Halt incessant building collapse, FG tells engineers
By Perpetua Onuegbu
The Federal Government has urged the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) to check incessant building collapses in the country.
Mr Mahmuda Mamman, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works and Housing, gave the charge during a visit by members of COREN.
He charged the council to strategise and ensure proper checks and mandatory monitoring on construction activities.
This, he said, would ensure that Nigerians would be living in well constructed building without fear of collapse.
” COREN being a federal government regulatory body is vested with the mandate and powers to check and control building standards in Nigeria to ensure that cases of building collapse is stopped.
”There seems to be a disconnect somewhere between Nigerian Engineers and COREN. COREN, must as a matter of urgency proffer an urgent solution to this situation,” he said.
He also urged all regulators in the engineering body to come together and seek audience with the Ministry of Finance, especially as regards the recent federal government policy directive of self-funding for all such bodies .
The permanent secretary told the delegation to consider of levies as a way of generating revenues to assist the council.
Manman urged the council to come up with implementable plans and guidelines by going back to the drawing board for them to be able to reposition COREN for better performance and impactful services to Nigerians.
Earlier, the Registrar of COREN, Prof Adisa Bello, said the council was in the ministry to brief the permanent secretary on its activities.
According to him, COREN is a statutory regulatory organ of the Federal Government of Nigeria , established by Decree No. 55 of 1970 amended by Degree No. 27 of 1992, now Engineers (Registration).
The registrar said the promulgation of Decree 27 of 1992 , COREN was merely a registration body of engineers and it was then known as Council of Registered Engineers of Nigeria .
“However with the expansion of its functions in 1992 , which now includes regulation and vontrol of the engineering family, COREN’s name was changed to what it is now, but still retaining the acronym, COREN.
“Our mandate include regulate and control engineering practice in Nigeria with all its aspects and ramifications, among others” he said.
The News Agency of Nigetia (NAN) reports that the Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG), recorded 62 building collapsed either fully or partially in 2022 alone.
The immediate past President of BCPG, Eddy Atumonyogo, who disclosed in his speech at the Guild’s Annual General Meeting, AGM held virtually, on Dec. 27, 2022, said that in the 48-year period between October 1974 to November 2022, Nigeria recorded 541 incidents of building collapse.
The guild said that Lagos State is at the top of the table with 322 incidents, followed by Anambra -20; Oyo -19; Abuja -18; Kano-17; Ogun -12; Delta -12; Ondo -11; Abia -11; Rivers -10; Enugu -9; Kwara -7; Imo -7; Plateau -7; Kaduna -6; Edo -6; Osun -6; Ebonyi -5; Jigawa -5; Cross River -4; Benue -3; Adamawa -3; Niger -3; Ekiti -2; Akwa-Ibom -2; Nasarawa -2; Zamfara -1; Kebbi -1; Sokoto -1; Bauchi -1; Kogi -2; Katsina -1; Borno -1; Taraba -1; Yobe -1; Bayelsa -1 and Gombe -1. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Sadiya Hamza
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