Penultimate week, members of the Nigeria Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) gathered at the Transcorp Hotel, Calabar, to compare notes during the NIESV 26th John Wood Ekpenyong Lecture and it’s 2020 Fellows induction .
Remembering an African proverb which says “a visitor who pays homage to the owner of the house will return home in peace,” the Surveyors first visited the palace of the Obong of Calabar, His Eminence, Edidem Ekpo Okon Abasi Otu V, Grand Patriarch and Treaty King of the Efik Kingdom, before settling down for business.
At the palace of Obong, the Patriarch used the opportunity to call for the striking out of the Land Use Act from the Constitution of Nigeria. The Obong, who was represented by the Chairman, Etubom Traditional Council, Etubom Bassey Okon Bassey Duke, the Obong of Calabar, backed the call by NIESV that the Land Use Act be taken off from the Constitution of Nigeria and commended the Nigeria Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers for choosing Calabar as the Venue to mark the 50th year of the existence of and for not allowing the name of their illustrious son, Late J. W. Ekpeyong to fade away.
He said that the Land Use Act governs land use and administration in Nigeria, and is included in the constitution. It abolishes all existing freehold system, thereby, not allowing the customary law on land to prevail.
Surveyor Roland Esinna Ogbonta, President, Nigeria Institute of Estate Surveyors, expressed his gratitude to the Etubom Traditional Council for welcoming them.
He said: “We choose Calabar as the venue for our 50th anniversary to pay homage to the city that produced the first president of this great institution and to further enhance our long-lasting relationship with the traditional institution. Our activities in Calabar is divided into three folds; The Ekpeyong’s Memorial lecture, Induction of Golden Class Fellow which is about 44 of them and the anniversary dinner”.
NISEV said it has been advocating for the abrogation of Land Use Act from the constitution. “We prefer the traditional institutions to manage and administer land and not state governors who have tenures. It is only he who knows where the land starts that can show its boundary,” Ogbonta said.
He added: “The Nigerian economy has grown beyond the current provisions of the Land Use Act. The first step is to remove the Land Use Act from the Constitution and after that, stakeholders should be invited to discuss and contribute ideas particularly the traditional institution on the way forward.”
The President of the Institution admonished the Traditional council not to allow anybody to dictate to them who to appoint as their Attorney when it comes to the issue of compensation. Rather, they should appoint a professional who is an Estate Surveyor and Valuer to represent them.
Ogbonta later decorated the Chairman of Etubom Traditional Council in the Obong’s Palace and every Council member with the institution’s badges and pronounced them ambassadors of the institution.
Etubom Rear Admiral Ekpenyong Okpo (Rtd) who spoke during the visit, urged the NISEV to always instill discipline into their members in order to identify those who are given to subverting standard practices.
At the Transcorp hotel, an estate surveyor, Bode Adediji, said the country has one of the highest housing deficits in the world, blaming the situation on corruption, insecurity, youth unemployment, infrastructure deficit, debt overhang among others.
Adediji, who was the keynote speaker, added that there was low investors’ confidence in the real sector of the economy.
Adedeji spoke on the theme: ‘Contemporary Real Estate Industry Crises: A Threat to Nigeria’s Economic Growth and Development.’
He said: “Nigeria has one of the highest housing deficits in the world and statistics depict that only about 30 per cent of Nigeria’s population has access to decent housing.
“The real estate industry is unorganized, suffers from low investors’ confidence and poor access to capital. The lack of adequate housing for the growing population remains a major challenge in Nigeria.”
To solve the housing problem in the country, he made the following suggestions: “Development of Mortgage banks to provide housing loans; Institutional growth and development through policies and processes that encourage investment in the real sector as well as development and access to harmonized and centralized database in the real estate industry.”
The Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Eteng Williams, who represented the state governor, Prof Ben Ayade, said: “If proper things are done in the sector, there won’t be incidences of building collapse.”
He charged surveyors in Nigeria to insist on standards in building projects and pledged the support of the state House of Assembly in this regard.
Earlier in his welcome remarks, the 18th President of NIESV, who was the Chairman of the occasion, Emeka Onuorah, extolled the virtues of the late founder of NIESV, John Wood Ekpenyong and charged members of NIESV to work hard to sustain the legacies of past leaders.
“The founding fathers worked hard; if not, we wouldn’t have been here. What have you done to grow the profession? We must add value to the profession. Everybody should give something back to the profession,” he said.
A representative of the Obong of Calabar, HRH Etubom Rear Admiral Ekpenyong Itam Okpo, condemned alleged sharp practices in the real estate sector and called for an end to the marginalization of communities in terms of adequate compensation for their land whenever it was acquired.
Forty-four members were inducted as fellows of NIESV at the event.
Source: newtelegraphng
