10th March, 2016
Kazeem Ugbodaga
The Lagos State Government says it only approved the construction of four floors for the five-storey collapsed building in Lekki in which 34 people were killed.
This was disclosed by the Commissioner for Home Affairs, Alhaji Abdullateef Abdulhakeem, when he received the leadership of the Nasrul-Lahi-L-Fatih Society, NASFAT, in Alausa, Lagos, southwest Nigeria, on Thursday.
Abdulhakeem said the state government approved four floors for the developer, Lekki Worldwide Estate Limited, in the development of the Lekki Garden Construction, but lamented that the developer decided to add a fifth floor, which led to the collapse.
According to the commissioner, the developers of the building had criminal minds by adding another floor in the quest for materialism and flagrantly flouted the town planning laws of Lagos State.
He charged religious leaders in the state to preach against materialism from the pulpit and also disregard the lust for material things, adding that religious leaders must stop receiving money from people in order to tell them fables.
Abdulhakeem said as change agents, religious leaders should enlighten the society, especially their members to do what is right as they would prefer to listen to them than the government.
He described the Mile 12 crisis as unfortunate as religion and ethnicity were brought into the fore, charging pastors and imams to preach religious and ethnic tolerance in their sermons.
“We are all from the same source, brothers and sisters. We are all from Adam as we came into existence through him. We need to play a part so that religion and ethnicity will not be brought to the fore in Lagos. Nigeria is a marriage ordained by God and we must learn to live together,” he said
The commissioner further charged religious leaders to focus on preaching issues of security and safety from their pulpit, saying that the state government had been very proactive in the area of security, citing the quick rescue of the kidnapped schoolgirls in Ikorodu as an example of government’s security proactiveness.
Chief Missioner, NASFAT, Alhaji Abdullahi Akinbode, appealed to the state government for financial support for its programmes, as the body had been struggling financially to meet the demands of serving God properly.
He said when it comes to donation of money, the Muslim population were too stingy to donate for the things of God, while pledging to assist the state government in propagating religious harmony in the state.