Industry professionals at the 7th Summit of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), Lagos Branch, have called for stronger ethical standards, innovation, and collaboration to rebuild public trust, drive excellence, and align local practices with global real estate standards.
The two-day summit, themed ‘Building Trust and Driving Excellence in Real Estate Practice: Global Standards, Local Realities,’ brought together key players across the real estate value chain to examine challenges limiting the sector’s growth and discuss strategies for achieving sustainable excellence.
In his opening address on Day 2, Emeka Eleh, chairman of the occasion and former president of NIESV, said the discussions from the first day underscored the urgent need to match professionalism with integrity and innovation.
Eleh acknowledged the local challenges that hamper professional practice, from bureaucratic bottlenecks in project approvals to weak enforcement of regulatory frameworks, but urged estate surveyors to remain ethical and forward-looking.
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“The realities exist, delayed approvals, discretionary powers, files stuck on desks for months, but we must keep our standards. Clients expect us to honour our promises and commitments regardless of what government agencies do,” he said.
Earlier, Tosin Kadiri, chairman of NIESV Lagos Branch, welcomed participants to the second day of the summit, noting that the discussions were timely in light of the evolving dynamics of Nigeria’s property market.
Kadiri emphasised that while Nigerian professionals must aspire to global best practices, they must also adapt them to local economic and institutional realities.
“We must continue to explore strategies that balance international standards with the unique challenges of our environment,” he said.
Delivering the keynote address, Odunayo Ojo, chief executive officer of UPDC, urged estate surveyors and valuers to evolve with the changing face of real estate globally or risk becoming obsolete.
“Real estate practice must evolve beyond traditional definitions of agency, valuation, and property management,” he said. “Today, technology, private equity, sustainability, and data are transforming the landscape. It’s no longer business as usual, we either innovate or we die.”
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Ojo lamented that while Nigerian professionals possess deep technical knowledge, many have failed to lead in investment management, real estate finance, and sustainability, areas driving the global market.
He called for greater emphasis on data, continuous education, and ethics to reverse the “trust deficit” in the industry. “My hope is that when we meet again next year, we won’t hear stories of scams or collapsed buildings,” he said. “Excellence must start with us.”
Ojo urged practitioners to embrace collaboration over competition. “No professional can do everything. Collaboration allows us to balance each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Rather than compete, let us specialize and work together,” he advised.
He also challenged regulators to uphold excellence in their duties. “Excellence doesn’t stop with professionals; regulators, too, must lead with integrity and accountability,” he noted.
As the summit concluded, speakers agreed that Nigeria’s real estate professionals must invest in skill development, technology adoption, and strong governance to achieve global relevance.
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