By Lateef Adegbite
For years there have been several cases of collapsed buildings’ with loses of lives in different parts of Nigeria. From Lagos, the nation’s Commercial nerve centre , PortHarcourt, the oil city to Abuja, the Federal Capital Federal Capital Territory, CT, the story is the same: reported cases of collapsed buildings.
This is evident with the collapse of a three storey, seven -storey building and a 21 storey building under construction in Lagos including a two-Storey building at the FCT and many more. There is no gain saying the fact that in 2019, there 43 recorded building collapses while in 2022, alone 62 buildings had collapsed with loss of lives. The Lagos state Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, had reported that 30 buildings’ collapse occurred in Lagos alone between January and July 2022, which was said to have put Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the state governor on a high jump.
The situation was so worrisome that Idris Salako, the state Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development who was under pressure from several quarters over the collapsed buildings’ was forced to resign his appointment. The Punch had reported that a staggering figure of 115 incidents of building collapse had been recorded in Lagos within the last 10 years.
Many had attributed the causes of the building collapse in Nigeria due to bad design, faulty construction methodology, extraordinary loads, foundation failure, unexpected failure mode, natural disasters, use of substandard building materials. This is in addition to poor workmanship by contractors, use of incompetent contractors, non-compliance with the state building specifications/standards by developers/contractors, inadequate/lack of supervision /Inspection /monitoring and structural defects.
Given the repeated cases of collapsed buildings in Lagos state may have informed why the Sanwo-Olu’s government had embarked on a state-wide sensitization Campaign to educate residents and contractors on building regulations and control to stame the problem. There are indications that an estimated 36,00 other buildings, across the 36 states of the Federation and the FCT, currently face impending collapse.
Tony Eumelu, a well-known African philanthropist and Chairman United Bank for Africa, UBA, plc, a Pan African Bank, may have taken advantage of the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, Conference which is an avenue for all stakeholders ‘’to discuss al the critical issues affecting the nation’s insurance industry and position it for sustained growth to unbared his mind on how to chart a course ‘’to a significant increase in the country’s insurance penetration’’.
Giving his business background, the UBA Group, Chairman, had made participants at the NAICOM, annual conference to understand that the Insurance industry to get the desired patronage from customers, requires significant information, describing it as ‘’a foundation for the country’s infrastructural development’’.
According to him, a vibrant Insurance industry will support businesses, investments and enables savings, noting that it will generate tax revenue for the country. He had alluded to Austo &Co , report that says that the contribution of the insurance sector to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, was less than one percent instead of five percent as expected and below two percent penetration for a country of over 200 million people.
Elumelu, who was said to have been invited to the NAICOM Conference on Insurance Solutions for Public Buildings under Construction’’, may have started the discussion with the collapse of the 21-storey building under construction in Ikoyi, a high -brown area in Lagos state, killing many, including the promoter of the multi-billion naira project. He noted that there is a role for the nation’s Insurance industry, Professional Associations like the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, COREN, the Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, NIESV and the Nigerian Society of Engineers , NSE. He asserted that the solution to ending building collapse’ in the country. He had said the country’s insurance industry in the future requires a multi-sectoral approach ‘’to holistically deal with the root cause of the problem’’.
Going by the 2003, Insurance Act, sections 64 and 65, that specify that ‘’no person shall construct any building of more than two floors without insuring with a registered insurer and that the duty to insure shall arise when a building is under construction by the promoters of such projects. The question on the lips of most was: How many of the public buildings in Nigeria are insured as mandated by the country’s 2003, Insurance Act. Other questions being asked by people was the Compliance level to the Laws, and who is monitoring the compliance by project promoters.
Aware that Nigeria needs to build ports, roads, power stations, schools and Hospitals, including dwelling homes, may have encouraged the Pan African Bank Chairman, to give a poser to the relevant government ministries and agencies at the state and Federal levels to know the awareness level for the provisions of the law on insurance of Public Buildings and the punitive actions for non-compliance. His major worry was that the insurance companies do not seem to understand what is their actual role in the country’s economy. Giving an insider information, he averred that the country has ‘’a poor insurance culture and low insurance penetration which was not too good for the economy.
Elumelu , who could not hide his feelings had attributed the poor insurance culture and low penetration ‘’to poor Legislation that does not have proper enforcement of insurance Laws , including enforcement of compulsory insurance’’, Inefficient Insurance processes and lack of database for settlement of Claims, which may have fostered people’s lack of confidence and trust in insurers. He would want the Nigerian government to take another look at the country’s Insurance Regulatory framework, mindset of insurance PR actioners, and the poor Capitalisation requirements in the industry to N1 billion to give it a new lease of life as obtained in the nation’s banking industry. He noted that that Nigeria has built a banking sector that had penetrated across the African Continent , North American Country of the United States, US, United Kingdom, UK, France, Dubai, but the Insurance sector had failed woefully because ‘’it is under-sourced and undercapitalised’’.
The Leadership of NAICOM, may have known that the agency can only bark without biting, may have given Elumelu, the boldness to say that there is need for the National Assembly to overhaul the 20 year-old Insurance Act, to drive the implementation and enforcement of compulsory insurance in the country. He had told those that cares to listen that if the Lawmakers at the national level could take the bull by the horn ‘’to re assess and eliminate all the stifling policies, roadblocks and complacency in the country’s insurance system’’, it would encourage innovation and provide Nigerians with simple and accessible insurance as a fundamental right to secure their future, within a regulatory framework that serves both clients and the industry PR actioners.
He is optimistic that if the National Assembly could take the bold initiative to do so, ‘’it will result in increased insurance penetration in the country, and stronger punitive enforcement measures for people that avoid contractors’ insurance in construction to ensure that due process I followed in the event of any unforeseen incidents’’, noting that Insurance is there to act as a mitigant’’. The UBA Group Chairman, may have enjoined the Insurance practioners to step up their marketing and awareness Campaigns when he said that a society where people are not insured are ‘’exposed to financial uncertainties that not only affect them but their families and Communities’’. An optimistic Elumelu had said that ‘’with the right enabling environment, ‘’ We will se the transformation of the country’s Insurance sector’’, insisting that that government have a critical role to play in making insurance common right of every Nigerian citizen’’.
