Collapsed Ikoyi building: APBN questions government regulation, monitoring

While Nigerians await the report of a six-member investigation panel on the 21 storeys collapsed building in Ikoyi Lagos, the Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria, APBN has questioned government regulation and monitoring mechanism in the housing sector.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had last Thursday setup panel of inquiry headed by Toyin Ayinde, the President of the National Institute of Town Planners, to investigate the cause of the collapse of the 21-storey building but APBN said the collapse of the building depicts systematic failure both in the building and the policy regulation, control and monitoring in the industry and the state.

Speaking to newsmen Wednesday in Lagos on the collapsed building that claimed about 42 people, including its owner, Femi Osibona, the President of APBN, Akinloye Oyegbola said the problem in the country, not only in Lagos State is not the availability of policies, but lack of will to execute them properly.

“How would one explain a situation where it takes upwards of three years to get a building plan approval for construction? Does one need a soothsayer to know that it is just a matter of time before the products of the different aspects of the engendered corruption will manifest.”

Read also: Ikoyi building collapse: Relief as COREN weighs in, sets up investigative panel

Looking at the quest and the upscale method of generating Internally Generated Revenue, APBN president believes that it needs holistic revenue in order not to compromise quality.

“There is the need to establish an appreciable level of parity between the generated revenue and the quality of service rendered to the public. The building plan approval issue is an example of possible lack of commensurate quality of service to the revenue generated”, Oyegbola said.

He believes that a better quality of service that will eliminate all bottlenecks would generate more money for the government without the public paying more.

To make the civil service more accountable, the APBN president said every government department, parastatal and agency should publish the services they render to the public including their guidelines and the time for accomplishment of the tasks.

“This measure would put the members of the public in a position to query the manner in which the service is being rendered and where necessary report to a higher authority. This, in turn, provides additional criteria for evaluation of efficiency of the staff for promotion exercise, enhancing productivity and shore up the IGR”.

On competence of professionals, he said Nigeria is blessed with highly qualified and competent professionals but the challenge is the mode of deployment and level of utilisation of the professionals.

He explained APBN established in 1983 is an association of professional bodies in different sectors grouped into Environmental, engineering, construction, Financial, Health and medical and management and Communication.