NIS strategises to deal with quacks, canvasses human capital devt
The Nigerian Institution of Surveyors (NIS), an umbrella body of real estate professionals referred to as ‘land surveyors’, says it is strategizing to deal with pseudo-practitioners commonly called quacks.
The institution explains that it is planning a country-wide education of its members at the state branches, through seminars and workshops, to make them understand what they are expected to do as professionals in order to distinguish themselves from quacks who have infiltrated every profession.
Bern-Omo Akhigbe, the NIS President, who disclosed this in an interview with BusinessDay at the 10th Annual Adekunle Kukoyi Memorial Lecture in Lagos, lamented that, as a profession, surveying was highly misunderstood.
“There are quacks in every profession but our own is quite orchestrated because we deal with people who are unable to find out when something goes wrong. In all the states we need to educate our members so that they know exactly what to do. This is to be done through seminars and workshops; we need to speak for ourselves”, he said.
In her paper at the event which is held annually in honour of Adekunle Kukoyi, the first surveyor in Nigeria, Paulina Kofoworola Makinwa Adebusoye, the guest lecturer, raised the need for human capital development in Nigeria to meet social, economic and political needs.
Adebusoye, a professor, who spoke on the theme, ‘Improving Human Capital in a Competitive World’ highlighted what she called the ‘12 pillars of competitiveness’ including macro-economic environment, health and primary education, infrastructure, institutions, and goods market efficiency.
Among others, she also listed higher education and training; financial market development, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication and innovation as part of the pillars.
The guest lecturer noted that Nigeria along with many African countries and other least developed countries globally is found in the first stage of development, pointing out that these were factor-driven economies lacking the ability to compete successfully in the global market and to move to the next level that is of the efficiency-driven.
According to her, against the backdrop of Nigeria’s sustained economic growth in recent years and the imperative to maintain this growth trajectory in order to attain the second stage of development, the global competitiveness index (GCI) serves as a useful diagnostic tool, explaining that “GCI determines how Nigeria is faring to ensure a high level of productivity that keeps it growing quickly.
She lamented that the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) global competitiveness report (GCR) for 2014-2015 released by GCI ranking last September, ranked Nigeria 127th of the 144 countries assessed, noting that Nigeria has consistently ranked among the lowest performing nations on the GCI, with this latest ranking showing that the country has dropped for the third consecutive year.
“Another dimension of Nigeria’s poor ranking is revealed when it is compared with rankings of countries that are referred to as the ‘largest emerging economies’. Nigeria’s consistently low rank among the lowest performing nations world-wide together with its situation among the emerging economies indicate that efforts are required across many areas to place the country on a firmly sustainable growth and development path”.
CHUKA UROKO