Abuja: The Federal Government has inaugurated an Expanded Ministerial Task Team on Building Collapse as part of efforts to stem the growing cases of building collapse in the country. Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, while inaugurating the team on Wednesday, described the alarming frequency of building collapse in the country as 'a national disgrace.'
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Dangiwa highlighted that building collapse is rarely due to a single failure but rather a culmination of systemic breakdowns. These include design flaws, unchecked substandard materials, construction methods that ignore specifications, improper scrutiny of approvals, and inadequate oversight during and after construction. He emphasized that the failure extends across the entire value chain from conception to regulation.
Dangiwa stressed the need for a holistic approach to tackle the issue and called for synergy among all professions involved in the building process. Architects, Engineers, Quantity Surveyors, Builders, Town Planners, Surveyors, and Valuers each have a role to play in ensuring safety, sound structural calculations, alignment with material specifications, and integrity in execution.
The Expanded Task Team comprises representatives from key regulatory and professional bodies including the Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON), Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Quantity Surveyors Registration Board of Nigeria (QSRBN), and others. The minister underscored the importance of this collective expertise in building a practical framework to address the challenge.
Dangiwa recalled the earlier approval of a Committee on Building Collapse to examine the root causes and propose sustainable solutions. Recognizing the interconnected nature of the issue across various disciplines, he directed the committee's expansion to incorporate key regulatory and professional bodies within the built environment.
The minister noted that the committee's report proposed 18 key recommendations and tasked the reconstituted committee with examining these recommendations to advise the ministry on effective strategies for implementation. The committee is also expected to develop a comprehensive roadmap to address systemic, technical, legal, and institutional challenges related to building collapse.
Furthermore, the committee is tasked with designing a compliance checklist and framework for regulatory and professional bodies to enhance oversight and ensure adherence to standards in building construction. It is also to propose national legislation to strengthen the Federal Government's oversight on building construction.
Dr. Shuaib Belgore, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, urged the committee members to utilize their expertise and institutional experience to achieve the outlined Terms of Reference.