British-Nigerian lawyer and construction law expert, Abiola Aderibigbe, has reacted to the recent building collapses in Alimosho, Lagos, and Awka, Anambra State, describing them as disturbing events that highlight the urgent need to prioritise safety in construction.
“Beyond the structures, it is the people affected who matter most,” Aderibigbe said. “Injuries have been sustained, families unsettled, and neighbourhoods shaken. My thoughts are with all those impacted.”
The incidents — coming just days after the Yaba building collapse and the Afriland Towers fire in Lagos Island — have raised concern about a pattern of repeated failures within a short period. “When you see four serious events in just two weeks, it is a sobering reminder that more needs to be done to make construction truly safe and sustainable,” he added.
Aderibigbe emphasised that the goal is not to apportion blame but to close the gaps that allow such disasters to occur. He reiterated his call for a Nigerian Construction Act to unify standards, strengthen accountability, and embed safety as a non-negotiable duty.
“Until such legislation is in place, we must ensure that every conversion and multi-storey project is subjected to an independent, transparently certified structural check — not just on paper, but enforced in practice,” he explained. “Simple safeguards like this can save lives.”
Aderibigbe, a three-time recipient of the Frances Paterson Scholarship awarded by the UK Society of Construction Law for his doctoral research, noted that other countries have introduced similar legislation to great effect.
“Every collapse is not just a structural failure. It is also a signal that reform is overdue,” he said. “If we act with foresight, we can protect lives, restore trust, and build a safer future. In construction, building safety means saving lives.”
British-Nigerian lawyer and academic Abiola Aderibigbe has been named among the Top 10 Exceptional Professionals of the Year in Law at the Iconic Brand Africa Awards (TIBA) 2025. The event will take place on 15 November in Lagos.
The nomination comes as Aderibigbe’s campaign for a Nigerian Construction Act continues to attract national attention.
In late 2024, he received the President’s Award and the Customer Empathy Award from the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA Group), the UK’s leading trade association for the building engineering services sector.
Earlier in 2025, three independent legal directories — Advisory Excellence, The Lawyer Network, and Global Law Experts — named him Construction & Engineering Law Expert of the Year.
He has also featured in several international publications. CXO Views listed him among the Most Influential Legal Leaders to Watch in 2025 in a cover feature. Frontier Blaze ranked him among the Top 5 General Counsels Transforming C-Suite Strategy, while CIO Business World named him to its 10 Most Influential People in Legal Services to Watch in 2025. In the second quarter of the year, TBD Marketing ranked him 17th in its GC LinkedInfluencer Report Top 40, a listing of the most visible and influential in-house counsel on LinkedIn.
On the continental stage, A.L.L. Africa Lex 25 has recognised him among Africa’s leading legal practitioners. He has also presented research at major conferences, including the Association of Researchers in Construction Management (ARCOM) and the World Construction Symposium.
Nationally, newspapers such as The Nation have extensively covered his policy advocacy, particularly his call for legislative reform in the construction sector. His work at the intersection of law, infrastructure, and governance continues to generate media interest.
Responding to his nomination, Aderibigbe said, “Recognition is always an honour, but for me the real test is whether my work translates into safer buildings, stronger governance frameworks, and opportunities for impact both in Nigeria and abroad. Awards are affirmations — but they are also responsibilities.”
The TIBA Awards celebrate excellence across law, business, and public service. This year’s event is expected to draw leading figures from across Africa, with Aderibigbe’s nomination highlighting how Nigerian voices in law and governance are shaping continental conversations.
When a fire broke out at Afriland Towers on Lagos Island this September, smoke engulfed the upper floors, staff scrambled for safety, and emergency services raced to the scene. For many Nigerians, it was another reminder of the fragility of building safety. For Abiola Aderibigbe, it was yet again a call to action.
On 8 September 2025, the dual-qualified solicitor published a widely-read brief on LinkedIn urging Nigeria to enact a Construction Act — a comprehensive law he believes would harmonise fragmented rules and reduce the alarming rate of building collapses. Within days, his proposal was picked up by national dailies, thrusting him into the spotlight as one of the loudest voices on construction reform.
Born in Lagos to Kehinde Aderibigbe, a chartered accountant who once served as Director of Accounts at the Lagos Internal Revenue Service, and Olubunmi Aderibigbe (née Soyannwo), a chartered insurer, his upbringing was steeped in professional rigour and public service. He began his education at Grace Children’s School, Gbagada, and later at the International School, University of Lagos, before his family migrated to the UK.
There, he completed secondary education at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic School in Croydon, A-levels at Croydon College, an LLB Law at the University of Surrey, the Legal Practice Course at the University of Law (Guildford), and an LLM in Corporate Finance at the University of Westminster. Today, he is a PhD candidate at Liverpool John Moores University researching law, technology, and the built environment, while exploring collaboration with the University of Cambridge Faculty of Law.
Now based between the UK and Nigeria, Aderibigbe’s work spans construction, energy, engineering, and infrastructure law. He lectures on international construction law, sits on several boards, and advises projects across Europe, Africa, and beyond. This global exposure, he says, has sharpened his conviction that Nigeria needs a stronger legal backbone for its construction industry.
