Allow Blocks To Stay 28 Days Before Use – Standards Organization Of Nigeria Tells South South Stakeholders

By CrossRiverWatch Admin

The Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) has cautioned against the use of mud blocks in the construction of buildings as well as allowing moulded blocks to stay a minimum of twenty eight days before use.

The Coordinator of the organization in Cross River State, Mr. Michael Ogbuji disclosed this weekend in Calabar during a sensitization workshop for stakeholders in the south south region where he warned builders to resist the temptation of resorting to ‘do-it-yourself’ methods.

He advocated the engagement of structural engineers while building as well as patronising steel bars certified by Nigerian Industrial Standard (NIS) to avoid the use of fake ones that may cause the building to collapse.

Meanwhile, the Director General of the organization, Mr. Osita Aboloma blamed human errors as the cause of most building collapses in the country.

He said the situation, if not checked properly will continuously wreck havoc on the lives and properties in Nigeria.

Mr. Aboloma who said faulty designs, use of substandard building materials, negligence, ignorance, quackery, corruption are the major reasons buildings and roads collapse leading to loss of lives and property said SON was very concerned about the frequency in building collapse.

“The frequent incidents of building collapse in major cities in Nigeria are of concern to SON. These cases are due largely to the use of substandard products materials such as blocks, steel reinforcements bars, untested construction methods, sabotage are major contributors to these cases that is why we regularly organise sensitization workshops like this one for stakeholders in the construction industry to help them imbibe right construction standards for both buildings and roads,” Aboloma said.

He called for stakeholders to value human lives more than personal gains and carry out proper site investigation and soil test to checkmate the construction of houses in areas prone to flooding, erosion, landslide and windstorm.

“There is no alternative to quality when it comes to a critical sector like construction that is why we have over 2,000 standards in building and construction subsector and it is important you have these standards to guide you,” he said.

He disclosed that four cases of building collapse were recorded in the south south including that of the U.J Esuene sports stadium.

Also, he lamented that each case brought trauma, loss of property and devastation of the environment; therefore, the need for concerted efforts geared towards preventing such incidents was vital.