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| Joshua and his collapsed church |
The African National Congress Youth League has
called on the Jacob Zuma-led South African government not to issue a visa to
the General Overseer of the Synagogue of All Nations, Pastor Temitope Joshua.
Joshua had expressed on Sunday his desire to
visit South Africa to commiserate with the families of 84 citizens of the
country who lost their lives when a building of the church collapsed in Lagos
on September 12.
About 115 people died in the tragedy and Joshua
had described those who lost their lives as martyrs to the consternation of
South Africans.
But reacting to Joshua’s desire to visit South
Africa, the spokesperson for the ANC Youth League, Bandile Masuku, said, “TB
Joshua should not be allowed to come to South Africa until we know what
happened to our fellow countrymen at his church.
“We will make sure we engage with the Department
of International Relations and Cooperation to make sure they do not issue him
with a South African visa.”
A South African Newspaper, City Press,
which reported this on Tuesday, had reported that about 115 people, including
84 South Africans, were killed and dozens trapped when the multi-storey
guesthouse attached to the church collapsed.
About 350 South Africans were said to be visiting
the church in the Ikotun neighbourhood of Lagos, at the time.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Institute of Town
Planners, has called on the Lagos State Government to apply the full weight of
the criminal law against anyone found culpable for the collapse of the
Synagogue building collapse.
The institute called for a thorough investigation
into the incident, adding that the probe should not be limited to the owner of
the collapsed building, but also to the approving agencies.
The National President, NITP, Chief Steve Onu,
who said this at a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja, noted that the
enforcement of relevant laws and appropriate sanctions against errant builders
would serve as deterrent to those that love cutting corners when building.
He said building collapse was not the fault of
planners but that of developers who cut corners, noting that many government
buildings did not also meet standard town planning requirements.
He said that states were fond of not employing
professional town planners while local government councils retained and
promoted ill-trained urban development workers, adding that it was only the
Federal Capital Territory that had a building tribunal in the country.
Onu said, “If what has happened is considered a
criminal act, criminal law should be pursued to its conclusion; there is a
penalty for negligence, so they should carry out proper investigation even up
to the approving agencies. Somebody is supposed to ensure that that building
does not continue. So the government investigation should not be limited to
Synagogue.
“As much as possible, the searchlight should be
extended to the approving agencies. Did they give approval? The people who built,
did they build according to approval? If they did not give approval, then it is
an illegal structure. So, whatever penalty the law says in respect of illegal
structure, should be followed.”
The NITP President predicted that the coastal
areas of Lagos would experience massive flooding in the future on account of
the land reclamation carried out by the developers of the Atlantic City
project.
This, he said, was because research had shown
that the ice glaciers were melting, noting that this had resulted in the rising
of the ocean with concomitant flooding of coastal areas globally.
“The Atlantic city project will pose flooding
challenges for settlements along the coastal area, it will lead to massive
flooding in the future. These people (project handlers) are insensitive to the
possible problems the reclamation would cause through ocean surge. They would
just wake up one day and find that everywhere is flooded,” Onu stated.
Punch
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