The Chairman, Raden Investment Ltd., Mr Niji Raji, has called on real estate surveyors and valuers to be more proactive in influencing measures that would facilitate proper urbanisation of the country.
Raji made the call at the Investiture of the 26th Chairman and Executive Committee Members of the Lagos Chapter of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) in Lagos on Friday, August 16, 2019.
He said that many cities of the country were rapidly becoming slum zones due to poor attitude to planning and urban renewal.
According to him, the physical conditions of most areas in Lagos State which have been abandoned to swamp can be upgraded to harbour residents through the help of the estate surveyors.
He said that the estate surveyors could influence urban policies and promote strategies that would specifically respond to the urbanisation challenges.
Raji said that estate surveyors could create an advocacy group with strong government political action committee to influence effective urban planning policies.
“I fully appreciate the agenda for the next two years of this branch particularly in the area of strategic partnership.
“We are all aware that in the recent past, we have seen the growth of public private partnerships in real estate development which I believe is a very welcome development.
“However, some of our urban centres are rapidly becoming slums because of lack of proper planning.
“I, therefore, will suggest that this branch creates, if you do not already have one, an advocacy group.
“The mission of the group will be to protect the real estate industry and, of course, your livelihood but more importantly, a strong political action committee with effective lobbying with the state government including proposing legislative reviews in key areas of the industry.
“It is in this area that I believe NIESV, Lagos Branch, should have a standing advocacy group with the Lagos State Government to influence urban policies and promote strategies that specifically respond to the urbanisation challenges of today,” Raji said.
In his keynote address, Mr Bode Adediji, the 19th President of NIESV, identified poverty as the major challenge confronting the Nigerian economy.
Adediji urged the Federal Government to focus on policies aimed at alleviating poverty in the country, saying that insecurity, killings, hatred and other challenges in Nigeria were linked to poverty.
According to him, if citizens can have access to decent houses, good living standards and other basic amenities, the rate of criminal acts will reduce.
He called on Nigerians to refrain from apportioning every blame and responsibilities to government, saying that the government alone could not do everything.
He said that both the government and citizens had responsibilities to play to facilitate economic growth and development of the nation.
Mr Adedotun Bamigbola, the 26th Chairman of NIESV, said that there was the need to establish a regulatory framework in the real estate profession for better performance.
Bamigbola said that the real estate sector of the economy had witnessed uneven growth in the country overtime as a result of limited regulation.
According to him, the challenges of the real estate sector call to question the drive toward specialisation.
“It is, therefore, our plan, as an executive committee, to take up the responsibilities the system has trusted upon us, by promoting and ensuring that NIESV, Lagos State Branch, will take favorable leadership strides in the sector, going forward.
“My vision as the 26th Chairman of the Institution has been captured in the document called ‘The Agenda: The Future Is Now’.
“The agenda is an action plan aimed at leading us to the future in our activities, development and network as the leading branch of NIESV in the real estate space.
“The programmes in the document were conceived and designed to impact both private and public sector players as well as impact on the well-being of our members,” he said.
By Lilian Okoro
