Estate surveyors tasked on leveraging emerging opportunities

Estate surveyors and valuers, often touted as critical stakeholders in the built environment, have been tasked to expand the scope of their profession in order to leverage emerging opportunities.

The surveyors have also been advised to take advantage of new opportunities in other sectors such as agriculture and solid minerals through rural practice, and de-emphasise so much concentration on the major city centres such as Lagos.

Steve Mayaki, Commissioner for Land, Housing and Urban Development in Kogi State, who gave this advice, also advocated a review of the current Estate Surveyor and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria (ESVABRON) act, saying the current scope of the profession evidently limits its growth.

Mayaki who spoke at an investiture ceremony of the 22nd chairman and executive committee of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), Lagos State Chapter, Mayaki  said that a review of the current act should be done to help clearly define and expand the scope of the profession, noting that the existing act seems not to have clearly defined the responsibility of an estate surveyor.

To him, the current act only sees an estate Surveyor and Valuer is one who, by his training and experience, is elected as a corporate member of the NIESV and empowered by ESVABRON to practice surveying and valuation in Nigeria.

“With the above, it is clear that the estate surveyor and valuer does not have exclusive mandate in such areas as property management, feasibility and visibility studies, estate agency, land administration, land use planning and development and project management,” the commissioner said.

“This has hampered the growth of the profession, in relation to other causes such as instability, substandard education and training, unsatisfactory service delivery and unethical practices,” he added.

He recommended that Universities should upgrade entry requirement for estate management courses to minimum of higher school certificate. “The existing curricular should also be broadened to include financial studies, marketing and calculus to equip the younger generation with competitive competences,” he advised.

Yinka Sonaike, past chairman of the state’s chapter in his charge to the new executives advised them to be hardworking and honest if they must make any meaningful impact on the institute, while Stephen Jagun, the new Chairman, promised to discharge his responsibilities as expected, utilize his capacity in positioning the institute to an enviable height.

By: ODINAKA MBONU