The Nigerian Institution of Surveyors (NIS), has faulted the non-accreditation of surveying and geo-informatics programmes in the Nigerian universities and polytechnics across the federation.
The professional body noted that that attitude had led to the acute shortage of surveyors in the country.
The National President of NIS, Mr Matthew Olomolatan Ibitoye, stated this at the 58th Edo Annual General Meeting and Conference of the body held in Benin City, Edo State capital, on Wednesday.
Ibitoye, who noted that Nigeria had approximately 33 universities and 34 polytechnics, regretted that only a few of them had the manpower to train surveyors, stressing that the development had negatively affected the profession.
“Furthermore, I wish to highlight the urgent need for investment in our educational institutions that train surveying and geo-informatics professionals.
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“Currently, these institutions suffer from a shortage of qualified and adequate lecturers, resulting in a poor lecturer-student ratio.
“This along with other factors such as lack of adequate modern equipment and a poor teaching environment, often contributes to the non-accreditation of surveying and geo-informatics programmes in most institutions.
“Current statistics show that we have approximately 33 universities and 34 polytechnics offering surveying programmes in Nigeria but with fewer lecturers, indicating a dire situations”, Ibitoye lamented.
Ibitoye urged the Federal Government to urgently intervene and recruit more lecturers to man those institutions of learning so that the wide gaps could be bridged.
The national president of NIS, while looking at how Nigerians were leaving the country in droves, appealed to the Federal Government to look inward and see how the issue could be addressed in the short possible time.
The president further called on Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State to upgrade the Edo State Survey Department to an extra ministerial status and to be named the office of the Survey General of Edo State, which should be likened to its counterparts in Ogun, Lagos and other states presently.
Declaring the 58th Edo Annual General Meeting and Conference open, Governor Obaseki, who was represented by his deputy, Godwins Omobayo, welcomed the association to the state and wished them a peaceful deliberations.
The governor, further assured the body that the issue raised as regards the upgrade of the Edo State Survey Department to an extra ministerial status would be looked into.
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