Under construction: We assess exactly how the Synagogue building collapsed

by Joachim MacEbong

The recent collapse of a five storey building in the premises of the Synagogue Church of All Nations complex on Friday, 12th of September has posed fresh questions to the construction industry, just when the country felt we were approaching a long and permanent era of relief from building collapse in the country.

The news came against the background of constant squabbling between various bodies over cement classification and applications in the construction industry and the news of a collapse at a construction site. The horror was further compounded by the fears of the public owing  to the fact that the number of people affected may be very high as the church premises of the Synagogue church like most other church premises in the country, is always a beehive of activity.

As is common in engineering practice, a failure of any engineering structure requires that a Root Cause Analysis (RCA) for the failure of the building be carried out on the structure to determine the cause of the failure, but the result for that cannot be gotten now as it would involve various tests to be carried out before the final results would be released.

While we await the results from the tests by the various agencies responsible for the determination of the reasons responsible for the collapse of the building are awaited, a cursory look into the factors that could have been responsible for the collapse of the building will do.

The building is sited on swampy terrain that had to be earth-filled as confirmed by residents of the area. It was originally a two storey building and had three extra floors added on it. Up until it collapsed, construction work was still on-going.

This in itself is capable of bringing the building down if proper evaluation of the pre-existing structure was not done before any addition was made.

Contrary to the expectation of the people that the building might have been over-burdened by the high number of people who worship in the church, the collapsed building was in a gated parcel of land about a hundred meters from the main entrance and away from the church auditorium where regular worship services are held.

Though not in regular use mode at the time of visiting the site, the availability of a gate and the church’s security personnel would be expected to keep loiterers away from the building and grant access only to people who had reason to be in the building.

Attempts to get members of the staff of the Lagos State Ministry of Physical and Urban Planning, the Ministry saddled with the responsibility of approving the erection of physical structures in the state, to give statements as regards the building yielded no fruit as the officials refused to speak on the matter.

However, an official of the ministry who pleaded anonymity explained that the process for getting permit for buildings in the state was one that if strictly adhered to will not give room for any building to collapse, as various building professionals will be involved in the process thereby reducing the risk of the building collapsing or failing.

The source explained that approval for a building like the one that collapsed in the Synagogue church (a five storey building) will require the building owner to present title documents, architectural drawings, survey plan, structural drawings, soil tests (for buildings more than two floors), Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report (for buildings more than four floors), alongside a Tax Clearance Certificate and other requirements to the District Officer in the concerned area where the building is to be sited. The Divisional Officer will then visit the site to confirm all the information contained in the documents and thereafter issue the permit if all necessary conditions are met or deny the builder approval for the building if any of the conditions are not met.

If all these outlined conditions are followed in the construction of a building, it is expected that the building will be safe and less likely to pose any threat to the public and the environment. However, was this the case concerning the Synagogue building?

In the case of the Synagogue building, the culpability of the various government agencies established to monitor and enforce standards in the construction industry like the Lagos State Building Control Agency, Lagos State Materials Testing Laboratory and the Divisional Planning Officer can easily be pointed out except contrary is proven.

The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Olutoyin Ayinde, in the company of the Governor who visited the site in September was quoted to have said: “We have no proof that the church had a permit to add to the existing structure. We have asked the engineering team to meet us and for about 2 hours now, no member of the team has come.”

“We also have questions for them. Even if the building does not have approval, it ought to be built professionally. We have asked for their team and we hope in the course of the week, they would get to us”, he added.

The Commissioner’s statement could only mean that some, if not all, of the regulatory bodies had been complacent in the discharge of their duties thereby giving the builder the chance to carry out the redevelopment of the building without proper ratification with the necessary authorities and regulatory bodies.

As regards the position of Pastor T.B. Joshua that the hovering of a mysterious aircraft over the building was responsible for the collapse, this is not looking like an angle that should be pursued.

This is because it cannot be proven that the aircraft dropped any material that could have caused the building collapse, and the use of explosives on/in the building has not been mentioned. Or in the wildest case, could the vibratory effect of the air surrounding the aircraft have brought about enough vibration of the structure to eventually trigger the collapse? This and other weak question lines will continue to run in our minds if this angle were to be pursued.

While the final statement as to the true cause of the building collapse is awaited, this is already looking like another indication that the cement grade used in building has little effect on structural integrity, contrary to the position being held by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) which it is using to justify classifying cement grades and their applicable use in the construction industry.

A statement released by the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) in March this year, about the link between cement and building collapse in the country, made 13 points, which are reproduced in full below:

1) Up till a few years ago, the only cement that was produced and massively used for all kinds of construction in Nigeria was the Ordinary Portland Cement complying with the British Standard BS 12:1958;

2) That in line with current international best practices, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria [SON] has certified and approved for use in Nigeria three grades of cement, namely Grade 32.5, Grade 42.5 and very recently Grade 52.5;

3) That the SON has confirmed that ALL the cement produced or marketed in Nigeria meet their specifications – meaning that THERE IS NO SUBSTANDARD CEMENT IN NIGERIA;

4) That cement as a material is not used directly in construction but is normally mixed with other materials to form mortars, sandcrete or concrete; each of the three cement grades approved for use in the country can be used to produce these materials satisfactorily;

5) That the quality or strength of the materials mentioned in (4) depend on the mix proportions adopted and not necessarily on the grade of cement used.

6) Cement types are not specified in codes of practice for design of concrete structures; only the strength of concrete, its workability etc are specified;

7) That there is so far no empirical evidence linking the collapse of buildings to the grade of cement used;

8) That while there are many cases of collapse of storey buildings [which use concrete], hardly have we had cases of collapsed bungalows and they are all built with currently available cements;

9) That due to lack of publicity, the public is highly ignorant of the availability of and special uses of the different grades of cement, even though the grades are written on the bags containing the cements;

10) That professional engineers are best suited to advice the consumers on the correct mix proportions to be used in producing materials like sandcrete blocks and concrete for various applications, using the different grades of cement available;

11) That a lot of research is needed to produce mix design information that will guide the construction industry on how to achieve different strengths of sandcrete and concrete using the different grades of cement available;

12) That COREN has initiated action with other major stakeholders towards getting the necessary research and publicity done within the shortest possible time;

13) That COREN therefore urges consumers of cement products to consult professionals in the built environment when it has to do with the use of cement based products.

In simple language, the grade of cement used is not as important as the mix proportions required for specific applications, as stated in the fifth point. The seventh point is explicit and definitive, saying that there is ‘no empirical evidence linking the collapse of buildings to the grade of cement used’.

So, while we do not know what caused the Synagogue building to collapse, we can safely rule out the grade of cement employed as a cause. In addition, we can only hope that the necessary research on and publicity for mix design information will be concluded, as alluded to by COREN in item twelve.

Finally, while commiserating with the families of those who lost their lives, the concerned ministries in the Lagos state government must conclude the investigation into the collapse and punish lapses, so that such needless loss of life does not recur.

Comments (11)

  1. the trials of brother joshua

  2. good for him

  3. may thier souls rest in peace once again.

  4. its obvious the whole thing was planned against tb joshua

  5. serious something

  6. may God deliever this man from this wahala.

  7. i have told you already this man is a ritualist

  8. jonathan don enter am big time

  9. they should free this man jare, it wasnt his fault

  10. this case is dragging for my liken

  11. all for tb josuha. na ww aoooo

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