LASBCA GM bags NIA award for excellence in building control in Lagos

By Grace Alegba

The Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA) has conferred an award of excellence on the General Manager of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), Mr Gbolahan Oki, for taking bold steps against building collapse in Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the award was conferred on Oki, a member of the NIA, on Wednesday during the annual Lagos Architects Forum organised by the Lagos Chapter of association.

The General Manager told NAN that the award would spur him to continue the ongoing cleansing to better regulate the physical environment in Lagos State.

He said the award was a demonstration that people believed in the work LASBCA was doing and that its staff “are really working.”

“There is no stoping, you know that track that says there is no stopping us now, it means that work continues,” he said.

Speaking on the theme, “Lagos: An Evolving Organism,” Mr David Majekodunmi, Lagos Chapter Chairman, NIA, commended Oki for recently identifying over 300 defective buildings and commencing actual demolition to avert disaster.

He said the award of excellence conferred on Oki was for the bold steps he was taking to revamp and sustain building control in Lagos State.

However, Mr Femi Falana, Senior Advocate of Nigeria who presented the award to the general Manager berated government and experts for lapses causing building collapse and avoidable deaths.

The human rights activist advised the NIA and other built environment professional bodies to flush out quacks and take legal action to protect the industry from encroachment.

Citing the 21-storey Ikoyi building that collapsed in November 2021, Falana said the panel report indicted the Lagos State government and all its agencies.

He said said ministries did not have adequate manpower to regulate the Lagos physical environment and so needed the professional bodies who should use their laws to ensure accountability.

“Please let us begin to apply our laws,” he said.

Falana  promised free legal services to support NIA and urged architects to ensure adequate enforcement of physical and urban planning laws and building codes in Lagos.

He said offenders got away with illegalities because people and experts were not ready to take legal action to correct anomalies, adding that professional bodies must take full charge in Lagos and Nigeria.

The guest speaker, Mr Ade Laoye, called for regeneration and replanning of the Central Business District and old areas.

NIA National President, Mr Enyi Ben-Eboh, represented by Mrs Mobolaji Adeniji, First Vice President, NIA, said the theme captured the dynamics in the conceptualisation of a livable modern city.

Ben-Eboh commended the Lagos chapter and expressed hope that NIA’S programmes would facilitate the attainment of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on climate change, affordable mass housing and curbing building collapse.

He appealed to the Lagos State government to collaborate with the institute through its Architects Intervention Programme (AIP) for proper deployment of technology on urban planning and regeneration.

(NAN)