TACKLING INCESSANT BUILDING COLLAPSE IN NIGERIA: WHAT ROLE FOR THE LAW?

ABSTRACT

The rapid urbanization in Nigeria have led to increased demands for housing, infrastructure, and commercial buildings. Unfortunately, this astronomical rise in construction activities hasoften been accompanied by recurring and incessant building collapse in Nigeria. The increaseof building collapse is largely as a result of human errors within the entire process ofplanning, implementation and maintenance of building. There seems to be no endtothisunfortunate development in the Building Industry in Nigeria has it poses severe riskstohuman lives, property, and economic development. What accounts for this negative but tragic development in the building industry inNigeriaappears to be either there is non-existence of appropriate legislations, or weak enforcement ofsame by the law enforcement agencies who are ignorant of the existing building regulationsand often compromise the obligations which the law places on them. It appears lawlessnessfinds a fertile ground in non-adherence to the building code, the use of cheap and unskilledlabour such as quacks in the Nigerian building industry as become a normthat substantiallycontribute to building collapse.