, she and other tenants were paid N50,000 each by LASURA to look for alternative accommodation while the landlords were resettled in an an unidentified place. Many landlords, Vanguard gathered, were not favourably disposed to this arrangement.
They allegedly hinged their fears on what transpired when the state government forcibly evicted occupants of Maroko in Victoria Island. Property owners in Maroko were relocated to Jakande Housing Estate, Ikota, which has today become a massive slum while Maroko was developed into a haven for the affluent. When Vanguard contacted the spokesman of LASURA, he declined to speak because he is on vacation. The General Manager of the Authority retired recently and the acting General Manager could not be reached for his comments.
Experts seek structural audit of properties: A former President of the Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers, NIStructE, Mr. Kunle Adebajo, explained that most of the houses in Isale Eko were built several years ago hence they are now showing visible signs of structural weakness. He noted that even those buildings which were put up for residential purposes have been converted into storage and other commercial uses, thereby weakening them. Adebajo advised property owners and residents of the houses to be wary of danger signs like cracks. “For anyone with property in that area, the best thing to do is to get a structural engineer to assess the building.
Structural engineer
“If people discover certain signs like cracks, they should quickly call a structural engineer to inspect the building. It is important to do this so that people can rest. Ignoring signs such as cracks on the walls can be very dangerous. It could be likened to somebody having headache and ignoring it or just taking panadol without consulting a medical doctor,” he said.
The President of the Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria, ATOPCOM, Mr. Moses Ogunleye, called for the implementation of the report of the Collapsed Building Tribunal which was set up by the immediate past governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola. The tribunal submitted its report which was very detailed in 2013 but uptil date, the government has not come up with a white paper or implemented the recommendations of the Tribunal. He enjoined Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to dust the report of the tribunal, study it and implement its recommendations.
Regeneration is the answer
The President of Building Collapse Prevention Guild, BCPG, Mr. Kunle Awobodu called upon the state government to embark upon urban regeneration of Isale-Eko. Awobodu who noted that substandard constructions litter the neighbourhood, attributed the ugly trend to the political influence of property owners in the area.
He alleged that some buildings in Isale-Eko which were earmarked for demolition by the Fashola administration because they were found to be distressed, are still standing today because of the political influence of their owners. “The building that collapsed at Odunfa street was marked for demolition but was spared because it is owned by a political heavyweight in Isale-Eko,” he alleged.
Describing Isale-Eko buildings as colonial and sub-standard, Awobodu who is also the 2nd vice president, Nigerian Institute of Building, NIOB regretted that the new ones springing are also substandard.
The NIOB chief also faulted the non-engagement of building professionals by developers in the area. He noted that the dearth of accommodation in Lagos Island contributed to the construction of shoddy houses in the neighbourhood by money-minded developers. “Because of the high rent in the area, developers are always in a hurry to put up substandard structures for accommodation seekers without consideration for the safety of the occupants,” he said.
One of the streets in Isale Eko
Non-adherence to planning laws
Corroborating Awobodu’s views, another Lagos-based builder, Mr Ayodeji Fashola added further that most developers in Isale-Eko do not adhere to the planning regulations. According to him, most developments in the area do not adhere to the six metres setback and three metres space to the next building.
“They (developers) do not engage the services of building professionals like architects, builders and structural engineers. They also use substandard materials. Whenever a building collapses at Isale-Eko, what you will find as debris is sandcrete instead of concrete. The reinforcement materials like iron rods are also substandard. The houses are so close to each other that there is no cross ventilation. The crowded nature of the area due to ongoing commercial activities, makes Isale-Eko unfit for habitation” he said.
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