By Faridat Salifu
The Federal Government may soon inaugurate the National Building Code Advisory Committee to strengthen regulatory oversight in Nigeria’s construction sector to tackle the rapid building collapse across the country.
The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, disclosed this in a keynote address delivered at the Workshop on the National Building Safety and Structural Integrity Initiative held recently in Lagos.
Dangiwa, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Shuaib Belgore, said the move follows the launch of a Ministerial Task Team to investigate causes of building failures across the country.
The workshop, organised by Lagos State in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, was part of a national campaign to halt the growing wave of building collapses.
The Minister decried poor design, substandard materials, and weak enforcement of building codes as key causes of structural failures.
He said the National Building Safety and Structural Integrity Initiative will include a nationwide audit of structures, a uniform inspection and certification system, strict code enforcement, and the deployment of e-GIS mapping with real-time inspection reporting.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu hailed the collaboration as a step towards safer cities and cited Lagos’ Certified Structural Integrity Programme as a model for other states.
“We must build for life, not for collapse,” Sanwo-Olu said, stressing the joint responsibility of professionals, regulators, and the public in ensuring a safe and resilient built environment.
