By Chinonye Anyatonwu
The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has begun investigations into the 21 storey building collapse in Gerrard Ikoyi area of Lagos State.
According to a statement issued by the standards body and made available to journalist in Lagos stated that,samples of iron rods, concrete mix and other building materials have been taken for laboratory analysis and tests
The Director General, SON, Mallam Farouk Salim, advocated strong consequences for all standards infractions, stressing that it is necessary to promote voluntary compliance in Nigeria as in other parts of the world.
Salim described the incident as avoidable and one collapse too many.
He concluded that SON is currently developing new procedures in line with the Act establishing it and in collaboration with other relevant bodies to verify that all materials used in major construction projects across the country meet the required standards
He however commended the Lagos State Government for setting up a panel of inquiry to unravel the root cause of the collapse and offered his organisation’s technical support in view of its mandate and abundance of competence in such investigation.
Salim stated that SON requires the continuous support and collaboration of all Nigerians, other agencies and professional organisations to deliver on its mandate to the nation.
The SON boss pointed out that Section 5 (1) b of the SON Act No. 14 of 2015 charges the organisation to “Undertake investigation as necessary into the quality of facilities, systems, services, materials and products, whether imported or manufactured in Nigeria”.
He also pointed at Section 5 (2) of the Act which states that “For purposes of uniformity of Standards in Nigeria, all Regulatory Agencies or Organisations dealing with matters pertaining to or related to Standards shall do so in collaboration with the Standards Organisation of Nigeria”.
He quoted Part IX (48) of the Miscellaneous Provisions in the SON Act thus “In every government procurement, where compliance with standards is a requirement, no payment for execution for such contract shall be made unless compliance to the relevant standards have been verified by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria”.
The Director General offered his condolence to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the people of Lagos State on the unfortunate high-rise building collapse at Ikoyi and the attend loss of lives.
The SON DG, also commiserated with the families of the dead and injured and called on all Nigerians, particularly authorities responsible for approvals and regulations to make adherence to approved Standards the watchword in the discharge of their duties.
