For years, buildings collapse, leading to
hundreds of deaths has become a recurring and worrisome nightmare to citizens
of Lagos State. In the first part of this undercover investigation, Omolabake
Fasogbon discovers that inspite of this havoc, infractions persist
on construction sites, with regulatory officials aiding and abetting
violation of building codes.
On May 1, 2022 when house 34, Ibadan Street,
located in Ebute-Metta, Lagos State collapsed, it left people killed, wounded
and others maimed.
But that is not all; the dead have
forgotten their pains, but the living are still suffering. The event left scars
in the lives of those that survived, among which are Mr. Adekunle
Mufutau, his wife and four children.
The Ebute-metta incident followed shortly
after a three-storey building under construction at Akanbi Crescent in Yaba,
Lagos, collapsed in February 12, claiming no fewer than five lives.
Ebute-metta boasts features that rate its
high in Lagos profiling. The predominantly market area houses the legendary
112-year-old Nigerian Railway Corporation. Rated as one of the first developed
areas in Lagos, the suburb packs a number of buildings that are as old as the
colonial era.
Little wonder it recently became a hotspot
for building collapse in Lagos, after Lagos Island. A recent study carried out
by Nigerian real estate data analytics platform, Estate Intel, submits that 20
percent of building collapse in Lagos was due to old/dilapidated buildings.
Mufutau and some of his family members may
have survived the incident, their lives have never been the same. Aside from
trauma, the family has been literally torn apart, with all living
separately with acquaintances. That inclusive, unity bound, unique to African
families, has been ripped.
Another incident that keeps Mufutau awake
at night was the death of his only educated daughter, Sinat.
Mufutau’s new shelter, where he resides
alone, is nowhere better than a shanty, a reality he has come to accept.
Coming to receive this reporter, he
literally squeezed his body, while bending his head towards the knee to make
exit out of his table-sized under stairs cubbyhole apartment.
“Let’s talk outside. Inside is
stuffy and dark,” Mufutau, 54, said in a sotto voce voice.
The man, who looks frail and weary, became
emotional as he speaks about the death of his daughter. Tears gathered in his
eyes as much as he tried to suppress it. In Africa, a man must not cry,
even when his heart is breaking. He whispered rhetorically, “What am I living
for when my hope is gone?”
According to Mufutau, Sinat, 24, and
awaiting corp member, was his only educated child of five others.
Continuing, he said with tears rolling down
his cheeks, “She is all that I laboured for in 30 years. Her older
siblings didn’t go to school because I don’t have the financial power. I
saw Sinat as an extremely bright child who has shown keen interest in education
right from when she was a child. This was why I gave it all it took, including
obtaining loan to enable her get quality education. I had hoped that she would
be able to sponsor the education of her two younger siblings once she starts
working, and also fend for me in my old age.”
Late Sinat and others who lost their lives
in the building collapse should not have been, had Lagos State Building Control
Agency, LASBCA, and demolished the ill-fated house 21 days after it was
discovered to be unsafe.
LASBCA is a government agency empowered by
law to remove distressed buildings so as to prevent collapse.
Our reporter found out that the 21-year old
building, filled with tenants, was left precariously for close to 180 days,
before it finally caved in.
Just when Lagos was still undone with the
evacuation exercise at Ebutte-meta, another two-storey building crumbled like a
pack of cards in Chris Igadi Street, Ago Palace area of Lagos.
Jarring
statistics
The trend of building collapse in the state
appears to bring the prediction of the Building Collapse Prevention Guild,
BCPG, to fruition. The Guild in 2019 had forewarned that Lagos should gear
up for more than 36,000 building collapses.
According to the guild, of the 508 building
collapse in Nigeria between 1974 and July 2022, Lagos accounts for 63 percent
of the collapses, recording 320 cases.
Between January and July 2022, the Lagos
State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA disclosed that Lagos experienced 31
cases of building collapse, the highest in 21 years.
