Estate surveyors and valuers have been advised to uphold the ethical standards and code of conducts of their profession.
According to the experts at the Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria (ESVARBON) 2022 Valuers’ Assembly held in Abuja, such commitment to ethical standards has been a sure path to build any nation.
Some of the experts that spoke at the forum included ESVARBON’s Chairman, Gersh Henshaw; elder stateman, Dr Christopher Kolade; and Head of Department, Real Estate and NPO, Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Moses Azege.
They urged estate surveying and valuation’s practitioners in the country not to compromise the ethics of the profession in all their engagements.
The speakers agreed that estate surveyors and valuers have huge role in nation’s building, but that there was need to improve on some aspects of their regulations.
According to them, practitioners within the sector, being land managers and valuation’s experts, needed to tighten the loose ends in the profession to lift the nation in revenue generation, which ultimately will boost the economy.
Speaking on the theme of the event, “The Role of Professional Ethics in Nation Building: Estate Surveying and Valuation Profession In Mind,” Henshaw assured that as a foremost regulatory body of the valuation and property profession, ESVARBON would not relent in promoting best practices of the profession anchored on sound ethical standards, rules and regulations.
He said that the board would continue to deepen societal awareness of the profession and roles of estate surveyors and valuers.
Dr Christopher Kolade, who noted that no nation can grow beyond the value it places on its code and ethical practices, said estate surveyors must do everything in line with their codes of practice.
According to him, the professional values and ethical principles in the code should be the way of life of professional estate surveyors and valuers.
“This must be our first conclusion: – that when these professionals do anything important, nation building, for instance, they should proceed as demanded of them by their own code of conduct.”
By living and acting this way, he pointed out that the practitioners would ensure that their professional ethics can influence their nation building efforts positively.
Head of Department, Real Estate and NPO, Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Moses Azege, referred to real estate sector as a major employer of labour.
According to him, the industry has been one of the highly vulnerable industry to money laundering.
Worst still, he added that many players in the industry have low understanding of money laundering and terrorism financing.
Though, he noted that real estate professionals focused on business risks, he explained that many of them seem not to realise the risk associated with money laundering, terrorism financing and their customers, the products and services they offer.
To correct the trend, he said the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) will henceforth close the gap between it and ESVARBON.
He urged that ESVARBON should in subsequent amendment of its regulations incorporate the requirements of Anti-Money Laundering/Counter Financing Terrorism (AML/CFT).
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