ABANDONED TO ROT AWAY…11

· Continued from yesterday

The federal government should put the buildings to better use

Today, several edifices that were once national monuments have deteriorated into an eyesore to the embarrassment of a nation that is increasingly becoming incapable of maintaining its national assets. For instance, many of the national stadia have become a huge economic waste. The situation of  Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, is worse. Built in 2003 at the cost of $360million (more than N100 billion today), the 60,491-capacity edifice is one of the most expensive projects in the world. Renovated recently for African Legends vs Barcelona match, it is still not deemed suitable for Nigerian league matches because of its present condition.

Available records show that the six stadia got N300 million in the 2012 budget for maintenance, increasing slightly to N400 million in 2016. With this meagre fund, it is evident that the facilities could only be what they are. We urge the federal government to take quick steps on many of these entities that are wasting away either by giving them out to private investors in line with its concession policy or handing them over to states that are interested in running them.

Experts in the real estate sector are at a loss as to how a nation could wantonly subject such iconic properties to abuse. Indeed, former President of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), Emeka Eleh noted that vacant houses run down faster than occupied houses and advise the government to lease the houses to individuals who can afford them, while others suggest that the federal government and the states should find a way of putting these buildings to better use. Even more disturbing is the spate of building collapse. There is no doubt that many buildings collapsed because of their decrepit state.

According to the latest report from the Building Collapse Prevention Guild, the country witnessed about 604 building collapses between 1974 and May 2024. The report indicated that Lagos State recorded 57.28 per cent of the total collapses with over 346 buildings caving in the last 50 years. Even though findings by the guild attributed many of the incidents largely to professional ineptitude ranging from excessive loading, use of substandard materials, faulty design, poor workmanship and weak foundation, there is no doubt that years of neglect and abandonment contributed to the tragedies.

We have seen governments come and go with none of them making it a priority to recover the real values of national assets that are depreciating by the day. Every government compounds the problem by adding more to the list of abandoned projects. Yet, we are bothered by this proclivity to the waste of scarce resources, especially at a time the population is growing at an alarming rate, and the economy is slowing down. We feel that all abandoned national assets should either be turned around for economic benefits to the country, or at best be handed over to entities that can make the most of them so they can create jobs for the people. At a period when we need to think out of the box to address the myriads of socio-economic challenges, there should be no room for waste.

Aside from the economic implications, there is also the issue of security risks posed by criminals who use these neglected buildings as havens for nefarious activities. Yet transforming many of these historic landmarks into creative use will help to get the needed money into cash-starved government coffers. Besides, as the House of Representatives has noted in their passed resolution, it makes no sense to abandon buildings erected at enormous costs and begin to pay scandalous amounts on rent for government agencies.