BOI Building Goes Down in Style
By Kazeem Akintunde
Sunday, September 28, 2008
It was a scene to behold as the 18 storey Bank of Industry building was recently brought down in 10 Seconds
The site of the demolished Bank of Industry, (BOI Tower), at Broad Street on Lagos Island has become a tourist centre of sorts. Many Lagosians now visit the place to have a glimpse of the remains of the building. When Newswatch reporter visited the area last Tuesday, many people seen in the area marvelled at the technology used by the Lagos State Government to bring down the 18-storey building which partially collapsed on March 22, 2006.
Adejuwon Adedayo, a banker who has his office on Victoria Island, was one of the visitors. He told Newswatch that the state government should be praised for the method used in pulling down the structure without causing damage to the surrounding buildings. "I was shocked when I saw the way the building crumbled on Television and I decided to visit the place to have a look. It is really amasing that such a massive building could be brought down so easily," he said.
None, of the surrounding structures was affected. The demolition exercise was unique as no bulldozer or crane was used. Rather, some 1900 explosives were planted all over the structure and then simultaneously detonated using remote devices. The result was the crumbling of the building within 10 seconds. It was the first of such controlled demolition to be done in the history of Nigeria. The task of bringing down the building, the tallest on Broad Street was given to Wreckers Dismantling Limited of South Africa, a sub-contractor of Hi-tech Engineering Company Nigeria Limited owned by the Chagouri family.
Babatunde Fashola governor of Lagos State said he found the company through the internet and did not hesitate in giving the task to them.
The Sunday, September, 21 demolition, which took place at approximately 11.00 am climaxed more than six months of preparations by the state government which involved wide consultations with all stakeholders as well as taking measures to safeguard lives and properties in the vicinity.
The demolition occurred immediately after a count-down from five to zero with the building crumbling into a heap of debris. The implosion which occurred with minimal noise came with hardly any serious vibration. It, however, stirred a very thick choking dust and smoke that momentarily eclipsed the surrounding for more than 15 minutes and left many spectators gasping for breath.
An elated Fashola said after the demolition that he was thankful to God and the engineers involved in the work for their effort which prevented any loss of life or property. Government, he said, prepared for the worst, but hoped for the best and got the best. "We thank God and our engineers and all the commissioners. It has been a painstaking effort, a very long process involving many meetings, hours of painstaking planning," he said.
Fashola recalled that the government made spirited efforts before finally finding the South African based contractor which proved to the state cabinet that it could do the job. While inspecting the site barely ten minutes after the demolition, 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 were affected and no collateral damage to the other buildings around it. It is a successful implosion; I am happy," he said.
Fashola’s happiness was understandable. The church authority had, on many occasions, threatened to drag the federal and the state governments to court if they fail to pull down the building within 30 days. On February 27, Debo Oduguwa, chancellor of the church and lawyer told newsmen at the church’s premises that the authorities of the church could no longer fold their hands and allow their church’s building to go into dilapidation due to lack of use.
The church’s authorities also felt strongly that the restriction order imposed on the church and other property owners in the neighbourhood since 2006 constituted an infraction of their rights to free worshipping in their church auditorium.
The restriction order had caused the church a lot hardship such as dwindling in membership, and inability to generate funds to maintain the structures which Oduguwa said made it impossible for the authorities of the church to pay the salaries of their clergy men, including their workers." We could not hold any service in this church that serves as the seat of the Bishop of the Lagos diocese and the headquarters of the entire African Church which also serves as the throne of our Primate and the spiritual head of the church," Oduguwa said.
However, Solomon Jesniyi, a worshipper in the church was full of praises to the state government after the demolition exercise. "The entire members of the church had been praying for a solution because our church was beside the BOI building. We could not hold service because of the threat posed by the BOI building. "To us, the two years can best be described as our years of exile. But thank God in a very short while we shall return to base," Jesniyi said.
Another company in joyous mood is Steft, one of the popular eateries at Abule Oki street that shares fence with the BOI building. Boniface Uroji, a staff of the company told Newswatch that business was very dull during the period that the relics of the building were standing. "Although we sometimes tried to operate skeletal services, customers, out of fear, did not have the courage to come in and eat. It was a terrible period," Uroji said.
Fashola said it would take about 10 weeks to clear the debris which would be done by Julius Berger Plc mostly in the night so that commercial activities would not be disrupted. He said the successful demolition of the building would give the state government opportunity to fully develop the area. "We expect that the regeneration programme will take place in full scale now. Areas surrounding the building will be secured for workers to move in equipment. There is a road project here that has not been completed in the past two years because of issues of safety. We expect work to resume on the road," he said.
Fashola also said the stage was set for a lot to happen in the area. "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."
To pave way for a hitch-free demolition, the state government had to acquire a building belonging to Layeni Family located next to the BOI Tower which it demolished and prepared as the support ground for the landing of the debris of the structure. It also insured lives and properties around the vicinity of the demolished building as well as the workers to the tune of $150 million. The error margin of the exercise was pegged at zero to two percent. All properties within a radius of 15,500 square metres from the target area (BOI building) were also acquired by the state government in public interest.
In addition, the entire area between inner Marina, Martins Street, Breadfruit Street, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Custom Street to Marina were prepared for evacuation from 06.00 hours on the day of the demolition. No evacuation was, however, carried out as it became unnecessary.
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