By Victory Bernard
Nigeria is taking a more forensic approach to one of its persistent construction-safety problems- building collapse!
On September 26, the Certified Forensic Engineering Failure Investigator (CEFFI) certification programme was inaugurated in Abuja by the Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Investigators of Nigeria (CIFCFIN), in partnership with the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) and the Nigeria Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI).
The initiative comes as new research and industry concerns point to the need for Nigeria to look beyond the immediate aftermath of structural failures and establish why they happen.
The Numbers Tell a Story
A 2026 study published in the University of Abuja Journal of Engineering and Technology documented 111 validated building-collapse incidents in Nigeria between 2015 and 2025. Within the study’s dataset, the incidents resulted in 321 deaths and 344 injuries.
The researchers identified structural defects, poor construction techniques and inferior materials among the leading identifiable triggers. They also found that a significant number of incidents did not have clearly defined causes.
That creates a problem beyond the moment a building comes down.
When a collapse occurs, immediate priorities are rescue, site security and emergency response. But an equally important question comes afterwards: why did the building fail?
Beyond the Collapse
Without proper investigation, a collapse can end with the removal of debris while important technical evidence is lost.
Forensic engineering provides a way to examine the evidence surrounding a failure, including design, materials, construction practices, workmanship, supervision and other technical factors.
The significance is not simply identifying who may be responsible. Proper investigation can reveal patterns that regulators and professionals can learn from.
If investigations repeatedly identify problems such as defective designs, poor materials, inadequate supervision or compromised safety standards, those findings can help strengthen construction practices and regulatory enforcement. COREN, NBRRI and CIFCFIN have presented the CEFFI programme as part of that broader effort to improve the investigation of engineering failures.
From Investigation to Prevention
The University of Abuja researchers described building collapse as a socio-technical problem requiring integrated engineering, regulatory and institutional interventions.
That means building safety cannot rest on one professional or one regulator alone. Designers, engineers, contractors, developers, inspectors, regulators and building owners all have roles to play.
The real value of forensic engineering, however, will be determined by what happens after an investigation.
If findings are properly documented, acted upon and incorporated into future construction and regulatory decisions, a failed structure can provide lessons that protect lives elsewhere.
For Nigeria, the objective should not simply be to explain the next collapse. It should be to ensure that the next collapse does not happen for the same reason.
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