As it stands, Lagos is tagged the epicenter
of building collapse globally.
Experts blame incessant collapse in the
state on lack of compliance to building codes and standards, fuelled by corrupt
regulatory officials and weak enforcement.
Corroborating experts position, Estate
Intel’s study further asserted that man-made factors were largely
responsible for building collapses in Lagos, which could have been
averted.
The study maintains that building collapse
in Lagos has a root in corrupt practices of enforcement personnel, who get
carried away by instant gratifications, thus throw building rules to the wind.
But despite the awful havoc, it is as
though lessons were not learnt judging from this reporter’s experience on
construction site, and particularly, the shady conduct of regulatory
officials when this reporter went undercover.
As a necessity, which is in accordance
with Lagos State Urban and Regional Planning Development (URPD) Law
2019, a property owner must obtain a building permit approval before
he/she kicks-off construction.
Experts say that permit would ensure
that a building complies with building laws and codes and prevent people
from just constructing as they deem fit.
A building permit as defined is an official
approval to construct a new building or expand or remodel an existing one. Its
purpose is to ensure that the construction project follows all relevant
regulations, including building standards, land use, and environmental
protection.
A former President of the Nigerian
Institute of Building (NIOB), Mr Kunle Awobodu said, “The essence of a
building permit is to check and assess both the architectural and structural
designs for adequacy.”
Infractions
on Construction Sites
Surprisingly, of up to six sites that
this reporter visited across Agege, Ijaiye, Ebutte-meta and Lagos Island, only
a property situated at 23, Freeman Street, Lagos Island claimed to have a
permit.
But, inspite that the site coordinator
(name unknown) boasted about having the mandatory permit, this reporter who
observed for more than two hours found out, with help from one of the
bricklayers that mixed ratio blocks setting was below standards.
According to the bricklayer, who did not
divulge his name, one bag of cement was being used in setting of 60 bricks of
9-inches size, which Awobodu said 40 bricks is the standard.
Questioned on the mixed imbalance, the
bricklayer said, “We do so because it is a developer’s property. If it is
your personal house, I will advise you use one bag of cement
to set 40 or 45 bricks. By that, the house will be stronger.”
In another instance, an Ijaiye landlord, in
his 50s, who craved anonymity for fear of being targeted, told this reporter
that he did not get a permit because of the many conditions that come with it.
The landlord, who occupies an uncompleted
one-storey building, said that he got more discouraged when he was told by the
permit issuing agency that such permit will become invalid if he does not begin
to build in two years.
The landlord said he bribed up to five
regulatory agencies to the tune of N300, 000, to get the building to its
present level, adding that they did not bother to check the construction works
for error or any abnormalities.
Our reporter found out that other than
Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority (LASPPPA) that issues building
permit and LASBCA that monitors construction on permitted building, there are
four more agencies that regulate building in Lagos. These agencies also
set conditions with accruing charges.
Another landlord who also did not give his
name in Agege area, said he failed to obtain permit because the money involved
was enough to complete his building half way. He said that his site was sealed
by LASPPPA officials for not having a permit, but he settled them with N50,000.
Already, experts have faulted the
complexity of procedure in permit processing, which also included the delay and
high cost of getting it done.
A check on the pre-conditions for obtaining
building permit in Lagos revealed that a property owner has to fulfill up to 25
conditions before he can be granted a permit approval, all of which come with
charges as high as N1million.
Out of these conditions as highlighted
in Lagos URPD law are: Certificate of Occupancy, Lands Bureau Clearance, Land
use Charge Receipt, Evidence of Payment of Assessment Fees, Tax Clearance and
Land Use Planning and Analysis Report ( LUPAR), amongst others.
Our reporter found out that countries such
as Liberia and Malawi recently reduce their building permit fees by up to half,
and trimmed their conditions to exclude item as tax clearance certificate, to
enhance compliance to building codes.
