For years, building collapse in Nigeria has followed a familiar and tragic script: lives are lost, properties are destroyed, officials visit the scene, and the affected site is often taken over by the government. Then the headlines fade, while the deeper questions remain unanswered.
Why do buildings continue to collapse? Who should take responsibility? And what must change to ensure that Nigerians can live and work in buildings that are safe, properly designed and professionally constructed?
These questions took centre stage in Abuja as builders from across the country gathered for the 56th Annual Conference of the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), where the industry confronted the persistent challenges of housing delivery, professional standards and the menace of building collapse.
For the President of the NIOB, Bldr Daniel Abimbola Kolade, the conference was more than another professional gathering. It was a call to reposition Nigeria’s building industry through advocacy and policy influence, with the ultimate goal of improving housing delivery and creating a sustainable built environment.
“We have holistically looked at issues that surround and concern housing delivery in Nigeria, and how advocacy and policy influence can help to drive changes within our industry,” Kolade said.
At the heart of the discussion was the need for stronger regulation. Kolade argued that while the National Building Code exists and some states have begun adopting it, the code requires stronger legal backing at the federal level.
According to him, the persistence of building collapse across the country shows that government responses must go beyond merely taking over sites after disasters occur.
“You will see incidences of building collapse all over Nigeria,” he said. “But since when we have been hearing about building collapse, the best the government has done is to say, ‘We take over the land.’ But is taking over the land the only thing? Has taking over the land stopped incidences and occurrences of this?”
For the builders, the answer lies partly in ensuring that the right professionals are engaged at every stage of construction.
Kolade was particularly scathing about individuals who claim to be capable of handling every aspect of a building project without the required professional expertise.
“Anytime that you see someone who tells you that ‘I can do it all’… ‘I can produce the drawing, I can construct the house, and I can maintain the house,’ honestly, don’t go about looking for a quack again; you have seen one,” he said.
His message was directed not only at unqualified practitioners but also at professionals themselves, whom he urged to uphold their responsibilities and standards.
“We professionals, please, let’s stand and do our job and do it rightly,” he said.
But the responsibility, according to the NIOB president, does not rest solely with government and professionals. Property owners and other end users also have a role to play.
He warned against the temptation to cut costs by avoiding professional builders, saying such savings could eventually become far more expensive when poor workmanship, material wastage or structural failure occurs.
“Please, don’t be penny wise, pound foolish,” Kolade warned.
He explained that what an individual may initially consider an unnecessary professional fee could ultimately pale in comparison with the cost of correcting defective construction or dealing with a collapsed structure.
“If a section of the house collapses, you’ll see that the money you were running away from and didn’t want to spend, you come back to spend it,” he said.
The conference also placed housing delivery within the broader agenda of the Federal Government, particularly the Renewed Hope Initiative.
Kolade said the institute was encouraged by the participation of Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, who chaired the opening ceremony and presented the government’s position on the sector.
He said builders were prepared to respond to the challenge and support the Renewed Hope Initiative, particularly the construction of Renewed Hope houses across the country.
While acknowledging that professionals are already being involved in the housing programme, he said there was still considerable room for greater professional participation.
“We are asking, and that’s what we are advocating, that government policy needs to support the industry in all areas within the industry,” he said.
A war against quackery
If there was one message Kolade wanted to leave the conference with, it was that the era of unqualified practitioners operating unchecked in the building sector must end.
Asked for his message to quacks, he delivered it bluntly:
“My message for them is that they should just know that their time is over. There is no more hiding place for those quacks within the industry, because you can no longer run. Professionals will run after you and we’ll catch you.”
The warning reflects a wider concern within the industry that poor construction practices, disregard for specifications and the use of unqualified personnel continue to threaten lives and undermine confidence in Nigeria’s built environment.
From conference hall to the grassroots
For John Kwor Christopher, the Executive Chairman of Jos North Local Government Council, the challenge is not simply about professional regulation. It is also about ensuring that the culture of quality begins at the point where buildings are approved and monitored.
As a guest at the conference, Christopher stressed the importance of shelter to human existence and urged young builders and professionals to pay close attention to quality and specifications as they seek new ways of addressing Nigeria’s housing needs.
“There is no one that can live without shelter,” he said, stressing the importance of producing quality buildings for Nigerians.
His concern is particularly relevant against the backdrop of recent building collapses across the country.
“With this conference, it will further strengthen the institution of builders in Nigeria to also check at one another to ensure that we have quality buildings in the country,” he said.
For Christopher, the solution must also include greater attention to housing development by the Federal Government. He urged the government to make shelter a major priority, describing housing as one of the fundamental needs of every human being.
But while the Federal Government controls much of the national housing policy, local governments also have a role to play.
Christopher said Jos North Local Government, at the grassroots level, contributes by approving building plans and designs and monitoring developments to ensure compliance with approved specifications.
“One of the responsibilities of the local government is to also approve buildings, building plans, and designs,” he said.
He explained that officials at the local level go around to monitor construction and ensure that developments conform to approved plans and specifications.
“We are contributing at our own level, at the grassroots level, by ensuring that buildings are based on specification, buildings are based on design, so that we’ll not have buildings that are not organised, buildings that are not standard,” he said.
Beyond concrete and steel
The conversation at the builders’ conference ultimately points to a problem bigger than construction itself. Nigeria’s housing challenge is simultaneously a question of safety, regulation, affordability, professionalism and governance.
A house may provide shelter, but a poorly constructed house can become a death trap. An attempt to save money on professional services can turn into a much greater financial burden. And a building code without effective enforcement can remain little more than a document.
For the builders, therefore, repositioning the industry requires all hands to be on deck: government must strengthen regulation and support housing development; professionals must adhere to standards; local authorities must enforce approved plans; and property owners must stop treating professional expertise as an avoidable expense.
The message from Abuja was clear: Nigeria does not merely need more houses. It needs safe, affordable and professionally built homes.
Until that becomes the standard, every new building that rises will carry with it a question that the industry can no longer afford to ignore: will it stand?
