Masari, Ganduje pay sympathy visit to Sanwo-Olu over Ikoyi building collapse

Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State and his Katsina State counterpart, Aminu Masari, yesterday, paid a sympathy visit to Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, over the tragic Ikoyi building collapse.

The governors, who stopped over at the scene of the 21-storey collapse, said high-rise buildings are a necessity in Lagos. They, however, noted that adequate measures must be put in place to keep them from crumbling.

Masari and Ganduje were in Lagos on behalf of the North West Governors’ Forum.

“We are here to condole with the people and government of Lagos State and in particular condole with the families of those who lost their lives, to sympathise over the unfortunate situation that took place.

“Lagos is a mega city compared to any other mega city in the world, and considering the circumstances of Lagos due to lack of adequate land for development, increase of population and high density, the issue of building high-rises is absolutely necessary and cannot be avoided.

“It is unfortunate that due to human factors, we have found ourselves in what happened. We sincerely sympathise with the government and people of the state. We are happy that the government has taken immediate action to show concern over what happened. We are also happy that he appointed an independent technical panel that will examine and find out what actually transpired to avoid future occurrence,” Ganduje said.

On his part, Masari noted: “We came to condole with the governor of Lagos State, the family of the deceased and the entire Lagos community over the unfortunate incident. We cannot escape high-rise buildings in Lagos, but you can do it in such a way that it does not cost life and property of the people. We are happy that the governor has instituted an independent panel of enquiry.”

Sanwo-Olu described the collapse as a great tribulation and difficult moment for the state. He said there has been a lot of learning and lessons, even as the state is carrying out a comprehensive investigation to unravel the cause.

He said: “It gladdens me to know that while Lagos was grieving, they (governors) were not alone on this matter and that is why I am excited and I am happy that two of my senior colleagues have come here to express solidarity and also condole with the government and people of Lagos State.”