A further search via Google revealed that
Liberia experienced four building collapse between 2013 and August 2022, two of
which were due to rainfall and fire.
Stressing the danger in bribery, a past
President of Nigerian Society of Engineers, NSE, Engr. Babagana Mohammed said,
“Choosing to bribe against obtaining permit is a free license to building
collapse. By implication, there will be no professional monitoring for such
houses; the owners will build at will without observing building
codes. The permit is there to guide in building and ensure suitability and
appropriateness.”
Disturbingly, only 20 percent of
construction in Lagos possess permit, according to the Public Relations Officer
of the Lagos State Chapter of NIOB, Edidiong Ikpoto.
Inspite of this hanging statistic, which
is manifesting as constant building collapse in different parts of
the state, officials are still helping property owners to contravene building
codes for a penny.
This is evident in the transaction that
ensued between our reporter and officials of LASBCA and LASPPPA when she went
undercover.
Do
you want Construction or Permit?
Visiting LASBCA office in Agege, in a place
popularly called ‘Maternity’, this reporter feigned being a property owner,
situated in power line area of Orile-Agege local government, with the
intention to get building permit.
Though this reporter was meant to visit
LASPPPA, the agency empowered by law to issue permit, the visit to LASBCA was
deliberate.
Meanwhile, Lagos State URPD law frowns at
building under high tension power line because of the danger it poses.
This notwithstanding, the official simply
identified as Johnson asked, “Do you want construction or Permit?” Construction
simply means bribe by Johnson’s explanation.
By offering bribe, property owners are
allowed to build at will and not to be disturbed by regulatory officials even
if such building is not at par with standards.
Surprisingly, this period was when a
nine-storey building collapsed in Oniru, Victoria Island, on September 4, 2022,
that caused the former Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban
Development, Idris Salako to resign.
Not bothered still, Johnson said, “If
you want permit, you have to fulfill all conditions, make payment and get
clearance from appropriate quarters after which you wait for your permit to be
ready. This does not come so soon but if you want to fast track it, you have to
pay processing fee (PR) to the officer helping you. The faster you want it
out will determine how much you pay.” Johnson said PR cost between N300,
000 to N500, 000.
Continuing, he said, “But note that if your
permit is not ready and you start building, you have contravened; you will
still have to settle us or pay penal fee to government.”
Our investigation revealed that permit may
take up three to six months before it is
ready, although the state claimed to
have reviewed processing period downward
to 10 working days.
This reporter further found out that
oftentimes, property owners get stuck for having not to be able to fulfill up
to 25 preconditions for permit processing, thus choose to cut corners with
ready and willing officials.
On the consequence of delayed permit,
Awobodu said, “Prolonged building approval process is a prelude to
building collapse. When building plan approval is unnecessarily delayed,
usually with the intention of extorting money from the building owners or
developers, some daredevil developers haunted by interest on bank loans or
subscribers’ pressure, proceed with building construction without government
approval.”
As part of efforts to address this hitch,
Lagos State government introduced the e- planning permit to fast-track the
process and also checks corrupt practices of officers.
Asked if one would still need to pay PR for
e-permit, Johnson’s colleague (name unknown), who was part of the discussion
said, “Whether e-permit or paper processing, PR is unavoidable if you want your
permit processing to be fast.”
Johnson further hinted this reporter on the
cost implications of some of the conditions needed to process a permit.
He said, “Prepare up to N200, 000 for
LUPAR, the cost of permit is not fixed, it will be calculated from your
architectural drawings. You should also prepare between N750, 000 to N1millon
for property tax, depending on the price of the property but expect to pay more
than this if you’ve not been paying tax .”
While Johnson was still analysing these
conditions, this reporter let out a heavy sigh in exclamation, which prompted
an ironic smile from Johnson. His smiles simply connotes and admits the
ambiguity and impossibility of fulfilling the conditions.
