The Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) has called on government and the private sector to provide financial support to the real estate sector in order to help grow the economy which has been battered by COVID-19.
The newly inaugurated President of NIESV, Chief Emmanuel Okas Wike, made the call on Saturday during the institution’s virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM).
Chief Wike said, “COVID-19 has had very serious impact on the real estate, and there is need for government to give the sector an intervention fund. There are tenants who have stayed out of job for three months and they need to pay their rents, and then the estate developer also needs money to continue with his building projects.
“So, it is the duty of the estate surveyor and valuer to mediate so that both the tenant and the landlord do not lose too much. At the economic level, you can see that the impact is serious because there is no physical development going on anywhere, and that has affected the revenue that government should have generated.
“That is why it is important for the government to provide an intervention fund for the estate developers because that will help develop the economy.”
Wike also called on the private sector to intervene in the built environment so that government would not be overburdened.
He added that his administration would ensure that professional estate surveyors and valuers were recognised for who they were.
The NIESV president further said, “Most people mistake us for estate agents, but that is not what we are. Most people think we are just facility managers. We want people to know that an estate surveyor and valuer is not just an estate agent, but that he has other aspects of the profession that he practices.
“We also want to improve the capacity of our members in order to serve the public very well, especially in the real estate sector.”
He assured that he would work hard to complete the institution’s secretariat in Abuja and to reconcile members who had been aggrieved over one thing or the other so that the institution could forge a common front in its quest to contribute to the economic growth of the country.
Chief Wike added that, “Overall, the key thing is to make estate surveying and valuation in Nigeria visible and impactful by making sure that the services that we are offering are acceptable to our clients and the general public.
