Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State confirmed the proactive approach of conducting structural integrity tests on no fewer than 230 houses affected by the recent Ibadan explosion.
The Tuesday explosion, marked by tragedy, took five lives, caused injuries to 77 individuals, and left thousands without shelter, rendering them homeless in the state.
Speaking at the Nigerian Society of Engineers investiture in Abuja, Makinde disclosed these figures.
He added that the comprehensive tests involved developing plans to relocate residents affected and prevent the potential collapse of buildings.
Makinde stated, ‘These past few days have been tough for the indigenes of Oyo state. We had an explosion and lost five lives and a lot of properties were destroyed.’
‘Between Tuesday and today (Saturday), the Society of Engineers led an effort to look at the structural integrity of the houses around ground zero of the explosion site and as of today, they have carried out integrity tests on 13 houses within 50 kilometres radius of the blast site, another 40 houses at 100 meters radius.’
‘They also carried out an integrity test at 200 kilometres on 122 houses and 53 houses within a 250-meter radius. In total, about 230 houses have been checked and this effort was led by the society. I sincerely thank you for helping us during this difficult time.’
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While addressing the issue, Ondo State Governor Lucky Ayedatiwa has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission to implement a comprehensive electronic election process, enhancing simplicity in both voting and collation procedures.
During the investiture of Margaret Oguntala as the 34th and first female president of the NSE in Abuja, the governor made the call on Saturday.
This comment is made in the wake of the NSE’s earlier demand that an engineer be appointed as the chairman of the electoral body to tackle the logistical and technological challenges experienced during the 2023 general elections.
Ayedatiwa said, ‘There is a need for INEC to begin to look more into the direction of holistic electronic registration, voting, collation, and a host of others to strengthen our democracy and the engineers are very important in all of these processes.’
‘A major part of the responsibility of building the nation of our dreams lies mainly on the shoulders of engineers and technologists. To salvage our economy, all our moribund industries need to be activated.’