WorldStage Newsonline– Worried by the recurring building collapse across the country and the attendant loss of lives, the Senate on Wednesday mandated the Federal Government and all relevant government agencies to urgently put necessary structures in place to handle construction failures and bring to book all those violating lay down procedures for construction activities.
Adopting a motion by Senator Dickey Plang, Plateau Central on the recent building collapse that claimed the lives of twenty two students in Jos, the Senate note with sadness that it was a depressing sight seeing healthy and agile children who left home to write their examination to unfortunately return to their parents as dead bodies.
Senator Abdul Ningi (PDP-Bauchi) who seconded the motion said the tragedy in Jos North had become too many.
He said it was painful to send a child to school only for such parent to hear that the child was no more.
“This ugly incidence of building collapse has been a recurring decimal in Nigeria as a result of poor workmanship, substandard building materials and constructional standards leading to wanton destruction of precious lives and various properties valued hundreds of millions of naira,” he said.
The Senate noted that despite such incidences, the investigation and researches to identify the poor and unprofessional work had never resulted in any meaningful punitive measures on defaulters.
Senators who contributed to the motion including Senators Adams Oshiomole (Edo North); Adamu Aliero (Kebbi Central) and Zam Titus (Benue North West) urged the Federal Government to investigate the incident and bring to book any one connected to putting up a shabby structure in the school that collapsed.
The Senate also urged the National Emergency Agency(NEMA) and all other agencies to mobilize relief materials to victims and their families.
They also urged the Federal Ministry of Health and other relevant government agencies to immediately move to Plateau North to give medical aid to the survival of the building collapse to aid speedy recovery and cushion the devastating effect to the affected families.
The Senate then observed a minute silence in honour of the deceased victims.
