ONE TRAGEDY TOO MANY

The news of a collapsed building this morning in Lagos Island killing and trapping alive scores of school children is anything but shocking. As at the time of writing unconfirmed reports are putting the number at about 100 pupils. My prayer is that God should mercifully not allow those estimates to stand. May they be a lot lower.

Little innocent children and certainly their teachers! What a sad day, especially as the nation is recovering from an estimated number of about 58 persons killed around the country from the most senseless election this country has ever had.

Rescue operation
The issues of collapsed buildings have been reported variously around the country but in a large part Lagos has had more than a fair share. The reasons are not just structural but negligence and callousness on the part of some quacks that call themselves engineers.

The word or appellation “engineer” has been terribly abused in this country. From your regular car mechanic to every Tom, Dick and Harry on sites, for some of us who seek our daily bread on sites, everyone calls himself engineer.

It is obvious that such arrogation of claiming what they are not has manifested in the situation we are witnessing on this Black Wednesday. However, investigation and official report would confirm that this collapse has nothing to do with the structural integrity of that building.

I remember sometime in 2001 or thereabout on CNN, when the issue of the structural strength of the World Trade Center building was on the boil, after a bomb scare and the company that designed the building was interviewed.

About the structural strength of the building they clearly said that it was so structured to withstand the impact of a Boeing 747 in flight. That’s how it should be, except that Osama Bin Ladin and his fellows had another plan where they took some freshly fueled and loaded aircrafts and turned them into bombs. Those structural engineers didn’t imagine that!

But countries think ahead and engineering is certainly about finding solutions to solve a problem.

In fairness to Lagos State I remember the very serious attention and policies His Excellency Babatunde Fashola gave to the issue of collapsed/collapsing buildings during his time as Governor and I equally remember that COREN as the regulation engineering council in Nigeria took the gauntlet in concert with Fashola Government after series of buildings went down in Lagos.

Scene of the collapsed building
A rescue team search for more victims from the scene of a building, which collapsed at Itafaji on the Lagos Island. Kayode Oladapo (Premium Times)
What has happened today joggles my mind yet again to reflect on what would be of Lagos should we witness average earth tremor. The imagination is frightening when you go round Lagos and witness the number of houses that are poorly built, especially those of old.

I witnessed one story building that was pulled down on Bode Thomas Street, Surulere and to the chagrin of everybody the iron used for the decker was simply mesh, no single pillar reinforcement throughout the run on the floor.

May God help us in this country!

Courtesy: Pat Uchendu