Engineers, students, lawmakers moves against building collapse
By Emeka Chiaghanam
Under the warm Awka sun, a steady procession of engineers, students, lawmakers and community voices moved through the capital city with a single, urgent message: build right, build safe, or risk lives.
The 15-kilometre advocacy walk, tagged “Walk Against Building and Infrastructure Collapse (2.0)”, transformed major streets of Awka into a moving forum on professional responsibility, public safety and the cost of cutting corners. Organised by the Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers (NICE), Anambra State Chapter, the rally renewed calls for the total elimination of quackery in the construction industry, an issue many professionals say lies at the heart of recurring building and infrastructure failures.
Placards told a stark story: “Safe Building Is a Human Right,” “Stop Quackery in Construction,” “Engineering Ethics Must Come Before Profit,” and “Weak Foundations Lead to Tragedies.” Each inscription echoed a shared concern that preventable collapses continue to claim lives because standards are ignored and unqualified hands are allowed to take over critical structural work.
Addressing participants, the State Chairman of NICE, Chidi Obiudu, described the walk as both a warning and a civic call to action. Building collapse, he said, remains one of the most avoidable disasters in the built environment if professional standards are respected and enforced.
“This advocacy reinforces the ‘Build Right, Build Safe’ principle,” Obiudu noted. “When certified professionals are sidelined and regulations treated as optional, the consequences are often fatal.”
The campaign drew strong institutional backing. The Chairman of the House Committee on Works and Infrastructure in the Anambra State House of Assembly, Emma Nwafor, commended NICE for sustaining public engagement and for deliberately involving engineering students from **Nnamdi Azikiwe University.
Nwafor disclosed that Anambra State has enacted legislation to curb quackery in construction, backed by a task force mandated to enforce compliance. Sponsored by him alongside 28 other lawmakers, the law seeks to regulate construction activities, reduce infrastructure failure and impose sanctions on individuals or organisations that compromise safety.
He, however, stressed that legislation alone is not enough. Stronger collaboration is required among regulators and professional bodies, including the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, the Anambra State Materials Testing Laboratory, the Awka Capital Territory Development Authority, and the Anambra State Physical Planning Board.
Weak monitoring, he warned, has allowed artisans and unqualified persons to dominate structural jobs, while duplicated approval stamps have further undermined building control.
From the technical frontlines, the Managing Director of the Anambra State Materials Testing Laboratory, Ebosie Ezeoke, underscored the role of science in saving lives. Speaking through a senior official, Vivian Nnemelu, he explained that routine testing of soil, concrete, steel and asphalt remains critical to structural integrity and disaster prevention.
Earlier, the Vice Chairman of NICE, Chidi Anuligo, urged authorities to intensify action against quacks, insisting that communities themselves must become active watchdogs over projects in their neighbourhoods. He was joined by the institute’s secretary, Collins Okoli, and other professionals who called on practitioners to respect areas of specialisation and secure all necessary approvals before construction begins.
Student voices added moral weight to the march. Speaking for engineering undergraduates, Emmanuel Nnonyelu blamed frequent collapses on corruption, substandard materials and poor regulation, arguing that engineering ethics must always come before profit.
By the time the walk ended, the message was unmistakable. Safe infrastructure is not a luxury, nor a favour, it is a public right. And until quackery is decisively confronted, the engineers warned, the cost of neglect will continue to be measured not just in fallen buildings, but in lost lives.
