Governors of the North West region have described the collapse of a high rise in the Ikoyi area of Lagos State as “unfortunate” but admitted that building such structures in megacities is inevitable.
The governors made the comment during a condolence visit to their Lagos State counterpart, Babajide Sanwo-Olu following the incident which claimed over 40 lives.
“We are here representing governors of North West to physically come to condole with his Excellency, the Governor of Lagos State, families of the deceased and the entire Lagos community on the unfortunate incident that has happened,” Chairman of the North West Governors’ Forum, Aminu Masari, said during the visit.
“We pray to God that this kind of thing will not happen again. On behalf of the people of North West, accept our sincere condolences and sympathy.
“We cannot escape high rise buildings in Lagos but we must ensure that it does not cost lives and properties of people.”
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In a statement issued by the Lagos State Government, the Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, also expressed happiness with the setting up of a panel of inquiry to look into the incident which took place earlier in the month.
According to him, the move shows the resolve of the Lagos State Government to unravel the cause of the building collapse.
“We are happy that the governor has taken immediate action to show concern about what happened. We are also happy that he appointed an independent technical panel that will examine and find out what actually happened in order to avoid future occurrences,” Ganduje said.
“We appreciate Governor Sanwo-Olu’s effort and condole with him and the people of Lagos state, particularly the families of those who lost their lives.”
On his part, Sanwo-Olu thanked the governors for the visit, saying that the incident and others in the state have also come with “lessons”.
“We have had various degrees of tribulations and very difficult moments for us as a state and there have been lessons learnt. We are all aware of the investigation into the collapsed building,” the governor added.
“It gladdens me to know that while Lagos is grieving, we are not alone. That is why I am excited and happy that some of my senior colleagues and brothers have come here to express solidarity and to also sympathise with the government and people of Lagos State.”
