Cement makers to come under public scrutiny this week

Cement manufacturers in the country are set to come under public scrutiny this week as the Senate prepares to hold a public hearing on the complaints in certain quarters that incessant building collapses are caused by poor cement quality.

In January this year, a coalition of civil society groups had staged a protest, linking building collapse to proliferation of 32.5 grade of cement produced locally. The coalition accused the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) of not punishing cement makers who manufactured this grade. This started a cement grade war and eventually resulted in the setting up of a committee to look into such complaints. The public hearing is expected to attract the stakeholders and experts.

Meanwhile, experts have insisted that it is a mere act of ignorance for people to associate cement quality with building collapse. They say cement is just one out of numerous inputs in building. According to them, the fact that 42.5 is greater than 32.5 grade in number does not mean that the former is superior, rather, each cement quality has its specific applications. While 32.5 grade is a multi-purpose type, generally used for block making, concrete works, plastering and for low heat applications, 42.5 and 52.5 grades are used for heavy concrete works such as high rise structures, they say.

Kunle Awobodu, president, Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG), said the guild, set up by SON in 2011, identified faulty and copied design, lack of comprehensive subsoil investigation, non-adherence to approved designed, use of substandard materials, professional incompetence, cognitive dissonance, pilfering, ignorance, among others, as causes of building collapse.

Victor O. Oyenuga, immediate past president, Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers, said inability to carry out soil tests and involve professionals, use of less than required number of cement, among others, were responsible for this trend.