Built-environment experts have blamed weak enforcement of building regulations, professional negligence and poor construction practices for recurring building collapses in Nigeria, calling on federal and state governments to strengthen oversight and ensure that those responsible for safety violations are held accountable.
The experts made the call on Monday during a webinar themed “Making the National Building Code Enforceable to Enhance Safety in the Nigerian Built Environment.” The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that participants stressed the need to move beyond the existence of regulations to their effective implementation.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Dr Monday Ubani, said the National Building Code, introduced in 2006, required stronger legal backing to ensure consistent implementation and enforcement across the country.
He argued that obtaining building approval was not enough to guarantee structural safety, noting that projects required mandatory inspections at different stages of construction and appropriate penalties for violations.
Ubani cited the November 2021 collapse of a 21-storey building on Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, which killed 45 people, as an example of the devastating consequences of regulatory failures and inadequate supervision.
The Third Vice-President of the Nigerian Institute of Architects, David Majekodunmi, said building control should be treated as a continuous safety process covering design, construction and occupation.
He proposed the introduction of a digital building safety passport for every structure, containing records of approved plans, permits, inspection reports, alterations and maintenance history. Such a system, he said, could strengthen monitoring and make it easier to identify buildings with safety concerns.
The President of the Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers, Dr Taiwo Elegba, identified inadequate soil investigations, defective designs, substandard materials and poor site supervision as major factors contributing to structural failures.
He called for compulsory soil tests, regular material testing and proper technical supervision to ensure that construction work complied with approved standards.
Another participant, Elias Agbabiaka, a member of the Lagos State Regional Investigation Panel of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), urged professionals to put public safety ahead of financial interests.
He warned against approving unsafe structures or accepting substandard materials under pressure from developers.
Agbabiaka said Lagos accounted for 56.6 per cent of the 843 building collapses recorded nationwide between October 1971 and October 2026, highlighting the scale of the problem in the country’s commercial centre.
The Vice-Chairman of the Lagos Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, James Sonde, also called for a National Building Control and Safety Act to provide a stronger statutory foundation for the National Building Code.
He said developers, contractors, construction professionals and regulatory officials should be held accountable for their respective responsibilities in ensuring building safety.
The experts urged governments to strengthen regulatory agencies, improve inspection systems and ensure that safety standards were consistently enforced.
They also called for better coordination among relevant institutions and greater professional accountability, warning that regulations would have limited impact without effective implementation.
Their recommendations come amid continuing concerns over building safety in Nigeria, where recurring structural failures have resulted in deaths, injuries and property losses. They stressed that preventing future collapses would require coordinated action by government agencies, developers and professionals throughout the construction process.
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