The Governor, who spoke through the Secretary to the State Government, Tunji Bello at a workshop on “Urban Thinkers Campus – The City we Need” held at the Academy Hall Agidingbi, Ikeja noted that the administration is committed to a city with a robust master plan that is diligently implemented and enforced.

According to him, “Our approach to evolving the city we need or a livable city is to ensure inclusive growth through an equal spread of social and economic infrastructure to the different parts of the State”.

“The idea is to make it possible for the residents to live and work within their communities without a feeling of being left behind as a result of unequal distribution of social amenities”, he explained.

He said the successful implementation of the ongoing reforms in the transportation sector across the State is essential to the realisation of the urban regeneration and development.

Ambode stressed that the Strategic Transport Master plan is a statement of the present administration’s commitment to deliver a multi-modal transportation system that is modern, safe, reliable and comfortable for all residents.

He averred that when the Master plan is fully implemented, the distance between the place of work and place of residence will no longer be a factor similar to the situation in modern city States with a well-developed and organized transport infrastructure.

The Governor expressed appreciation to the UN- Habitat Urban campaign for the initiative, adding that the Government and all Lagosians are delighted that the State was chosen as one of the 74 Urban Thinkers Campuses worldwide.

He said that this confers on the State the privilege of being one of the global centres providing a platform for stakeholders in sustainable urbanization to exchange ideas, forge partnerships and proffer solutions to the challenges of urbanization in contemporary modern cities.

He maintained that Lagos State is strategically positioned to play a leading role in propelling development on the continent being the 5th largest economy and fastest growing city in Africa with over 22 million people.

He stated that the increasing population has its economic benefit in terms of the large market for goods, services and labour, stressing that this can only be optimized with systematic planning for the basic amenity needs of the population.

Earlier in his remarks, the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, TPL Wasiu Anifowoshe, said this initiative was conceived to critically exchange ideas between Urban Researchers, Local Governments, Grassroot communities, policy makers and stakeholders in order to proffer solutions to urban challenges and promote sustainable urbanization.

He urged everyone to collectively tackle these challenges faced by the cities so that urbanization characterized by slum development will not take precedence.

In her goodwill message, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Urban Development, Mrs. Yetunde Onabule advised residents to support the efforts of the government on development and redevelopment of the city in order to move from the megacity vision to that of a smart city.

The workshop was attended by personalities from the academia and stakeholders in the built industry.

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Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, TPL Wasiu Anifowoshe who spoke when he visited the site of the building which collapsed at No 3/5 Massey Street in Lagos Island on Tuesday, said Lagosians must join hands with the government and report property owners and developers where they sense any irregularity during construction.

“My advice for Lagosians especially the tenants that live in these houses, we have been saying this times without number, if you see your landlord doing anything dangerous to your safety, please be a whistle blower, make noise, tell us, let Government know in advance. We were informed that this mast was erected two weeks ago. If the mast had not been erected we might not have had this ugly situation. Please be on the look-out, let us be our brothers’ keeper,” Anifowoshe said.

Anifowoshe, who commiserated with families of victims who lost their lives in the unfortunate incident, said the State’s emergency response team spent over 24 hours combing the rubbles to rescue trapped victims and convey them to the hospital, adding that a thorough investigation would be conducted to unravel the cause of the collapse.

“Presently, the site has been cordoned off and there will not be any development on this site because any site that collapses in Lagos State, the law says the State must seize the property,” he said.

Also speaking, General Manager of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), Engr. Olalekan Shodeinde alluded to the fact that Government could not tackle the menace of building collapse alone, hence Lagosians must be willing to assist by raising alarm whenever they see any illegal development in any area of the State.

He said the spate of building collapse in the past years has reemphasized the fact that both the government and the people need to collaborate more than ever, not only to stem building collapse but also ensure that people build in compliance with physical planning laws.

“Dealing with illegal developments here and there in Lagos State should be a joint effort between Lagosians and Government. We need information of such unlawful activities from responsible Lagosians so as to be able to curb the excesses of unscrupulous developers and owners of property in Lagos State.”

Shodeinde also said that the present administration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode was committed to achieving zero tolerance to incidences of collapsed buildings and therefore would not fold its arms and watch citizens die avoidable careless death without taking precautionary measure to nip it in the bud.

He also warned building owners and developers to desist from imposing additional floors to existing buildings without obtaining necessary approval, saying that such could lead to building collapse and loss of lives.

According to him, it was suicidal to engage in such act without carrying out a thorough engineering appraisal and integrity test on the structure.

Explaining what led to the collapse, the LASBCA boss said the building, a four floor structure which was built with bricks, caved in due to foundation failure when the bearing capacity of the soil could not sustain the structure due to the load being transferred from the additional imposed load of communication mast erected on the building about two weeks ago.

Shodeinde said the building after several inspection rounds in the past did not show any sign of distress even though the structural member were constructed with gravel as granite.

