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According to the stakeholders, who gathered at the first annual conference of the Association of Estate Agents in Nigeria tagged: ‘Estate Agency 2015’, there is an urgent need to restore estate agency practice on the path of integrity, accountability and professionalism.

Odudu said this spurred the board to build upon the collaborative efforts of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers and the Association of Estate Agents in Nigeria, the umbrella body of estate agents.

“The board has now drawn up a code of conduct for estate agency regulation, which will guide and regulate any person, firm or company carrying out the business of estate agency in the country. Failure to comply with the regulation and code of conduct will be deemed as misconduct with penal consequences according to law by the board,” he said.

Odudu stated that in fulfilment of the requirements of the law, the board was poised to produce a register of licensed agents, firms or companies that engaged in estate agency services in Nigeria.

He added that a certificate from the registrar of the board would be the evidence of registration.

Odudu said, “Anybody, firm or company purporting to be estate agent, whose name is not on the register of registered estate agents and who cannot also produce a certificate issued by the board and signed by the registrar is an impostor, usurper and impersonator, and will be treated as so in the eyes of the law.

“Certificate of business name registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission will not suffice.”

A former President of NIESV, Mr. Emeka Eleh, stated that apart from the institution’s standards for practice for its members, the large majority of those who practice estate agency were doing so without the basic training in the field, without any certificate or qualification, any regulation and largely in an unprofessional manner.

He said, “The practice of estate agency in Nigeria at present remains largely unorganised, unregulated and unprofessional. It is generally open to all comers, and entry and exit are at the sole discretion of the person.

“Due to the lack of a central professional or regulatory body that will set minimum standards for entry, set standards for its practice, as well as ensure adherence to a code of ethics, most estate agents are generally on their own and quackery, with its attendant consequences, is very prevalent if not the order of the day.”

According to him, a multiplicity of local estate agent associations exists but these are essentially local bodies without the right structure, leadership or plan to advance the practice of estate agency beyond the narrow-minded interest of the founders or originators of such associations.

Eleh added that the effects of the situation were too numerous to count but that the main issue was that due to lack of regulation and requisite competence on the part of the practitioners, the consuming public had been on the receiving end of estate agents in terms of very poor services, fraudulent transactions and losses of income through the activities of dubious practitioners.

He said, “As a result of this, the public perception of the estate agent is very poor. Estate agents are generally looked upon as persons, who engage in sharp practices and whom you have to deal with, with all eyes opened. In view of this, the practitioners are not respected in the society.

“The very low level of respect for the practitioners has led to a situation where both vendors and landlords alike do not see the need to remunerate them appropriately, while the lack of standardisation and regulation has led to both the landlords and the vendors turning themselves into agents.”

According to Eleh, estate agency practice in the developed world is a very respectable venture that fits into the mould of a profession as its practitioners are trained, have minimum qualifications as prescribed and are certified to practice by the recognised professional body of agents.

The Chairman of AEAN, Mr. Chudi Ubosi, said the public perception of estate agency practice had remained a major challenge that practitioners were living with.

“Our poor perception is not something that will go away on its own. We must work on it,” he said.

Ubosi added that conferences such the ‘Estate Agency 2015’ were aimed at creating a better professional image as well as training estate agents.

He noted that since the inauguration of the association about two years ago by NIESV as its contribution to the introduction of best practices in estate agency, branches had been opened in Abuja and Uyo, and the membership had grown to 500.

“In the course of the year, our aim is to launch the association in Ibadan and Port Harcourt,” he added.

Other speakers at the event, with the theme: ‘Branding and public perception of estate agency practice in Nigeria’, noted that there was a need to chart a new course for the profession towards achieving global best practices.

Eleh said that making estate agency more professional would benefit not just the consuming public but also the practitioners.

“While the public benefits through improved or quality agency services from reliable and well referenced estate agents, the practitioners will benefit through proper regulation of the practice, which will ensure that only qualified and certified persons practice the trade and that practitioners are appropriately trained, equipped and remunerated,” he said.

The Chairman of the Organising Committee, Estate Agency 2015, Mr. Boye Ajayi, noted that the AEAN founding fathers thought it wise that the birth of the association would promote reasonable avenues for training and re-training of estate agency personnel; maintaining a data base of estate agents in Nigeria; ensuring a high standard of professional ethics by members, thereby reducing to barest minimum, incidents of fraud in property transactions.

He said that in the last one year, members of AEAN had undergone series of trainings, workshops and seminars on the dynamics of property marketing and emerging techniques in property and facilities management, among others.

PUNCH.

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The Project Coordinator, O’RAMP, Mr. Adelere Oriolowo, solicited the support at a stakeholders’ forum held in Osogbo on Friday.

Oriolowo said the agency needed the support of the councils and residents because the World Bank would not be indefinitely responsible for the maintenance of roads constructed under the initiative.

He stated that O’RAMP had constructed 212 kilometres of roads and was now ready to begin the construction of additional 300 kilometres to ease vehicular movement in the rural areas of the state.

Oriolowo said, “We need the support of the local government areas and residents in the areas where the roads are constructed to maintain the roads. We have trained road maintenance workers on how to use hand tools for road maintenance.” http://9japroperty.com.ng/category/news/road-maintenance-osun-agency-seeks-support

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