BY YINKA KOLAWOLE

The federal government has been urged to help curb the spate of building collapse in the country by taking steps that will ensure reduction of the costs of major building materials such as cement and steel.

Outgoing President of the Nigerian Institute of Architect (NIA), Arc. Olatunji Bolu, stated this in Abuja recently. “Government should do something about the high cost of cement in Nigeria so as to discourage people from sharp practices of using inferior or reduced quantity of building materials.

Collapsed building

“If we reduce the cost of cement and steel which are the major building materials, maybe people will stop cutting corners and the menace of building collapse will be reduced,” he said.

Bolu said NIA will soon carry out an extensive enumeration of architects across the country with a view to checking the menace of quackery in the profession. He asserted that Nigerian architects have the capacity to compete with their foreign counterparts, and called for more government patronage of indigenous architects to make them productive and self reliant.

The NIA boss said the institute organises stakeholders’ forum annually to bring producers of foreign building materials and professionals together so as to forge a good relationship on how to ensure that the best building materials are brought into the Nigerian market.

He called on Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and other relevant regulatory agencies to carry the institute along in its regulatory activities, saying architects with their professional input can help them achieve the desired result in this regard.