Wike to Govt: Encourage private sector invest in real estate development
The President of the Council of Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, NIESV, Chief Emmanuel Wike has called on Nigeria government to go into programme that would encourage the private sector to invest in real Estate development.
Wike made the call weekend during the 28th John Wood Ekpenyong Memorial Lecture and NIESV Fellows Induction ceremony held at Ibom Icon Hotel & Golf Resort, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State with the theme "Statutory Valuation."
He expressed concern that too much taxation in the country discourages most people especially those in the private sector from investing their money into real estate development.
His words: "We all know that in Nigeria we have housing deficit. We don’t have the number of Houses compared with the population that we have. We have higher demand than supply.
In order to match that supply, it means that government should go into programme that will encourage the private Sector to invest in real estate. With what is going on, most people are not ready to invest their money into real estate development because of too much taxation involved.
So government should try as much as possible to look at the tax liability on those real estate development so that it can encourage members of the public, especially those in the private sector to actually invest in real estate.
That will actually help us to generate more revenue, it will help us to create employment. That will help us also to reduce insecurity"
The NIESV president however advised that government allow the demand and supply to determine rental value in the country for now until there was a proper framework, stressing that it was not enough to impose a Law on monthly rent and at the end of the day it won’t be able to regulate it.
He described late John Wood Ekpenyong and first President of NIESV as a diligent pace-setter who gave his all to the profession until be breathed his last.
He congratulated the 53 inductee's for scaling through the rigorous process in pursuit of the honour, adding, "I charge you to remain committed to continuous acquisition of knowledge and to exhibit at all times the qualities of good conduct, integrity, honesty and devotion."
"Nigeria needs honest Estate Surveyors and Valuers rendering honest consultancy and other professional real estate services. It is a disservice to the Institution and to the nation as a whole for any noble colleague to knowingly act otherwise."
In his opening remarks, Chairman of the occasion and 20th President of NIESV, ESV, Emeka Oleh, who extolled the legacy late ESV Ekpenyong left behind, noting that he played key role towards the development of the institution before his demise.
"He left a worthy legacy. It is a lesson for all of us professionals that wherever you are working, add value. For a profession that gave you the license to practice you must add value to it", Oleh advised.
Culled from Vanguard Newspaper, April 2022