More buildings are yet to collapse in Nigeria –Engr Emeka Ali

By Enyeribe Anyanwu

Many buildings are collapsing in Nigeria and many more are yet to collapse, renowned Civil Engineer, Engr. Dr. Sunday Emeka Ali has said.

Engr. Ali said this in a lecture marking the official conferment of professorial chair in Civil Engineering on him by Highstone Global University, Texas, USA. The ceremony took place Saturday December 7, 2024 in Asaba Delta State, Nigeria.

Prof. Ali enumerated some of the reasons why buildings in Nigeria, both public and private, collapse to include: not taking in consideration the structure and texture of the soil carrying the building, inadequate professional supervision, unwillingness of building owners to pay professional fees of engineers leading to use of incompetent builders, converting private buildings to public buildings along the way, and activities of quacks among others.

He noted that designs for private buildings are different from those of public buildings as both are designed with different strength, regretting that often designs for private buildings are forced to carry buildings meant for public use.

The professor of Civil Engineering also noted that there are a lot of people claiming to be engineers who are not, stressing that mere possession of a degree or OND certificate does not make somebody an engineer. He remarked that for somebody to be an engineer, the person must have passed through professional trainings and certifications by professional institutes and societies, in addition to gathering requisite experience.

He also identified substandard and under specification iron rods prevalent in Nigerian markets as one of the causes of building collapse in Nigeria. He decried a situation where substandard and inferior iron rods are sold for superior ones. For instance, 11.5mm iron rods are being imported and sold as 12mm. The builders do not know in most cases, but sometimes when they know, they choose to compromise. The use of such substandard iron rods will definitely lead to building collapse, he said.

He regretted that these inferior or out of specification iron rods are being imported into the country while the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) looks the other way.

Prof Ali advised government, estate developers and private house owners not to compromise on the quality of materials and professional competence of those they engage to build structures for them.

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