By Lukman Olabiyi
The Bricklayers Association of Nigeria (BAN) has called on President Bola Tinubu to restructure the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), as part of effort to check incessant building collapse in the country.
BAN made the call after its national conference, held in Ilorin, Kwara State.
In a statement by the National President of the association, Mr Oyebamiji Taye Dauda, the union also called on Tinubu to quickly tackle the high cost of building materials which has been the major reason responsible for the dearth of artisans in the industry.
At the conference, according to the national president of the association, issues affecting members and real estate industry were discussed and solutions were offered.
Lamenting on the scarcity of building artisans in the country, Oyebamiji ,said the cost of building materials coupled with the effect of subsidy removal with the resultant increase in the cost of transportation to project sites, have sent the qualified artisans out of job, and this has resulted in unqualified artisans taking over the space.
Also,Oyebamiji challenged Tinubu to properly look into the leadership of the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), the body responsible for conducting quality checks on building materials, adding that this would also go a long way in checking incessant building collapse as a result of the use of sub-standard building materials. The statement read in part:“We want to appeal to the federal government to look into the cost of building materials, specifically the cement, since this inflation set in.
People no longer engage in house building, and this has sent our workers into the unemployment market, they now engage in riding motorcycles, popularly called okada, and keke marwa, some of them have even involved in land grabbing.
“When the people can no longer afford the cost of the materials, it is either they cut the cost to buy substandard, or they underpay the artisans, but when the artisan cannot also bear it, he rejects he job and looks for is daily bread elsewhere.
“The high cost of building materials is also seriously affecting the use of quality building materials, this mostly causes friction between artisans and the project owners, including cement and iron rods, we appeal to govt to look into this matter so that people who learn this trade would not abandon the work.
“We also want to appeal to governments at all levels to quickly make provision for cheaper public transport to check the difficulties people, especially our members go through to project sites every day. Our members can no longer bear the cost of transportation, as a result of the subsidy removal, they now trek to their project sites, and by the time they get there, they are already tired, making them unable to work for the required hours on site.”