At the heart of his proposal for a Nigerian Construction Act are five coequal pillars: Contractor registration and grading; Enforceable health, safety, and environmental standards; Governance and anti-corruption safeguards; Statutory payment timelines and adjudication processes; Skills transfer and local content obligations.
“These pillars are coequal and mutually reinforcing,” Aderibigbe explains. “Together they can improve safety, restore trust, and make the sector more bankable for investors.”
He acknowledges that he is not the first to raise the alarm. Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has previously spoken about harmonising building codes. Aderibigbe supports this, but explains his proposal goes further: a single national framework unifying standards across all states through a Construction Act — what he calls “a single source of truth.”
His family’s tradition of public service reinforces his commitment. His father’s career in Lagos State government finance, and his late Uncle Gboyega Soyannwo’s role as Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Sanwo-Olu until May 2024, connect him to Nigeria’s civic life. For Aderibigbe, advocating reform is not just a professional duty, but a family legacy.
Though his advocacy has gained traction, he is careful to stress that this is not about headlines but about lives. Nigeria has recorded over 650 building collapses and more than 1,600 deaths since the 1970s, according to industry groups.
“Every collapse is a tragedy we could have prevented,” he says. “Building safety isn’t just about codes or compliance — it means saving lives.”
If state and federal authorities work together, he believes, the Nigerian Construction Act could move from proposal to reality. And if it does, Aderibigbe may be remembered not just as a lawyer and academic, but as the man who helped lay the foundation for safer buildings in Nigeria.
Nigeria has recorded more than 650 building collapses since 1974, with at least 1,616 lives lost, according to figures from the Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG).
Against this backdrop, legal expert Abiola Aderibigbe has called for a Nigerian Construction Act, emphasising that a more unified legal framework could strengthen safety, improve efficiency, and boost investor confidence.
Aderibigbe, a global legal practitioner, corporate executive, educator and PhD. candidate specialising in construction, energy, infrastructure, and engineering law told the media that Nigeria’s regulatory framework is “complex, overlapping, and in need of harmonisation.”
“Nigeria has an opportunity to move beyond dispersed laws, stalled projects, and preventable building collapses,” he said. “The construction sector is simply too important — for jobs, housing, infrastructure, and national development — not to be supported by a coherent and consistently applied legal framework.”
A GROWING SECTOR, A MOUNTING CHALLENGE
The construction sector is one of Nigeria’s fastest-growing non-oil industries, contributing 4.74% of GDP in Q1 2025, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Yet despite its importance, the industry continues to face challenges around efficiency, governance, and safety.
Analysts note that while instruments such as the National Building Code and the Public Procurement Act provide important foundations, their enforcement has sometimes been uneven, creating gaps that affect contractors, regulators, and the wider public.
GLOBAL OUTLOOK
Citing reforms in the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Australia, Aderibigbe observed that unified legislation has helped streamline payment practices, strengthen safety standards, and make dispute resolution more efficient.
“Other countries facing similar challenges have adopted Construction Acts or Security of Payment laws that provide clarity, improve compliance, and build confidence,” he explained. “Nigeria has the same opportunity to benefit from such reforms.”
A FIVE-PILLAR SOLUTION
In a policy brief he produced, Aderibigbe outlined five pillars for a Nigerian Construction Act: National contractor registration and grading to ensure capacity-based procurement. Health, safety, and environmental standards with real penalties. Governance and anti-corruption safeguards to improve transparency and investor confidence. Statutory payment timelines and adjudication to reduce disputes. Skills transfer and local content to strengthen domestic capacity.
UNLOCKING INVESTMENT
Nigeria faces an annual infrastructure financing gap of more than US$100 billion, according to the World Bank Group. Aderibigbe argued that a predictable legal framework would not only save lives but also attract capital.
“Investors and development finance institutions want predictability,” he said. “A Construction Act would strengthen project bankability and reduce risks, helping Nigeria mobilise the billions it needs for roads, power, and housing.”
CALL TO ACTION
With more than 650 collapses and over 1,600 lives lost, Aderibigbe said the need for reform is urgent.
“This is not just about technical reform,” he stressed. “It’s about saving lives, creating jobs, and restoring trust in Nigeria’s built environment. The time to act is now.”
Abiola Aderibigbe is a distinguished, multi-award-winning global legal practitioner, corporate executive, educator, and academic. Dual-qualified as a Solicitor in the UK (England & Wales) and the EU (Ireland), he brings extensive expertise in operations, ethics, legal and compliance, governance, and risk across sectors including technology, intellectual property, finance, charity/NGO, construction, energy, engineering, and infrastructure.
He serves as Course Director, Module Leader, and Faculty Director at various international educational institutions, where amongst various subjects he teaches international construction law as well as advanced programmes in project finance, sovereign contracting, and risk.
Aderibigbe is also a published academic author whose research spans statutory good faith, construction contract reform, and international development finance. Over his career, he has advised governments, industry leaders, and stakeholders across Africa, Europe, North America, and the Middle East, bringing a global perspective to complex legal and regulatory challenges.
