…as Fashola advocates deployment of fresh graduates to construction site
…Shadow learning in most schools detrimental to dev’t — Lagos Commissioner
By Moses Adeniyi
Against the backdrop of the 21-storey building Ikoyi building collapse, experts in the construction industry have described the events which culminated into the catastrophic mishap as a reflection of national systemic failure.
Construction experts who spoke to Nigerian NewsDirect revealed that beyond the Government, other strategic stakeholders as the Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON), Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON), Council of Registered Engineers of Nigeria (COREN), Town Planners Registration Council of Nigeria (TOPREC), among others, cannot be exonerated from the blame.
Recall that the 21-Storey building under construction collapsed on Monday, the 1st of November, killing the developer and many workers on Gerrad Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
In the view of a seasoned Architect who preferred to remain anonymous, the fact that COREN and ARCON as critical stakeholders “are not in the forefront of unraveling the imbroglio with documentary evidence of their cautionary portfolio is an indictment to us!”
“The practice of Architecture and Engineering are regulated by these bodies in Nigeria and an iconic project like the collapsed one on Gerrad Road does not form part of the Guinea pig arrangement for case studies in regulatory compliance smacks of corruption and system failure in our nation.
“The fact that the signage/advertorial board on the sight does not meet the traditional requirements of probity and good practice outlined in the regulatory framework universally accepted in the built environment, was an unforgivable oversight.
“The admission of change of destiny or status of the project from 15 to 21 storey height midway in construction by the developer as affirmed by the Lagos State development control Tsar shows wanton disregard for regulatory planning control as well as procedure in the first place and statical stability as well as safety in the last analysis.
“By proceeding with the construction, the developer showed arrant disregard for law and order which should have attracted stiff sanctions well before this avoidable disaster,” he observed.
Key notes of observation drawn by Nigerian NewsDirect in chats with Experts concluded that, “ARCON and COREN should have marked this site as a candidate-of-interest and therefore unravelled the mystery of who the Architects and Engineers are and their registration statuses well before this incident.
“How can anyone be asking who the Architects or Engineers are at this point if the hitherto celebrated project unfortunately now a show of shame was being procured?
“In Nigeria local content, practice ethos, regulation and institutional conformity as well as lawlessness are in a macabre dance everywhere so we are all choreographed to collapse like a pack of cards!,” an Expert observed.
An Architect who took critical view of ARCON queried: “How many times have we commissioned researches into failed buildings other than our whimsical deductions behind cellphone screens which makes the bulk of our knowledge base from positions of ignorance?
“How much will a detailed research cost us to commission by engaging our peers in academia? As firms and collaborations of firms to look into the immediate and remote causes of building failure, process administration at the site and before that from client idea stage to obtaining approvals from the government regulator?
“We sit behind our desk and idealise the problems and make recommendations based on been a practicing consultant for many years.
“We are just as bad and guilty as Femi Osibona who thinks there is nothing consultants have to offer because they can wrongly recommend. In much the same way we have no regard for research as College Graduates professionals. What do educators and researchers know?
“On the part of the Architects we must ensure that ARCON recognises that it has work to do to make Architectural work sustainably and must therefore not derail by encouraging anyone with greed for control to distract it.” an Expert submitted.
Fashola advocates deployment of fresh graduate to construction site, not companies
Meanwhile, the Federal Government turning to the foundation in the educational system, has called on higher institutions of learning to, as a standard of requirement, send civil engineering students to construction sites, not companies for them to acquire the relevant field experience.
The Minister for Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN), on Friday while lamenting that Universities and Engineering firms, amongst others, have lowered their concentration on construction skills exposure in the Country, mentioned that it is significant for the academic sector to utilise available funds, grants and other financial support to upgrade their facilities so that students might receive first hand practical experience in their respective disciplines while in school and after school.
The Minister who took reference on the catastrophe of the recent 21-storey Ikoyi building collapse, submitted that a minimum of one year practical training for civil engineering students/graduate trainees to receive hands-on experience specifically in construction sites was important.
To him, this should not exclude other stakeholders (formally educated or not) involved in technical and vocational skills to be deployed in relevant sectors as a way of enhancing their skills before they undertake future projects.
Speaking on the impact of skills development on the sustainability of the Nigerian construction industry, at the just concluded 9th German-Nigeria business forum in Lagos, the minister averred that increased practical approach to optimise construction skills remains sacrosanct to forestall incidences of catastrophic mishaps of building collapse.
Fashola who made a dichotomy between the acquisition of skills and field experience cum technical know-how, argued that “beyond skill is an opportunity to use the skill on a sustainable basis for a long term.”
“It is important for the academic sector to utilize available funds, grants and other financial support to upgrade their facilities so that students might receive first hand practical experience in their respective disciplines while in school and after school.
“We need to tweak our training programs for those in the construction industry, Civil Engineering Students doing intern and others should be sent to construction sites not Construction companies, where they could have a real life practical experience of their professions,” he said.
Shadow learning in most schools detrimental to dev’t — Lagos Commissioner
In her own view, the Lagos state Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Folashade Adefisayo, believes “there is a lower adoption of the kind of skills needed to develop the country,” holding that “many programmes are not impactful and there are a lot of shadow learning in most schools.”
“Most vocational centers are not taking up subjects that should prepare the students for future needs. they are not into sustainable goal skills,” she lamented.
Recourse to standard of education recently has been taking toll as more government functionaries believe gaps of inefficiency in the Country could be linked to omissions in the schemes of tutelage in higher institutions of learning and vocational institutions.
Recall that the Federal Ministry of Education had on Thursday said Nigeria’s teeming youth unemployment could be linked with what it has described as lack of “specific skills required for the job market” among graduates.
At a two-day National Conference on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Abuja, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Arch. Sonny Echono, made the statement, maintaining that graduates produced in various universities of technology, polytechnics, colleges of education (Technical) and technical colleges nationwide lacked such skills.
According to him, the gap “has created a shortfall of the adequately skilled educated workforce which is one of the major constraints to the growth and development of our nation.”
Speaking further at the conference which was organised by the Federal Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Skills Development for Youth Employment (SKYE programme) funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Development and implemented by the German Development Cooperation, GIZ, the Permanent Secretary had lamented that “there is no doubt that there is an epic gap between the skilled manpower required and that which is currently available.”
“Most of the graduates produced in various universities of technology, polytechnics, colleges of education (Technical) and technical colleges nationwide do not have specific skills required for the job market (market-relevant skills).
“The situation results to having millions of Nigerian graduates that are unemployed,” he had said.