By  Yinka Kolawole

Architects under the aegis of  the Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA), have called on government to take necessary measures to drastically reduce the prices of cement and other basic building materials, saying this would go a long way in curtailing the incidence of building collapse in the country.

National President, NIA, Mr. Olatunji Olumide Bolu, remarked that as a first step, government should tackle the issue of power generation, noting that the cost of provision of power to run local factories producing building raw materials was skyrocketing leading to escalating cost of cement and other building materials.

Bolu who was speaking at the Golden Jubilee anniversary of the institute, in Ibadan, said that NIA has concluded arrangements with the Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON) to set up a committee to tackle the unending incidents of collapse of public buildings in different parts of the country.

He said the mandate of the committee was to fish out and sanction quacks who had been masquerading as professionals, thereby tarnishing the image of architects in Nigeria, adding that the institute and ARCON are already in contact with the Federal Ministry of Housing on the need to sanitise the industry in the overall interest of the nation.

According to him, “NIA is now going about mounting surveillance on buildings that are suspect. Two_story buildings and upwards are going to be inspected to see if they are standing well or not.