Lagos State branch of Association of Private Practising Surveyors of Nigeria (APPSN) has launched management software with embedded security code on survey plans.
Branch Chairman of APPSN, Ganiyu Adaranijo, who disclosed this at the 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos, said the software would curb forgery, impersonation and quackery in the profession.
He said that the branch, in conjunction with the police, arrested a fake surveyor two months ago because he’s not a registered surveyor.
According to him, the suspect will be arraigned before a Lagos High Court in Ikeja.
The suspect did a lot of jobs for people. Unfortunately for him, one of his clients reported him to us and after an investigation, we arrested him with the help of the police. That’s why we do media conferences regularly to inform people to help identify fake surveyors.”
Adaranijo, therefore, urged residents to patronise only registered surveyors to avert building collapse because surveying is the bedrock of all development.
The APPSN branch chairman, who spoke on the theme, “Re-Engineering Professionalism in the Private Practice Sector Towards Service Delivery,” said the topic was to equip surveyors with the latest equipment.
He said: “Before now, surveyors have been practising with many obsolete instruments. In 2019, Lagos State government remapped the entire Lagos, and due to that, our former instruments can’t be used. We just have to key in by making arrangements with companies to help us get new instruments. Because without it, there will be serious problems.
“The job we did eight years ago cannot be accepted by the state government now and you cannot be issued a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) because where your land then may have been shifted. So, it’s expedient that every surveyor must have the instruments.”
The Guest Speaker, Tope Yinka Ojo, said re-engineering the surveying profession is key towards getting key delivery moves.
Ojo noted that there are laws that regulate societal problems, which could better be handled with technologies.
“We have digital components that can aid land or societal problems. The land grabbers are just trespassers and can be regulated through tracking technologies.
“I believe the land surveyors have a series of training for their members that would make them understand, and as well update their knowledge from time to time.
“We cannot use the old and analog strategy to solve problems of this generation.
“We need to change the business model, as the old business model we are using cannot solve things we are doing. So, we look at the soft skills and start developing new contemporary soft skills in terms of negotiation, presentation and the way we run our practice,” he added.
