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A building in Nigeria's megacity of Lagos has collapsed at an average rate of once every two weeks so far this year.
While it is possible to calculate the commercial cost, it is never possible to put a figure on the value of the lives lost under the rubble.
The gaps between buildings, replaced by piles of rubble, represent a failure of management and have prompted accusations that contractors are cutting corners to save money.
There are regulations, there are maintenance schedules, there are inspectors – but the system doesn't work.
Those responsible are never held accountable, so nothing ever changes.
One expert who spoke to the BBC described Lagos as the “building collapse capital of Nigeria”, with the city having seen at least 90 buildings collapse in the past 12 years, killing more than 350 people, according to the Engineering Regulatory Board of Nigeria.
One of the most famous incidents was in 2021.
Sandy Femi was just metres away, in the upscale suburb of Ikoyi, when a 21-storey luxury residential building under construction collapsed, killing 42 people.
After the loud crash, he was covered in dust.
“Like many others, I rushed inside to try to see if I could help some of the people trapped. Sadly, I knew some of those who died, and I think about it every day,” he says, reflecting on what happened nearly three years ago.
The beverage vendor was talking to some construction workers moments before they entered the construction site.
He still works nearby, and conversations among locals often turn to talk about those events and the possible cause of them.
Metal sheets protect the site from prying eyes, but piles of broken concrete can still be seen through gaps in the gate.
Two fierce security guards knocked on the door leading to the stricken complex, saying they had instructions not to allow anyone into the building except state government officials.
Just as the site is closed to the public, so is the official investigation into the collapse — it has been under the governor's control since he took over in 2022.
A committee of experts is said to have prepared a list of recommendations following the investigation, but these have also not been made public.
The BBC has repeatedly asked Lagos State authorities for the recommendations and report into the Ikoyi building collapse, but neither has been made available.
But the coroner had her say, and in 2022 she did not go back on her word.
In a damning ruling on the deaths, Chief Justice Oyitade Komolafe attributed the building collapse to the irresponsibility and negligence of government agencies that were supposed to approve and supervise the plans and construction.
The population of Lagos is growing rapidly and is now estimated to exceed 20 million.
As the city grows, the demand for housing and commercial real estate increases, and it can sometimes feel like a giant construction site with building work going on everywhere.
Before work can begin, the plans must be approved by the Lagos State Physical Planning Permits Agency. Inspectors from the Lagos State Building Control Agency are then supposed to inspect the site and check progress at each stage of construction.
The Nigerian Standards Organisation should ensure that only suitable building materials reach the market.
But often the procedures are not followed.
Everything seems quiet inside the LASBCA offices – no sense of the urgency of the problems or challenges facing them.
Ministry spokesman Olusegun Olawuyi acknowledged the criticism but rejected allegations that officials were bribed to issue fake certificates, instead blaming a lack of resources.
“We currently have about 300 construction inspectors and supervisors, but we are looking to add more to that number,” he says.
Experts agree that more supervisors are needed.
Their number must be in the thousands, says Mohammed Danmaria, an architect and construction expert.
“Three hundred inspectors and supervisors is not enough for a state like Lagos. Every local government area should have at least 100 inspectors and supervisors, and Lagos has 57 of them,” he added.
“There is always construction going on everywhere you look, so it is important that inspections and supervision are ongoing at all times.”
In the absence of such a statewide system, some less scrupulous companies get away with violating building codes, using substandard materials, and hiring poorly trained workers — three of the reasons cited for the high rate of collapses.
“They come here to pick us up whenever they have a job for us and pay us when they finish,” says worker Habu Issa, who has been working on construction sites for years.
“I had no training at all, I learned everything on the job.”
But even if violations are identified in the wake of the collapse, the state construction agency takes no legal action.
“To my knowledge there have been no prosecutions in the past in relation to building collapses in Lagos,” admits Mr. Olawuyi, of LASBCA.
“I know the statistics are alarming but there are ongoing efforts to stop this trend.”
Alleged political influence is an obstacle to pursuing prosecutions.
“If you are associated with people in power, nothing will happen to you even if you are the culprit in a building collapse,” says a Lagos State politician, who spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity.
“We've seen it many times, some of the high-profile cases involve structures of high-profile people and they're still roaming freely.
“In Nigeria when you are rich and connected you can easily avoid problems.”
With 19 building collapses recorded so far this year by the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, the final total is likely to be the highest in the past decade.
But the lessons may not be learned.
The head of Nigeria's Engineering Regulatory Council recently said the country lacks the capacity to properly investigate what is going on.
“We don’t have the expertise, equipment and resources to do this,” said Professor Sadiq Abubakar.
Meanwhile, construction workers and others will continue to pay the price with their lives.
Additional reporting by Andrew Gift
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