ESVARBON Inducts 202 new Members, Calls for More Estate Surveyors

The Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria, (ESVARBON), has said it desires to have more members register as Surveyors, as it inducted 202 new ones.

Chairman of the Board, Elder William Odudu, who inducted the new surveyors at the 36th ESVARBON induction ceremony said Nigeria now has a total of 3,723 estate surveyors, including the new one, which he said was grossly inadequate considering the nation’s population.

According to Odudu, who has so far conducted four inductions, “One of the challenges we face is how to accelerate the registration of new entrants into our noble profession to meet with the rapidly growing population of our country.

“However, it is my desire to double the existing number of registered estate surveyors and valuers in Nigeria before the expiration of my tenure as the chairman of the Board in 2016 by the grace of God, hence the current effort by the Board on accelerating the frequency of registration interviews by its Professional Practice Committee.”

Odudu a total of 604 estate surveyors have been registered by ESVARBON since he became the chairman and that during this period he has conducted four inductions.

He said even with their drive for membership, the standard would not be lowered in the process.

He reminded the inductees that the stamps and seals given to them are properties of the Board which reserves the right to withdraw them at any time if they are used recklessly. Describing integrity as the hallmark of any professional, the ESVARBON boss charged the new surveyors to be always guided by the Board’s newly gazetted rules and regulations. Odudu said, “The ethics and ethos of the profession should be carefully guarded by all and sundry.”

He said the board would register more qualified estate surveyors to check the activities of quacks, saying “The Board has put requisite machinery in place, in collaboration with the relevant law enforcement agencies to check the spread of pseudo practices and bring to book culprits found guilty of the offence,” he said.

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The first Vice President of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, NIESV, Dr. Ajayi Patunola, who represented the Institution’s President, Olorogun James Omeru, charged the inductees to embrace professionalism in the discharge of their duties. He noted that Nigeria is moving towards E-Real Estate practice, hence the need for regular training and retraining by both the old and new surveyors to remain relevant and up-to-date.

A former Executive Director incharge of Estate Services in the Federal Housing Authority, FHA, Elder Eteng Ibiang Eteng regretted that while the profession was growing numerically, the quality of practice has been on the decline. “The older surveyors have practice proficiency which reflects their clear understanding of the principles behind what they do. These form the basis of confidence and responsibility that they exude in practice and life. Today, we cannot speak in like manner of the up-coming surveyors. Young surveyors in practice spend more effort pursuing private lettings, sales and bother less about understanding what the profession is all about,” he lamented.

He described lack of integrity as the root of sharp practices being witnessed in the discharge of estate surveyors’ functions and enjoined new entrants into the profession to “jettison the get-rich quick syndrome.”