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| Bank of Industry finally demolished |
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| Sunday, 21 September 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||
     History was made in Lagos today, Sunday the 21st 2008, as the Bank of Industry (BOI) on 67/71 Broad Street in Lagos Island was finally brought down by the Lagos State Government, nearly three years after it suffered partial collapse. The 18-storey building, which partially collapsed on the 22nd of March 2006, was brought down by Hi-tech Engineering Company, in a controlled demolition operation which occurred without any damage to surrounding structures. The operation, which was witnessed by the State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), the Deputy Governor, Princess Adebisi Sosan, the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu 1,former governor, Alhaji Lateef Jakande some members of the State Executive Council, traditional rulers and other prominent Lagosians as well as members of the international community, climaxed more than six months of preparations which involved wide consultations with all stakeholders as well as taking measures to safeguard life and property in the vicinity of the building. At exactly 1100 hours, and after a count-down of five, the building came down vertically collapsing in a heap with the debris raising very thick dust that momentarily eclipsed the surrounding environs for more than ten minutes. Speaking immediately after the building came down, the obviously excited Governor Fashola thanked God and the engineers involved in the work that the incident occurred without any loss of life or property, expressing joy that although the Government prepared for the worst, it hoped for and got the best. “We thank God and our engineers and all of the commissioners. It has been a painstaking effort, a very long process involving many meetings, hours of painstaking planning “, the Governor said recalling that the Government made spirited efforts before finally finding the South African based contractor which satisfied the State Cabinet that it could do the job. While inspecting the debris, Governor Fashola declared, “I am excited seeing the remains of the building, especially the African Church building which was our primary concern, not even the window panes are affected and no collateral damage to the other buildings around it. It is a successful implosion, I am Happy”. Asked about the next move by the Government after the successful exercise, the Governor declared, “We expect that the regeneration programme will take place in full scale. Areas surrounding the partially collapsed building will be secured for workers to move in equipment. There is a road project here that has not been completed in the last two years because of issues of safety. We expect work to resume on the road”. “We expect the skyline along Marina to change significantly. We expect buildings to come up, we expect investment in Real Estate and Real Estate Development around this area”, the Governor said, adding that the development would affect the entire Lagos Central Business District. On the lessons learnt from the entire exercise, the Governor said, “We are in a highly technological world and the greatest resource in this country are people. This is a job that has been done by Nigerians largely with the leadership of international contractors that we hired”, adding that both Nigerian students and Nigerian engineers participated and were involved from day one to the end of the exercise. “What we have witnessed today shows the essence of planning, meticulous preparation and paying attention to details. I believe when plans are properly articulated, the margin for error reduces”, Governor Fashola said. Watch the Video:  Quote this article on your site | Views: 345 | Print | E-mail
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