The picture of Lagos came rushing in the minds of people who have followed the recent spate of collapsing buildings in the country.
Although we are nowhere near a state of emergency in that regard, the need to wake up from the slumber of regulatory deficiency cannot be overlooked.
Four buildings have collapsed within one month across the country, with casualties recorded in some of them.
A structure collapsed in Tamale and not long after that a church followed a similar path in Accra, the cause of the incidents not available now.
In a country where this pattern is unusual, we cannot ignore the trend.
Many years ago, building inspectors visited sites to ensure that laid-down standards were being adhered to. The public servants were so powerful that builders and contractors risked dire consequences when they defied their directives.
Those engaged to enforce the standards have been compromised by persons who want to cut corners as they put up structures.
The consequences of regulatory deficiencies can only be imagined. The incidents under review are sufficient evidence that something is wrong with building regulations and enforcements. And to think that there is a unit responsible for this at the municipal assembly level is mind-boggling.
So bad is the situation that the red paint used by regulators to order the stoppage of work to ensure that standards are followed are equally acquired by contractors and builders to keep building inspectors away.
Although Ghana is generally not a place with frequent incidents of seismic occurrences, the country has experienced many earth tremors and a few earthquakes over the years.
To take things for granted and put up buildings without recourse to laid-down standards is foolhardiness which should not be countenanced by regulators.
We are excited that the Engineering Council is stepping in with a probe into the house-collapsing trend, which is not a thing endemic to our part of the world.
It would be instructive to find out the exact cause of the structural collapse given the fact that one of them, a church, looks elegant, specious though.