PROPERTY TRANSACTION GUIDE

Involve Professionals In Construction, Ajayi Urges Developers

Independent, Monday, 31ts August 2009

Abimbola Ajayi is the chair of the Lagos Chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA). In an interview with SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, Dada Jackson, she bares her mind on the redevelopment going in the state, issues of collapsed buildings and quackery among other topical issues. Excerpts:

What is your take on the current redevelopment going on in the state?

Thank you very much. With all sense of modesty, I would like to commend the efforts of Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola for his determination to ensure that the state is well planned and developed, considering the impending mega city status which it would attain in a couple of years. The redevelopment going on in the state is a step in the right direction. The governor is poised towards bringing sanity to the state in respect of planning. As you have noticed, a lot of haphazard construction had been going on and unless something drastic was done to correct this anomaly, we might end up having to cope with an unplanned city. So, in a nutshell, the governor has shown to the people of the state that he was committed to replaning the city for more cohesive and conducive living.

As a correlation to this redevelopment exercise, how would you describe the trend of collapses being witnessed in the state, though there seems to have been abatement lately?

If you want me to be honest with you, the issue of collapses has been over flogged but the fact remains that the non-involvement of professionals in the construction process has, in no small way, contributed to this untoward development. Virtually all the professional bodies in the built environment industry have been clamouring for the use of professionals in the development process. The problem is not with the professionals but with some developers who, in trying to save cost usually resort to the use of quacks for constructing houses and in the process get half-baked result. Before you know it, these houses collapse like a pack of cards.So, my position is that developers should endevour to engage the services of professionals in the construction process so as to save the citizenry the agony of witnessing building collapses.

When you mentioned the issue of involving professionals in the construction process, how do you intend to do away with quacks that have virtually infiltrated into all the professional bodies in the built environment sector?

Before I answer the question, let me correct an impression that we find quacks only in the built environment. No, they exist in all professions; even in journalism. Having said that, we at the Lagos State Chapter have set in motion the machinery to address this hydra-headed monster. In this chapter, no architect would be willing to append his or her signature to a drawing without affixing the official seal and stamp of the institute to the said drawing. By so doing, he or she would be protecting his integrity. The issue of affixing the stamp and seal would help to reduce the incidence of quackery. However; it is pertinent to mention that the problem of quackery may persist if people continue to cut corners. But on our part and I equally believe also that other professional bodies in the built environment are putting in place mechanisms to address the issue of quackery.