Without question, the partial collapse of a floor in the new eight-floor library being constructed at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), in February, was scandalous. The House of Representatives Committee on Public Procurement had visited the university in May to investigate the accident.
The committee’s report, released recently, was shocking. It suggested that those supervising the construction lacked the necessary expertise. According to the report, “to avoid further damage to the ongoing University New Library Project, the contractor should go back to the site with immediate effect and backfill the foundation and remove the debris of the collapsed framework under the strict supervision of competent experts.” The committee advised that “The Federal Ministry of Education, TETFund and UNILAG should jointly review the project and make additional funds for it so that the project will not be abandoned.”
The project consultant, Mr Oreoluwa Fadayomi, was quoted as saying he was awaiting the university’s reaction to the report before making comments. But he had said to the investigators: ”The management of the contractor as it was (as at the time of the incident) cannot handle the continuation of the project. Here is a job we should have handed over in November last year and we are still on the first floor… If it is the same persons and process… my firm will withdraw from that project because we cannot continue to supervise at that level.”
The first Vice President, Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), and past president of the Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG), Mr Kunle Awobodu, observed: “The fundamental question is whether the contractor is competent to continue… What happened was a result of inexperience.”
If the contractor isn’t competent to continue the project, and wasn’t competent to start it, how did he get the job?
Following the committee’s report, the contractor, Mr Olatunde Runsewe, CEO of Dutum Construction Company Limited, was quoted as saying: “We intend to put more hands on the project. We will clear the debris; we will be careful to put more people to monitor the steel props that we are using for the decking. What happened was an accident. We have told the University that we are very sorry for the embarrassment this has brought.” The N1.9 billion building was only 25 per cent complete when the collapse happened; and the contractor had been paid N444million.
Obviously, the contractor’s apology doesn’t answer the question of alleged lack of expertise. Incompetence is inadequate where competence is needed. The contractor’s plan to involve more people in the construction work after the partial collapse had occurred shows that it is easy to be wise after the event.
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