‘Building collapse rooted in decline of ethics’ — Lagos panel submits report on Ikoyi high-rise

The panel set up to investigate the Ikoyi building collapse has submitted its report to the Lagos government.

On November 1, 2021, the 21-storey structure, which was being developed by Fourscore Homes, caved in.

Femi Osibona, owner of Fourscore Homes, was one of the 43 persons who died in the collapse.

Following the incident, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, had set up the panel to investigate the circumstances that led to the building collapse.

Submitting the report on Wednesday, Toyin Ayinde, a town planner who chaired the panel, urged governments at all levels to ensure that ethics and due diligence are followed during building constructions.

“Having spent approximately six weeks on this assignment, we now wish to make our submission to the governor of Lagos state who constituted the tribunal. We need to note, however, that building collapse is rooted in the collapse of values, morals and ethics which we need to work on as a nation,” he said.

“We cannot sow the wind and not expect to reap the whirlwind. Therefore, ethics and due diligence need to be restored.

“To execute this assignment successfully, the tribunal visited the project site for a general assessment; coordinated the activities of the consultants who conducted tests on the site; received and reviewed documents from relevant MDAs; conducted 35 interview sessions; interrogated a total of 91 persons; requested and received a total of 21 memoranda; and accessed the home of the late CEO of Fourscore Heights Limited, Mr. Olufemi Osibona, with a view to gathering any other useful/relevant information to support the tribunal’s fact-finding mission.

“We are therefore pleased to present to Mr. Governor the report of the inquiry carried out by the tribunal containing the various findings, and the recommendations which we hope the government would be able to implement in order to bring a lasting solution to incidence of building collapse, not only in Lagos state, but nationally.”

Following the submission of the report, Sanwo-Olu set up a committee to work towards implementation of the recommendations of the panel.

The new committee will be chaired by Tayo Bamgbose-Martins, commissioner for special duties, while other members are Hakeem Muri-Okunola, head of service; Moyosore Onigbanjo, attorney-general of Lagos; and Abisola Olusanya, commissioner for agriculture.