That building is historic. If you were a teenager in the 80s in Lagos, you would have probably followed your parents to the Kingsway stores in that area for shopping.
You would have been asked by your parents to stand by the railings of the old building, which then housed the very old UBA—the one that screamed, “Wise Men Bank with UBaaaa”-while they fanned out into the huge market for Christmas shopping.
Your mother would have gone towards Balogun for clothes and shoes, while your father would have headed towards Martins Street for the rest
You will all now rendezvous at the UBA building and then head back into the Kingsway stores to see Father Xmas
That building was a fixture in the lives of many Nigerians who came to the huge Lagos Island market to shop.
We all banked there, sat there to rest, took our buses there, exchanged Naira for dollars there and a lot more
Over time, as the ownership of the bank changed, its fixtures and uses also changed
Those who bought over the old UBA, I’m sure, inherited the building and set about turning it into a modern-day office complex.
The last time I went there on a visit to United Capital, the huge investment banking outfit of the UBA group, I remarked as to how beautiful the historic building had become.
It now had modern fittings, its ambience a careful blend of retro and post modern apperture making it an easy attraction for those who worked there to remain comfortable while they did their jobs
People still hung out around it on the Broad Street side of it – no amount of renovation or refitting would take that away from its attraction even as the building now became a cynosure with its appealing attraction and its symbolic positioning to the rising vision of its new owners.
Then I got a call from Abuja. UBA is burning and its staff are jumping out of the building to their deaths
I didn’t belive, cos I hadn’t gotten any alerts from all of my news early warning systems, so I continued with my day job of looking for trouble every where
Then the images started pouring in. My inbuilt news gathering systems went on overdrive
The first image I saw was that of a man in white shirt trying to jump out of the building with thick black smoke billowing out from above him
By the end of the day, one of Nigeria’s worst fire incidences on a tower building had been recorded
This took my mind back to the NET building that caught fire in the 80s.
It was the tallest building in the land and a pride of Africa and it suddenly went burst and till date, it has not regained its pride of place
The reports have now landed – 10 people lost their lives-4 from FIRS and 6 from UCAP as they are called.
I have very close friends at UCAP – Shedrack the brilliant CFO, my Inlaw Rita who just rejoined them and my favourite – Odirrhi who runs the asset mgt subsidiary and who I consider one of the most brilliant Asset Managers just yet and my former colleague Leo Okafor who is an extremely brilliant Trust Lawyer, the best in the land.
UCAP is a wonderfully run organisation. Relations with them always leaves you with a warm smile.
Their profesionalism, brilliance and dedication would always push you to want to always go back
Once I had an issue and called one of their Directors, Mr Nnorom, who jumped on the matter not minding that the matter could be resolved at the level of a Manager.
That is what you get in dealings with them
Then the fire came and ate up six of their staff, just like that.
I have heard that it could have been worse cos about 60 of their staff were just relocated back to the UBA head office a walking distance away.
Imagine if this 60 were also in the building, just what more tears we would be crying today.
UCAP is one of the fastest growing firms in the market and its rapid expansion comes with the huge need for space hence the relocation of these staff which could have seemingly worsened the death toll in this disaster
Initial reports but still not confirmed officially points to the inverter room where it has been said that the batteries or inverter exploded and from the basement, the fire and smoke billowed to the top, trapping people and blocking their escape
Till we get the official report, all we should do at this point is offer our strength and shoulders to its staff and families who have been massively hit by this tragedy.
And when the reports finally come out, this shdnt now give us the opportunity to go the usual Nigerian way of shifting blames but it should give the authorities, owners of the building and other such buildings the clarity to ensure that we do not witness this type of carnage again
Ten hardworking Nigerians gone just like that under such circumstances is something that should never be allowed to happen again
Ive just been invited to the memorial service of the UCAP staff and I will go and hold hands with them as they bid their heroic colleagues farewell
Sad
Duke of Shomolu