Ajao links building collapse to professional negligence
By Abubakar Imam
Following a recent building collapse in Ilorin and similar incidents across the country, the Head of the Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, University of Ilorin, Dr Kabiru Suleiman Ajao, has established a linkage between professional negligence and building failure.
He, therefore, encouraged government and other relevant stakeholders to ensure strict monitoring of building projects in order to stem the tide of building failure.
Dr Ajao gave this advice during a chat with UNILORIN Bulletin last Tuesday (September 1, 2026) on the increasing occurrence of building collapse across the country.
The don said that the government and other constituted authorities have a lot of role to play in ensuring sanity in the construction industry.
Dr Ajao noted that in addition to professional negligence building collapse could also be occasioned by a number of other factors such poor low quality and quantity of materials deployed and corruption.
The don, who lamented the repeated building failure in the country with the resultant loss of lives and property, stated that many buildings were not properly constructed while some others were constructed in wrong places with substandard materials and unfortunately without adequate supervision by relevant professionals.
He added that regulatory agencies appear not to be discharging their duties as expected, pointing out that the negligence of duties by the officials of those agencies often culminated in building collapse.
Dr Ajao also explained that lack of adequate maintenance, poor design and excessive loading of structures are more often than not responsible for the frequent building collapse occuring across the country. He noted that such tendencies could be promptly checked and effectively controlled if concerned regulatory agencies play their roles effectively.
The don stated that the use of substandard materials for buildings has been identified as one of the reasons accounting for building failures, which he explained has become an embarrassment to the nation, considering the increasing quality and magnitude of building professionals the country produces.
He added that many of the buildings constructed years back are enduring than some new ones due to the high quality of materials deployed as well as the close supervision given to them during construction by relevant professionals as well as from the regulatory authorities, which often insisted on nothing but the best of materials and strict adherence to building codes.
While noting that contemporary building professionals are not only more qualified and competent but are also more sophisticated than their predecessors, he said that such sophistication must not only be seen in the building aesthetics but also in the ability of those buildings to stand the test of time.
