By Raphael Okhiria
A Professor of Civil Engineering, Prof. John Wasiu, has attributed incessant building collapse in Nigeria to structural defects, sub-standard materials, unqualified professional and non-compliance to building laws.
The university Don, stated this while delivering the 15th Inaugural Lecture of the Edo State University Uzairue: Titled Reliability Based Design and Eco-Innovative Concrete: A Panacea to Building Collapse and Sustainable Development, at the Aliko Dangote Auditorium.
Prof Wasiu, who is the Dean of Faculty of Engineering of the institution, blamed building collapse to lack of conformity to building laws.
He, however, called for stiffer sanctions on defaulters of building laws.
According to him, “We have the laws to prevent building collapses but we are not adhering to the laws, All construction activities should be properly planned and monitored by regulatory bodies to ensure that all buildings are constructed according to design, specifications and planning regulations.
“Government agencies should enforce control of building works according to the laws guilding building construction in Nigeria”.
Prof Wasiu, noted that building collapse is majorly caused by either man-made and natural factors, adding that the man-made factor of building collapse were so prominent in Nigeria.
He stated that, most collapse buildings were found to be constructed with low quality building materials, incompetent craftsmen rather than professionals.
He added that existing building codes, meant to guild builders were rendered ineffective.
He called for enforcement of building standards and codes to avoid incompetent builders, substandard materials, and other cost-saving measures detrimental to the safety of projects.
“In recent times, Nigeria has experienced the collapse of sundry buildings which claimed the lives of many of her citizens and damaged properties worth millions of naira.
“Quite a lot of lives and properties have been destroyed in the several incidents of building collapse in Nigeria.
“And this have impacted negatively on the social-economic status of Nigeria,” he posited.
The professor of civil engineering stated that reliability based design and Eco-Innovative in building construction would yield safe, economical and durable structures.
“Reliability based design will yield an economical design and an area of reinforcement capable of resisting all load effect on reinforced concrete structures with predetermined safety level.
“Government should empower relevant engineering bodies to make reliability based design check a mandatory document to assertain level of structural safety of any design before they are executed,” he said.
Earlier, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Pro. Emmanuel Aluyor, said the inaugural lecture became imperative to offer a comprehensive approach to improving structural integrity and promoting sustainability in construction.
“The inaugural lecture series is our university’s intention to develop a tradition as is obtainable in the world’s foremost university were professors present their inaugural lectures.
Prof Aluyor noted that the university has been dedicated to fostering academic excellence since its inception, constantly aligning with its vision of becoming a centre of excellence in quality teaching, research, innovation and community development.
According to him the university leveraged technology-driven educational resources for teaching learning and evaluation, demonstrating our commitment to quality education.
The Vice Chancellor also stated that the university leads in academic excellence, supported by highly qualified and dedicated faculty who impacted knowledge across various disciplines.
He disclosed that the platform for inaugural lecture will be used to give their present research interests and future plans and not an avenue to propagate works done before becoming Professors.
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