Shelter is one of the three basic needs of human beings, as it shares prominence and priority with food and clothing. Every normal human being aspires to own a house, hence, shelter is a human right.

But stakeholders in the built environment, especially professionals and artisans in the building industry are worried that issues affecting the industry are not salient in the manifestos of the contestants as the nation embarks on a political transition process through electioneering campaigns.

Speaking at the weekend in Lagos on “Overcoming the Challenges of Building Collapse in the next Political Dispensation”, the national president of the Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG), Mr. Kunle Awobodu said in Nigeria, the construction sector is in crisis due to mundane factors, which the politicians have failed to pay serious attention to.

Awobodu, a builder and former chairman of the Lagos state chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), noted that buildings are the determinants of development gradation, helping to differentiate villages from towns and cities.

According to him, at this critical time of the nation’s political transition, should major stakeholders in the construction industry fold their arms and watch as events unfold with little or no consideration for their inputs in manifestos that could become the bedrock of government policies?

However, he implored the incoming public office holders to address issues such as bureaucratic bottlenecks in the building plan approval process.

Others are encumbrances and difficulties associated with certificate of occupancy process, the need for Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development to outsource relevant professionals to help vet building plans and monitor construction in order to cope with the rapid and vast development of our urban centres; Effective monitoring of government land acquisition to prevent squatters building on such land without building plan approval which may result in building collapse.

However, land under government acquisition should be released on time to people for proper development if government plan for the land is no longer feasible, as this will prevent slum growth, which otherwise usually results due to human desire for shelter.

Others are the prevalence of sub-standard building materials in the market, eradication of quackery, incessant construction disturbance by ‘Omoniles’, influx of foreigners in the construction industry, national building code and its passage into law as well as the implementation of its regulations, establishment of construction industry board, Nigerian cement remains one of the most expensive in the world while the raw materials are mostly sourced locally and affordable standard houses.

He argued that substandard construction work can be gradually phased out of our history if the government handles the menace with an unalloyed commitment.

Describing BCPG as an independent body, made up of professionals in the built environment and other stakeholders united by a common goal, Awoboddu said these are men and women who have a passion for a safe environment, patriotic Nigerians who have resolved to find lasting solutions to the collapse of buildings.

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