The mandate given to the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) by the Federal House of Representatives to ensure the adoption of 42.5MPA grade of cement for construction in the country has been described as a game changer in the ongoing controversy of cement quality, reports Festus Akanbi
Nigerians seem to have heaved a sigh of relief as lawmakers took a decision that has been described as a ‘milestone’ on the raging controversy concerning cement quality and uses in the country.
In a 12-point recommendation on Tuesday (July 1, 2014), the House of Representatives adopted the report of Hon. Yakubu Dogara-led ad hoc committee on composition and pigmentation of cement quality which investigated the incidence of collapse buildings in the country.
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| SON DG Joseph Odumodu |
In its recommendation, the lawmakers posited that Nigeria should revert to 42.5MPA grade of cement for construction. This is against 32.5MPA that has been in used but was fingered to be a major contributing factor to the growing menace of collapse buildings in the country.
The lawmakers therefore mandated the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to ensure compliance by cement manufacturers ‘within a reasonable time considering the cost of social dislocation.’
National Interest
“It will serve the national interest better to adopt a particular cement grade which is less susceptible to misapplication as the standard of cement in the country,” the lawmakers said.
The House of Representatives also said: “All cement packages must clearly and boldly indicate their grades, uses and expiry dates with tamper proofing on the packages to guard against repackaging by middlemen.”
They further recommended that the government should create a cement fund from contributions of N10 per 50kg bag of cement produced in Nigeria, and N20 per 50kg of cement imported into Nigeria for the establishment of state-of-the- art laboratories in the geopolitical zones within the period of three years.
More importantly, the lawmakers recommended the quick passage of National Building Code Bill to check quackery and other related issues in the building sector.
Legislative Whistle
To some cement manufacturers, this ‘legislative whistle’ is a bad news as it would no longer be “business as usual.” Yet to others, like the Dangote Group, SON, block makers, end users and other stakeholders, it is good news.
Sources close to one of the cement manufacturing companies that has taken the regulators to court over the issuance of the new policy into the system without due process revealed that the company is currently thinking of withdrawing the case from court and settle the matter amicably with the regulators.
Manufacturers who kicked against quality and superior grade say the new policy is in contravention of the business agreement entered with regulators. They also fear that it would affect profitability and create jobs losses.
Experts however fault this line of thought by manufacturers, insisting that Nigeria cannot be a pariah country when other countries have banned 32.5MPA. They say the preference of profit over lives is unethical and unpatriotic.
Endorsement of Reps’ Verdict
Speaking to newsmen in Abuja, Project Coordinator of NGO Network who doubles as the National Coordinator of Standard Awareness Group, Mr. Muhammad Attah, said the decision of the House of Representatives was a welcome development.
“From the fact available to us, the most potent cement is the 42.5MPA. We are also aware that the other lower grade (32.5) can only be used for one purpose. We are therefore calling on manufacturers to abide by the regulation and label their packages so that Nigerians will know what they are buying,” he said.
Directives
Piqued by the continuing use of the low grade cement, Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) had issued a directive that 52.5m be used for bridges, 42.5MPA should be used for casting of columns, beams, slabs and making blocks (multipurpose), while the low grade 32.5MPA was restricted to plastering.
The Dangote Cement Plc is the only one producing the high quality 42.5MPA in the country.
In a statement, the Dangote Group welcomed the recommendation of the House of Representatives, adding that its cement plants in the country have since commenced the production of 42.5MPA.
The statement said the country must unite in fighting the menace of collapse building.
Speaking at the just concluded Public Hearing on Cement quality in Nigeria, Group Managing Director of the Dangote Cement Plc, DVG Edwin, had said the decision to embark on the high quality grade was to help Nigeria stem the tide of collapse building.
He said: “After 28 days, the 32.5 grade gives a strength of 32.5MPA, whereas the 42.5 grade gives a curing of 42.5MPA i.e 30 per cent higher in strength.”
Mr. Edwin said in spite of the high quality grade of Dangote Cement, it has not increased its price for the product.
“China, the number one producer of cement in the world is phasing out the entire 32.5 grade by July. India, the second largest producer of cement phased out 32.5 grade cement 12 years back,” he added.
He questioned why other manufacturers will be producing high grade cement in their Indian factories while producing low grade cement in Nigeria.
The GMD said before 2004, Nigerian businessmen used to produce and import the high grade cement, 42.5MPA.
According to him, the phenomenon of collapse building increased astronomically as from 2004 when other manufacturers downgraded their quality to 32.5MPA.
It is estimated that from 1974 to 2010, collapse building had claimed 297 lives.
Associations Hail the Verdict
Chairman of the Kaduna State Blocks and Concrete Makers Association, Alhaji Hamza Haruna Gambo, welcomed the lawmakers’ recommendation and added that all his members had complied with the SON directive on cement classification.
Chairman and Chief Executive of Progress Cement in Suleja, Niger State, Alhaji Yau Ahmad Tafa, hailed the lawmakers for saving lives, adding that those who settled for inferior cement do so purely for profit motive.
President of the Cement Manufacturers Association of Nigerian (CMAN), Engr Joseph Makoju, had said during the Public Hearing on cement quality that the 42.5 grade was superior cement over 32.5MPA and that Nigeria was used to producing and importing 42.5MPA.
The Director General of the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON), Joseph Ikem Odumodu, had called on manufacturers and consumers to comply with its directive, adding that cement grades and quality in the country was due for review.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, had said while declaring the Hearing open recently that Nigeria would not relent in its effort to unraveling the causes of collapse building in the country.
Now that the House of Representatives has taken a milestone decision, observers are urging regulators to ensure compliance by manufacturers if the phenomenon of building collapse is to be tackled.
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