Lagos State is top with a record of 20 incidents, out of these structural failures, representing 48.7 percent of the entire cases in 2022, according to Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG) report.
At least 61 buildings have collapsed across the Nigerian states in 2022, according to a report.
Lagos State is top with a record of 20 incidents, out of these structural failures, representing 48.7 percent of the entire cases in 2022, according to Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG) report.
The report stated that some of the incidents include the residential development at Hotoro, Unguwar Gabas, behind Chula filling station, Tauroumi, Kano State; Anglican Primary School 1, Ayetoro Ajegunle, Lagos; church development at Iragbo community in Badagry, Lagos State; residential development at Road 5 Extension Avenue in Umuguma Owerri, Imo State; development at Oribanwa Town, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos State; development at Chief Elmore street behind Ideal Supermarket, Bogije Bus Stop, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos; residential development at 32 Ibadan Street Ebute Metta, Lagos; residential development at Chris Igadi Street, off Ago Palace Way, opposite Kilimanjaro/AP filling station, Lagos; residential development at Sanusi street, Somolu-Lagos; among others.
It is on record that in the 48-year period between October 1974 to November 2022, Nigeria recorded 541 incidents of building collapse.
Lagos State is at the top of the table with 322 incidents in 48 years, followed by Anambra -20; Oyo -19; Abuja -18; Kano-17; Ogun -12; Delta -12; Ondo -11; Abia -11; Rivers -10; Enugu -9; Kwara -7; Imo -7; Plateau -7; Kaduna -6; Edo -6; Osun -6; Ebonyi -5; Jigawa -5; Cross River -4; Benue -3; Adamawa -3; Niger -3; Ekiti -2; Akwa-Ibom -2; Nasarawa -2; Zamfara -1; Kebbi -1; Sokoto -1; Bauchi -1; Kogi -2; Katsina -1; Borno -1; Taraba -1; Yobe -1; Bayelsa -1 and Gombe -1.
From the above figures, Lagos State accounts for 60 percent of the incidents in Nigeria.
In the past four decades, statistics show that over 460 buildings have collapsed in the country at an increasing rate yearly; this requires drastic actions to curb the menace. It is not until another building collapsed and several people died that we should start looking for a solution.
The National Bureau of Statistics data shows that about 71.4 per cent of households in Nigeria do not have a certificate of occupancy, 13.2 per cent do not have title deed, and only 8.1 per cent have certificates. Another alarming aspect of the data is that 33.9 per cent of households have ownership certificates in Lagos state.
However, building collapse is a national problem, it occurs mainly in the cities and Lagos remains the epicentre of building collapse incidents.