NIESV (Lagos chapter) inaugurates new exco.

Nigerian institute of Estate surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) Lagos chapter inaugurates new exco.

A 12-member team, led by Mr. Offiong Samuel Ukpong, was sworn in Lagos state. They were to ensure the fortune of the profession and the professionals under the body got much better under their tenure.

Other members of the team are Mr. Olurogba Orimolade, Vice Chairman; Mr. Adeyemi Onikan, Secretary; Mrs. Bridget Oranye, Assistant Secretary; Mrs. Omotola Ahamioje, Treasurer and Mrs. Olabisi Demola-Alade as Financial Secretary.

Also on the list are Mr. Moses Emele as Publicity Secretary, Mr. Stephen Jagun, who is the immediate past chairman, and Mr. Dotun Bamigbola as an unofficial member. Other unofficial members are Mr. Allen Oseghale, Mr. Tosin Kadiri and Mr. Oladapo Ogunlewe.

The team, which is the 24th executive committee of the institution, will lead Lagos NIESVs for two years.

Charging the new officers, the chairman of the inauguration ceremony and past president of the institution, Mr. Bode Adediji urged them to follow the trend of change in the country to reposition the real estate practice for the benefit of both the professionals and the country.

Adediji said depending on rent economy would not do the profession any good as there was need for them to explore opportunities in areas like project development, property management among others.

“This is a new government whose slogan is about change. I expect the new executive members to pursue change in every aspect of the profession and life. This is necessary because if there is any sector that has been so reluctant to change, it is the real estate sector. If you compare the sector in the way it is being governed, practiced, regulated and even its contribution to the GDP, ours is the worst in the world.

Where this is sad is that, this sector should have been used to generate employment for the young people. But unfortunately, this country has been so dependent on two areas: oil and trading. This will not take us anywhere and until we reinvent ourselves and focus on how to develop the real estate sector, we would not go far”, he added.

On the practice development, Adediji said: “You can’t depend on what is called rent economy to survive; you must produce. I want our professionals to go into property development, facility management, venture’ capital and develop members’ capacity along these areas, if we are ready for meaningful change in our practice.

Challenging the realtors, the past president said there was need for every one of them to develop his or her knowledge on the job through intensive, extensive training and exposure.

“Knowledge is power. It is has observed that many of our colleagues as soon as they leave the polytechnics or universities, they do not challenge themselves on self- development on the job. It is unfortunate that some of our colleagues do not familiarize themselves with the property culture of other cities even within Nigeria and if you do not know what obtains in other cities, how do you compete to your advantage? It is unfortunate that a lot of us only confine ourselves to only Lagos and Abuja. This is not good and we must change.”

He tasked the new officers to ensure unity among members of NIESVs, which he added would foster cooperation on which strength the body can make much and speedy progress.

For the housing industry, Adediji urged president Muhammadu Buhari to appoint competent professionals with track record of performance to occupy the ministry of land, housing and urban development.

In his comment, another president of the institution, Mr. Joseph Idudu, who lamented over concentration on agency aspect of the profession, charged Ukpong’s led executive members to develop other areas of the profession.

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“The task of property management has slipped out of our hands as most high rise buildings are now being managed by non-professionals. We are worried and concerned about this trend. It is high time we looked into this and other areas and rise to protect them for the benefit of all and the nation at large.”

In his inaugural speech, Ukpong, who said the government at all levels had not given estate surveyors and valuers their due recognition, pledged to engage policy makers and politicians more than before, as he said the focus of his government would be advocacy.

“If Nigeria shall be amongst the 10 most developed economies in the world by 2030, about 15 years from now, then we must begin now to be more pragmatic in handling issues of our country, towns, cities and villages. Therefore, the focus of our tenure shall be advocacy.

“We shall tell the government and policy makers to respect the law that set up the profession of estate surveying and valuation in Nigeria. We shall them what we can do, to appoint us commissioners and ministers, that land economics is greater than money economies, that prominence should be given to land economy in the country.

“We shall tell them that an office should be created for Estate Surveyor and Valuer General of the Federation and similar offices should be created in each state of the federation. And systematically, we shall be moving towards achieving the mandate of the almighty God of tending and keeping the Garden”, he said.

Ukpong also promised to flag off an estate for the estate surveyors in the state, urging Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State to allocate land for the members to the institution.

“It is also our desire to begin this year to create our estate to be named the Nobility Estate in Lagos. We pray that His Excellency Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode himself a professional would please allocate us the land whose processes had long be gone, to accommodate most of our members who are seeking home ownership. In this wise, we humbly call on you to generously donate toward the acquisition and foundation laying of this project.”