The Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON) and the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), Abia State chapter, have called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of individuals posing as “site engineers” at construction sites across the state.
The call was made on Monday during a press briefing in Umuahia, where the two professional bodies expressed concern over the increasing frequency of building collapse incidents in Abia.
Speaking on behalf of CORBON, Mr Wisdom Okoro, Chairman of the State Practice Committee, said the persistence of structural failures was due to the failure of regulatory authorities to enforce existing laws and codes governing building practices.
“According to the statutes and codes establishing the building profession, only a licensed builder is legally authorised to oversee construction processes on site,” Okoro said. “It is a misnomer for anyone to refer to themselves as a site engineer.
Such individuals lack the legal authority to carry out building works.”
Okoro emphasised that the profession of building is not a shared responsibility and should be handled solely by trained and certified builders.
Echoing his stance, the Abia State Chairman of NIOB, Mr Chinedu Nwanosike, attributed the growing number of collapsed buildings to negligence by both authorities and private developers.
“The problem is that government agencies often sideline qualified professionals and hand over projects to quacks,” Nwanosike said. “If you examine 100 construction sites, you’ll find that fewer than 10 per cent are handled by trained builders.”
He called on the Abia State Government to begin full implementation of the National Building Code, which was adopted in 2006 but has yet to be enforced in many parts of the country.
“Arrest the quacks and allow certified professionals to do their job. That’s the only way to end these avoidable tragedies,” he added.