Before & After Pictures Of Collapsed Building At Ita Faji: Lessons To Be Learnt

The heartbreaking news of collapse of a 5-floor building at Massey Street, Ita Faji, Lagos Island is still rippling its chills accross the world. The eyes of the world are on Nigeria on the current rescue operations ongoing. With the magnitude of collapse many of the children in the Primary School which was said to be on the fourth are feared to be severely injured or dead. We all hope and pray that rescue operations by the Lagos State Government and other well meaning Nigerians results to bringing out as many persons as possible alive. This sad incidence is not first time it's happening and it therefore begs a lot of questions What was the building condition before the incident?, How did it look like? Was there any approval for this 5-floor building?.... So many questions we can ask. I dug out November 2017 pictures of the building before it collapsed. Check out the pictures and you will see that there are a lot of lesson we can learn as regards the structural stability of a building

Now The aftermath after about 3 years, this happened today. Really , really sad!

So as we can evidently see, a building of such number of floors is not just stable by mere sight. Just as a person may be suffering from a disease that doesn't show any sign. Suddenly he collapsed and upon getting to the hospital the doctor said he had been suffering from high blood pressure. A person suffering from high BP can never know unless he does a BP test. So in the case of this building, it had been suffering from Structural Failure which may not be readily visible to people. Unless you are registered and experienced Civil Engineer, you most likely will not know. From my findings, It was said that the building have no approval and have been marked for demolition, so how come people were still allowed to inhabit, talk less of schooling children there. This show a total disregard that most of us in Nigeria love to do, some of them may have just felt that the building looks good and whoever is saying otherwise is just after something else. Or, they may be saying "God Forbid". Prevention is always better than cure This is a great lesson for house owners and inhabitants of any building especially storey buildings. Always confirm the building you are posseses the state approval. If you are a house owner, employ the services of a COREN registered Engineer that can carry our Structural Stability Test. A very detailed audit of a building should be carried out regularly. Another finding showed that the building was originally designed to carry a storey building. Developers added 3 more floors and Kaboom... destined it for destruction!! So many house owners desperate to have their house rise up high like others are being duped by developers. These quack developers use substandard materials to maximise their profit, hence, minimising the value of life as we have seen today. This is one trap every residents should look out for when renting apartment. Do not rent converted apartments, especially storey buildings that get to have additional floors. Proper investigation should be made before renting such apartments. There are so many lessons to be learnt. You'all can add more in the comment section to enlighten the public of the menace of lives and property.