Architect Links Collapse Of Buildings To Politics

An architect in Port Harcourt, Leonard Ibe, has blamed the cause of most building collapse across the country on politics, saying that everything in Nigeria has been politicised.

Speaking in an interview with The Tide in Port Harcourt, Ibe noted that professionalism in the building sector has been traded at the alter of politics, pointing that people now want to cut corners at all cost, and are ready to make their way through, irrespective of the outcome.

He said that research has shown that 80 per cent of contractors have no supervision for quality control, especially when they are connected to the government of the day both at federal and state levels.

According to him, a craftsman (artisan) who has been on the site for a longtime will always want to argue, and not obey instructions of the professional engineer probably because he was a “God father” in government.

He said “We have building collapse in this country because everything is politicised. The people want to cut corners. 70 per cent of property development going on did not have requisite approval even before embarking on development”.

Ibe maintained that professionals should be allowed to do their jobs at every stage of development without unnecessary interference from politicians.

This he said will give way for proper testing of materials, and ensure that proper machines are used, in addition to making sure that there is proper design, adding that people are always in a hurry and so do things the wrong way.

“A registered builder who has passed through necessary processes should play his role in supervision of the building to ensure that specifications are met without compromise”, the architect stated.

He said that due to political influence people chose and use wrong materials and are not brought to book.

Corlins Walter