“The additional load imposed on the structure added to the design capacity and loading being transferred through the structural members made the building heavier than the capacity of the soil which is the ultimate load bearer,” he said.

Shodeinde also said that the present administration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode was committed to achieving zero tolerance to incidences of collapsed buildings and therefore would not fold its arms and watch citizens die avoidable careless death without taking precautionary measure to nip it in the bud.

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Reacting to the collapse, the State’s Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Tpl. Wasiu Anifowoshe commiserated with the families of those that lost their loved ones to the unfortunate incident but appealed to property owners and developers to henceforth adhere strictly to Planning and Building laws and regulations to forestall re-occurrence of incidents of building collapse in the State.

He said the call became imperative in view of the need for property owners and developers to be mindful of the fact that people will reside in these structures and their lives are valuable.

According to the Commissioner, the State Government is deeply concerned about the attitude of some developers not building in accordance with the relevant building rules and is therefore appealing to all owners and developers to build right for the safety of lives of Lagosians.

Speaking on the building collapse, Anifowoshe said: “Investigation and reports revealed that the old building had building materials stacked on the decking and due to the heavy downpour, the decking caved in on a woman and her baby who were unfortunate to be beneath the decked shop at the time of collapse. Sadly, they lost their lives.

“The site of the collapse has a completed bungalow and a shop extension in front which had a decking stacked with loads of building materials. The shop occupied a small portion of land of about three metres. Both developments in question had no planning permit and substandard materials were used for construction. It had been identified by the Building Control Officers in that area and served the statutory stop work notices and monitored for compliance,” he said.

The Commissioner also disclosed that others who were trapped in the collapsed building have been rescued and given immediate medical attention by the Lagos State Emergency and Rescue Team.

He said having experienced series of collapse earlier in the year, the Lagos State Building Control Agency had swung into action by embarking on a comprehensive audit of buildings within the State with the view to identifying defective structures for immediate removal to avert recurrences.

“As you all are aware, as a Government, we follow due process in the discharge of our duties. Whenever we discover a defective structure, we serve all relevant statutory notices and in no time seal off the building and appeal to occupants to vacate the distressed buildings for safety reasons. Unfortunately, most of the occupants seize the opportunity of weekends and public holidays to move back in to these dangerous structures.

“As a result of the audit conducted, the Lagos State Building Control Agency as at today has identified 139 of such defective structures for removal and work has commenced in earnest. It is however very unfortunate that this particular building came down before removal,” Anifowoshe said.

While urging Lagosians to comply with planning and building regulations and not to reside in or use defective structures, the Commissioner appealed to the people to join hands with government in monitoring to rid the State of illegal developments by reporting such developments to the nearest Building Control District Office.

“Also, as part of our responsibility towards protecting the lives of Lagosians, we have commenced a public awareness campaign to sensitize Lagosians on the importance of strict adherence to planning and building regulations. These we are doing through all available media platforms. We are also engaging stakeholders on different strata of the society so as to jointly tackle the menace.”

Besides, the Commissioner warned that no defaulter would be spared as they would be brought to book in accordance with relevant laws, saying that Government had been working tirelessly to ensure that building laws are complied with so as to achieve a significant reduction in cases of building collapse.

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The State’s Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Tpl Wasiu Anifowoshe in a statement said the State Government has not given Planning Permit for such development.

Anifowoshe said “This information is false, Lagos State Government did not issue any permit to him because his plans are not in sync with the State Government’s regeneration plan so it is not possible for him to obtain approval from the appropriate authorities.”

He restated the State Government’s commitment to actualise the relocation of Computer Village from Ikeja to Katangowa, just as he assured on the continuous implementation of the provisions in the Ikeja Model City Plan, which designated Computer Village for residential use.

According to him, the purpose was to achieve urban regeneration and increase housing stock, revealing that the take-off of the Katangowa project was at its final stage and Government was working tirelessly towards ensuring that the project is concluded as scheduled.

“Therefore, Government will not take it lightly with anyone caught attempting to disrupt the relocation plans of moving Computer Village from Ikeja to Katangowa. The Lagos State Government met with the Executive Members of Computer and Allied Products Dealers Association of Nigeria (CAPDAN) of Computer Village and assured them that Government is committed to its relocation plans.

“In order to demonstrate this, all the banners displayed which are in contravention were marked, since it does not have Planning Permit to confer on it as a construction site. We have removed the illegal fence constructed without fencing permit and sealed the site to prevent illegal development,” the Commissioner said.

He added that the State Government has also deployed officers of the Ministry to monitor any illegal development in that area, however enjoining Lagosians to alert the government if they notice such development, so that they don’t fall prey to fraudsters.

Anifowoshe also implored Lagosians, particularly those intending to rent, lease or buy property to always ask for necessary Planning Permits and Approvals before transacting business with any developer.

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