A close source in LASPPPA once told this
reporter that most officials avoid permit for their personal property
because of the tough process and huge cost.
Johnson quickly cashed in on this
reporter’s expression and retorted, “E
fee gbese wole abi” meaning “You don’t want to get permit?” The reporter
struggled to stammer a ‘Yes’ in fear, while anticipating a stark objection from
Johnson, since her choice was unlawful.
His response was, however, reassuring. “Why
are you stammering? You don’t have to be afraid; you don’t have any problem at
all. There is no big deal in it; people do it a lot”, he boasted.
Not only did Johnson who is meant to
enforce building codes obliged to building in power-line area, a restricted
area, he equally gave a go ahead to carry out construction without adherence to
mandatory building code.
N1millon
settlement or N3millon Permit fee
Like Johnson, Chanpee, another LASBCA
official, also did not hesitate to help this reporter to cut corners against
the standards.
Chanpee was introduced to this reporter
after efforts to meet LASPPPA junior officer in their Agege, stadium office
failed.
At LASPPPA office, the officials seemed to
be out on site inspection, but an administrative staff directed this journalist
to the District Officer (DO), the most superior officer.
The DO was sighted attending to permit
related issues for some persons seated in queue. Right in front of her door was
a poster with inscription, “Don’t pay assessment through staff or tout.”
Assessment also means permit fee.
Our investigation revealed that fake
officers often parade themselves as either LASPPPA or LABSCA officers to extort
unsuspecting property owners.
Further findings showed how some very bad
officers issue fake permit to innocent property owners after collecting huge
sums.
Meeting the DO, simply identified as Mrs
Aina, told this reporter to present a survey of the land before rendering any
help.
But meeting Chanpee, he asked this reporter
to prepare N3millon for permit fee or N1million settlement.
Questioned on the restriction on power
line, he said, “There is really no problem with building on power line, after
all, there are several houses there. You won’t be the first and you won’t be
the last.”
This reporter opted to bribe, but
plea to get him to reduce the bribe fell on deaf ears, instead, he gave a
sarcastic response, saying, “It is even better that you obtain
your permit since your project is near power line so in the event of future
demolition, you can be sure of compensation from government. Just
that your permit will not be ready between now and December that you are
planning to finish the house.”
Often times during the conversation,
Chanpee enquired to know how close the site was to the main road as well as how
soon the project will be completed.
Our reporter learnt that corrupt officers
work better with building projects in obscure location that cannot be easily
sighted or traced by their superiors.
After this reporter agreed to pay N1millon,
Chanpee further conditioned this reporter, saying, “You need to complete
the house within the four months you promised o because I can’t look at your
back for so long. And I hope you will be secretive about this because you
people are difficult to help. You can imagine that it is those people that
Commissioner helped and collected money from that exposed him to the governor
when a building collapsed recently,” he said referring to Salako on the Oniru
collapse.
LASPPPA
Official Demands N700, 000 to help Reporter Violate Building Codes
This reporter had arranged for a plot of
land in Power line with the help of a property agent, as Johnson insisted on
seeing the land before billing.
Johnson visited the land and concluded it
was a good one for the deal given that the location was far from the main road.
He billed this reporter N1millon to go
ahead with building without permit.
This is inspite that the land in question
is marshy. A marshy land according to Muhammed will require extra and
tough supervision to get it done right.
As the reporter pleaded with him to reduce
the price, his colleague who came with him for site inspection, retorted, “Then
go for permit if you think N1millon is too much.”
This reporter played along and agreed to
obtain building permit, but when a call was placed to one Opere in LASPPPA
office, Opere said, “Chances of getting permit for a property under
power line were slim but where it is possible, a space of 20 metre must be left
between the building and the high tension wire.”
Johnson asked our reporter to do a survey
of the land to be able to verify its eligibility for permit. This reporter was
able to fetch the land’s survey through the property agent. After Johnson
checked the survey, he claimed that the land was not eligible for permit.
