Blazing Standards Highlight Resilience, Safety Concerns on Lagos Island

Bennett Oghifo

Lagos Island, with the highest concentration of high-rise buildings in Nigeria, has long stood as a symbol of the nation’s commercial vitality and architectural ambition. From the Marina, a visitor is greeted by a panoramic vista of skyscrapers rising against the skyline, a resplendent sight that evokes pride among construction professionals and urban enthusiasts alike. Yet, recent fire incidents have cast a shadow over this grandeur, raising fundamental questions about safety, regulation and sustainability in one of Nigeria’s most historic districts.

The fire that gutted the 25-storey Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) House at 45/47 Martins Street on Christmas Eve 2025 has again brought these concerns to the fore. The incident occurred barely three months after separate fire outbreaks at Afriland Towers and Mandilas House. According to Bldr. Kunle Awobodu, Pioneer National President of the Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG) and Past National President of the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), the recurrence of such disasters has cast serious doubts on the nation’s ability to protect and preserve the monumental structures that define Lagos Island’s skyline.

Awobodu recalled that the first fire incident at GNI House occurred in 2005, affecting only the fifth floor, while another outbreak was recorded in 2013. Between that period and the devastating 2025 inferno, not fewer than 10 high-rise buildings on Lagos Island have reportedly been gutted by fire. He stressed that such colossal structures, which elevate the economic and modernisation ratings of any nation, naturally deserve functional and enforceable safety measures.

Following the Christmas Eve fire, Awobodu conducted an inspection on December 30, 2025, of the burnt GNI House, the historic Muhammed Shitta-Bey Mosque opposite it, and other affected buildings within the neighbourhood. The inspection revealed a troubling pattern of non-compliance with planning regulations. Many buildings were constructed contiguously on fragmented plots, a practice that negates provisions of the National Building Code and contravenes Lagos State building regulations.

The absence of adequate setbacks and airspace, he noted, made it extremely difficult for firefighters to starve the fire of oxygen and halt its rapid propagation. In the process, about four adjoining buildings, averaging four storeys in height, collapsed behind the GNI House, raising questions about whether they were constructed to standard.

Directly opposite the GNI House stands the Muhammed Shitta-Bey Mosque, separated by Martins Street. In the 2013 fire incident, the width of the road served as an effective buffer, insulating the mosque from the blaze. However, the inferno ignited on December 24, 2025 followed a more destructive trajectory. Eyewitnesses said a massive wall-drape billboard attached to the façade of the GNI House caught fire, detached and crossed the road, landing on the mosque. The presence of petrol in a generator within the mosque compound reportedly energised the flames, enabling their rapid spread to an adjoining plaza in the Oluwole area.

Despite the devastation, Awobodu said the incident also highlighted the enduring value of standard construction. A comparison between the GNI House and the Shitta-Bey Mosque, he observed, mirrors the contrast between Gulliver’s gigantic form and the Lilliputian. While the 25-storey GNI House, constructed by Bouygues Construction Limited beginning in 1985, dwarfs the double-volume bungalow mosque built in 1892, both structures demonstrated remarkable resilience under intense fire.

Apart from the collapse of protruding car park slabs at the rear of the GNI House and a vertically disconnected phase that resulted in partial collapse at the front, the building resisted complete structural failure for nearly a week. Structural observers also noted an intriguing development: some external columns in the lower storeys were displaced due to intense heat and rescue operations, while corresponding upper-storey columns remained stable. Consequently, beams originally designed to be supported by those columns assumed additional cantilevering functions, an unusual display of strength that has drawn interest among research-oriented structural engineers.

The resilience of the Shitta-Bey Mosque is equally significant. In October 2020, during Nigeria’s 60th independence anniversary, the NIOB conducted a nationwide condition survey of pre-independence buildings. The mosque, designed by Brazilian architect João Baptista da Costa, was among the structures assessed. The survey found its floors, walls and gable roof in satisfactory condition, confirming its status as a national monument worthy of preservation.

Although the 2025 fire destroyed the mosque’s roof, ceiling, doors, windows and fittings, Awobodu said its brick walls, altar and floors remained firm and stable enough to support restoration. “Muhammed Shitta-Bey Mosque can be restored,” he said, adding that the Lagos State Government has since intensified efforts to determine the safest method of deconstructing the fire-injured GNI House without further damaging the historic mosque.

On January 1, 2026, 15 built-environment professionals under the aegis of the BCPG carried out a visual inspection of the affected buildings at the invitation of the state government. They urged the adoption of an appropriate deconstruction methodology that would protect the relics of the mosque.

Beyond demolition, Awobodu stressed the need for a thorough technical investigation into the causes of the GNI House inferno, warning that failure to do so could deprive victims and bereaved families of justice. The tragic loss of lives, including a mother who reportedly lost three sons in the fire, underscores the human cost of negligence.

Ultimately, he said, the costly fires at GNI House and the Shitta-Bey Mosque should serve as enduring lessons for developers and homeowners on the evergreen benefits of upholding quality and safety standards in building construction.