A civil engineer and member, Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE), Ebenezer Ogunda, has blamed quacks for more than half of the building collapses experienced around the country.
Ogunda made this ascertain in an interview with The Tide in Port Harcourt, Friday.
Citing the building that collapsed recently in Port Harcourt, Ogunda stated, “it was discovered on investigation that, that building was constructed by a pharmacist”.
“How on earth do you contract a pharmacist to construct a building”? he asked.
“This boils down to engineers not being taken seriously”, Ogunda said while lamenting that the irresponsible persons who have no business being in the construction sector have taken over the jobs of engineers.
He noted that quacks also engage non-skilled artisans in building, use substandard building materials and adopt other non-professional means in construction, saying, that this practice also contributes to building collapse.
The engineer observed that home owners prefer to engage these quacks because oftentimes they are prepared to cut comers to get construction jobs and employ unethical ways to execute the jobs, adding that, they also engage in illegal alteration of buildings, which he said, “often results in collapse”.
He enjoined protect owners  to do a professional check on those who indicate interest in handling their jobs and report any found to be non-professional or not adhering to approved design specifications to the appropriate authorities to be dealt with accordingly, saying  that, it would act as a deterrent to any one intending to engage in illegal practice.
“He called on regulatory bodies to imbibe the practice of supervising and monitoring construction jobs with a view to ensuring that constructions were done in accordance with laid down rules.

Tonye Nria-Dappa