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Surveyors warn Nigerians against patronising touts 

By Bertram Nwannekanma and Gordi Udeajah
19 December 2016   |   3:03 am
Concerned that many lands surveyed carry false documentations, the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors (NIS) has urged the public to desist from indulging in backdating of survey plans.
 Aerial view of Aba

Aerial view of Aba

…As NIS seeks upgrade of Abia survey dept

Concerned that many lands surveyed carry false documentations, the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors (NIS) has urged the public to desist from indulging in backdating of survey plans.

In another move to make surveying practice effective, Abia State branch of NIS has urged the state government to upgrade its survey department to Ministry of Lands and Survey.

Speaking through the Chairman of Lagos branch of the institution at a Town Hall Meeting held in Imota as part of activities marking the 31st Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the branch,  Olugbenga Alara said it was important for members of the public to desist from patronising touts who would assure them of helping to backdate survey plans.

According to him, apart from the fact that such was against the law establishing the Institution, no registered member of the association would ever promise to do such, as it is against the law and ethics of the profession.

Also speaking at the meeting, held at the Palace of Ranodu of Imota Land, Oba Ajibade Bakare-Agoro, Alara said the NIS, as the umbrella body for professional surveyors, has been at the forefront of canvassing for strict adherence to due process, especially with regards to surveying, saying that the profession has a critical role to play in ensuring proper planning and order in the society.

He said: “We are here as part of activities marking our AGM to sensitize and advance relationship with members of the public on the roles of Surveyors in the society.

“NIS is an organisation that takes seriously the issue of ethics and compliance with due process and we like to use this medium to urge the public to avoid any Surveyor that tells them he can help to backdate survey plan. There is nothing in our law that supports this and no registered member of the Institution can tell you he can do that.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of Abia State chapter, Nicholas Chibiko Mba, who spoke at the state NIS 2016 yearly luncheon in Umuahia, Abia State said the upgrade will position the department better to carry out its functions.

He stressed that already, the canvassed status has been operational at the federal level and replicated with slight modifications in about nine states namely Lagos, Delta, Ebonyi, Rivers, Cross River, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and Kaduna.

Mba also informed the public that in the NIS drive to curb the activities of quacks and tricksters who defraud members of the public by faking Survey Plans, NIS has resolved that every Surveyor carrying out any survey in the state should use NIS specially designed “Customized Paper “.

Speaking further at the event, which had the state’s Lands and Survey Commissioner Uche Ihediwa as Guest of Honour, he described Surveying profession as pivotal to the physical development of the nation and State.

The state NIS Chairman explained that “when this is combined with the seal of the Practitioner, which must agree with the features on the paper, it will make it easier to identify a suspected fake plan.

When the plan is shown to the Surveyor General of the state, he will confirm its authenticity or otherwise”.

He, however, expressed concern that NIS was not involved in the recent attempt to re-organise the state Geographic Information System GIS.

According to him, surveyors are in the best position to make input on how best such a noble project could be done to achieve its desired purpose considering that the acquisition and authentication of data that drives the GIS, is the work of surveyors.

He stressed that the Ministry was considering issuing  “Land Information Certificates” and urged the NIS to assist the government in institutionalize Land Administration System.

In his paper titled: Land Surveying And Geoinformatics For Sustainable Environmental Management And Land Administration In Nigeria”, Professor Ogwo of the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike Abia State called for reform of the Land Use Act in order to re-engineer the Land Administration Systems for sustainable development.

In a related development, the Executive Director, African Regional Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in English (ARCSSTEE), Dr. Ganiyu Ishola Agbaje has called for promotion of specialized divisions in the surveying profession.

Agbaje spoke at the 31st yearly general meeting of the Lagos branch of NIS with the theme: “ The Changing Role of the Surveying Profession in the 21st Century- In the Light of the Trend in Modern Technology in Ikeja, Lagos.

Stressing that the future of the society depends on the profession, Dr Agbaje urged surveyors step up their roles in the development of the society.

According to him, if surveyors cannot satisfy the demands of the society by using the latest technology, the society will leave them for other professions.
He, therefore, advised surveyors to develop their capacities through re-training in order to meet with the new trends in the society.

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