From findings, a site ineligible for
permit, like power line should not be constructed on.
But Johnson suggested to this reporter to
manipulate the survey document to enhance its eligibility for permit, he later
dropped the idea.
Our investigation revealed that regulatory
officials sometimes help property owner to manipulate documents like survey and
architectural drawing to deceive permit issuing agency.
Further investigation showed that this
option works when a property is ineligible for permit or when a property owner
is up to mischief.
Confirming this anomaly, Awobodu said,
“At times, property owner prepare two sets of drawings for the
same building: one set for purpose of obtaining permit and the other set is for
the actual site construction. Hence, what is being built stands at variance
with the approved building plan.”
Having established that the site is not
eligible for permit, Johnson still asked this reporter to conclude on
settlement, which reporter finally agreed to pay N1 million.
“But you should prepare to settle like five
other agencies including LASPPPA. When you settle all these quarters, then you
are free to build whatever you want to build. Nobody will monitor or disturb
you,” he assured.
Upon our reporter’s request, Johnson placed
another call to Opere , who billed this reporter N700, 000 to enable her build
without a permit.
The trio of Johnson, Chanpee and Opere
agreed that this reporter can build in a restricted area and not to follow the
building codes.
While it is considered a criminal offence
for regulatory officials to demand or accept bribes, the Lagos URPD law does
not include punishment for compromising officers.
Both Johnson and Chanpee have since been
calling this reporter to consummate the deal but this reporter stopped picking
their calls.
Building
regulations as ‘Bait’ for Contravention
Already, Lagos State has been adjudged the
most expensive place to build in Africa at $2,056 per square metres, according
to a Director at Turner and Townsend, Bruce Haswell.
A Lagos-based real estate lawyer, Aderemi
Fagbemi, expressed that existing multiple regulatory agencies and expensive
permit process further compound this reality.
Fagbemi argued that Lagos’ regulatory
architecture makes it nearly impossible for property holder not to circumvent
the process, given it ambiguities.
Our investigation revealed how the state
mounts pressure on regulatory officials for returns on penal fee, usually
obtained from contraveners.
A document sighted by our reporter on the
amount Lagos generates from penal fee revealed the extent at which people
violate building codes.
The document revealed that in May 2022
alone, Lagos was able to raise over N61million from target on penal fee, with
some officials surpassing their monthly target.
Our investigation also revealed that
corrupt officials often prey on the cryptic permit steps and owners tendency to
circumvent the process, to enrich their pockets.
Awobodu also referred to the Land Use Act
of 1978 as being counterproductive and tempting.
“A parcel of land purchased in the
acquisition area will be denied Certificate of Occupancy, C of O. Meanwhile,
building permit cannot be processed without C of O. The consequence of this is
that developers circumvent the process and go ahead to construct. Whereas,
government policy does not encourage monitoring of buildings bereft of plan
approval. It’s so sad.
Awobodu urged government to relax the
provision, stressing that it was one of the reasons why property owners
contravene.
To enhance compliance, Fagbemi urged Lagos
government to take a clue from Malawi and Liberia.
She added, “There is no country in the
world where a cost is not attached to permitting process, and the same is true
of Lagos. In view of the pressing need
for reformation in our built environment, the government may wish to adopt
Liberia and Malawi’s approach. Additionally, construction or renovation
projects classified as small projects such as low-cost residential buildings
may be totally exempt from payment of permitting fees to encourage a higher
percentage of formalisation until we have a more stable built
environment.”
On her part, a Real-Estate lawyer, Barr. Olamide
Onifade asserted that the tough regulatory environment adds up to the burden of
housing deficit in Lagos.
“Many low income earners are scared
off from building, while developers may choose to invest in other sectors.
Consequently, the few ones who succumbed to the tedious process will place high
cost on rent which will be borne by tenants,” she said.
This
story was produced with support from Tiger Eye Foundation and
the MacArthur Foundation.
