Oyingbo Building Collapse: Aderibigbe Commends First Responders, Appeals For United Action on Building Safety

One person has been confirmed dead and at least 26 rescued after a two-storey building collapsed at 54 Cole Street, near Cemetery Bus Stop, Oyingbo in Lagos on Monday, according to early updates from emergency officials. Preliminary briefings indicated the structure had earlier been identified as distressed.

Speaking with Daily Independent, British-Nigerian lawyer, built environment expert, and Nigerian Construction Act advocate, Abiola Aderibigbe led with condolences for casualties and praise for responders on the ground. “My heart is with every family in Oyingbo today. I am deeply grateful to the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service and to its Director, Mrs. Margaret Abimbola Adeseye, for the courage and professionalism shown by firefighters and medics through the night,” he said. “When tragedies occur, Nigerians rally, neighbours form human chains, and responders work past exhaustion. That spirit is who we are. We are a nation of action and compassion”.

Aderibigbe once more commended Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s previous urging of a more unified, enforceable building framework, adding that such leadership “deserves to be matched now with rapid, practical steps that prevent collapses before they happen.”

He noted reports that officials had raised concerns about the Oyingbo structure prior to the incident, saying, “Yes, Officials did a commendable job by providing warnings because warnings matter. But our goal must be to intervene early enough that families in Lagos and all over Nigeria are never placed in harm’s way.”

Aderibigbe also appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu saying “With sincerest and utmost respect to His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, this is now critical.
Your Excellency, Nigerians need the certainty that the buildings they live and work in will stand. We can deliver that certainty through competence, inspections and consequences, working shoulder-to-shoulder with all states and the Federal Capital Territory.”

Over recent weeks,Daily Independent has followed Aderibigbe’s advocacy of a national construction act to reduce collapses—including a Contractor Registration & Grading system co-shaped by professional councils and anchored in procurement—alongside briefings after major incidents. He expressed appreciation to the Independent and other national outlets for tracking the issue and amplifying a technical conversation into the public square.

Reiterating a collaborative approach, Aderibigbe called for professional bodies—the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON), Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON), Quantity Surveyors Registration Board of Nigeria (QSRBN)—to sit with the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and agree immediate criteria for a time-bound pilot register, alongside enforceable HSE triggers that allow authorities to clear or secure distressed buildings before occupancy. He added that Governor Sanwo-Olu’s push for stronger, harmonised standards provides a useful base for action that other states can adopt quickly.

“Today is a day for empathy and for gratitude to first responders,” he said. “Tomorrow must be for implementation. Building safety means saving lives—and Nigerians have shown again, in Oyingbo, how we stand for one another. Let’s match that spirit with the systems that keep families safe.”