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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE REAL ESTATE PROFFESSION
Being A Paper Presented at The Induction Ceremony of The Department Of Estate Management and Valuation, Hussein Adamu Federal Polytechnic Kazaure, Jigawa State.
Date : 23rd March 2016
BY; ESV FELICIA C. CHUKWUEMEKA (MRS). B.Sc, MEM, ANIVS, RSV.
INTRODUCTION:
Real estate means land, landed properties which is permanently attached to the land, like (buildings/structures), the sky above, below the soil (solid or liquid minerals) or on the earth surface (tress, rivers, streams, rocks etc)
Management on the other hand involves caring for something. Real estate management involves the processes, systems and manpower required to control, supervise and maintain real estates in other to obtain its best value.
In Nigeria the man charged with the responsibility of managing real estate is a professional referred to as an ESTATE SURVEYOR AND VALUER. In different countries they are known with different names. In the United States of America, they are called Appraisers, in the United Kingdom, they are known as Chartered Surveyors, and in other countries they are simply called Valuers or Estate Valuers.
The nomenclature (assigning of names) in different countries depends on some philosophical and historical reasons. In Nigeria One major function of a qualified Real estate professional is the valuation of assets (both movable and immovable assets). In other to capture and reflect this significant function of valuation, valuer is attached to his name. ‘Estate Surveyor and Valuer’. Secondly it serves to distinguish him from other surveyors in the family like the land surveyors and quantity surveyors.
HISTORY OF THE PROFESSION (THE ORIGIN)
The profession is the oldest and first to exist on earth. It dates back to the creation of the world. GOD created the earth and the popular Garden of Eden. He then created man and woman i.e. Adam and Eve to be the care taker. God charged them with the responsibility of taking care of the garden and all that is in it. As such, they become the first appointed Estate Surveyor and Valuer on earth. The profession of estate management can be claimed to be the oldest profession on earth
However, the evolution of Estate Surveying and Valuation as a distinct and recognized profession started during the middle Ages from Europe. The middle age was the period between the 5th to the 15th century.
Within this period the society of Europe operate the feudal system of government and feudal land tenure system. This system involves three key concepts of lords, vassals and fiefs.
The lords are the heads of authority, and controller of power over others they are the head of government or monarch. Usually they are the one who owned extensive and sometimes far-flung land holdings (Usually, only a portion of each of these estates was held and exploited directly by the land owners). The lords assign these lands to the vassals.
The vassals areperson who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, so in exchange for these obligations are certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held as a fiefs were given, under sworn loyalty, subject to the lord.
A fief (Latin: feudum) was the central element of feudalism and consisted of heritable property or rights granted by an overlord to a vassal who held it in fealty (or “in fee”) in return for a form of feudal allegiance and service.
On account of the size and disparate locations of these holdings, each landowner appointed Stewards or Agents to oversee these estates for them. What was required of these stewards was that they were men of honour who could be trusted in fiduciary relationships. This explains the sobriquet, “Noble” which is attached to the profession of Estate Surveying and Valuation.
As time went on the business of managing these estates rose in sophistication, the requirements for the job increased. First, it became necessary that the practitioners were also lettered, in order to keep pace with the demands of ever increasing record-keeping. Next, a knowledge of book-keeping was required, to accommodate the accounting requirements involved. Later on, the ability to tackle various proprietary and commercial relationships involved in managing these estates introduced Surveying, Law, Commerce, Economics and Statistics into the profession.
The profession of estate surveying and valuation followed in the wake of colonialism in Nigeria, with F.G Gleave, an expatriate, being the first known chartered surveyors to set up a general practice or estate surveying and valuation firm in the country in 1955. Hitherto, there were few chartered surveyors in private and public employment in Nigeria.
In 1954, the first Nigerian Estate Surveyor and Valuer, John Wood Ekpeyong, graduated from the University of London with B.Sc degree in Estate Management. Since then, the profession has witnessed phenomenal and tremendous growth.
In 1969, a group of qualified Chartered (General Practice) Surveyors formed what is known as the Nigeria Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), as a non-profit voluntary professional organization to cater for the interests of the Landed profession in Nigeria. According to Olutayo Olubi these notable surveyors include Hope Harriman; S.O. Oyewo; S.P.O Fortune Ebie; J.A. Oluwatundunmu and F.A.J. Alufohai.
Six years later, in 1975 it was accorded Government recognition by the promulgation of the Estate Surveyors and Valuers (Registration, ETC) Decree No. 24 of 1975, now CAP III (Laws of the federal Republic of Nigeria) 1990
CONCLUSION
The study of estate management in the higher institution prepares one for this noble profession. By his training and experience, an Estate Surveyor and Valuer is one who is an elected corporate member of the Nigerian Institution Of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), registered and empowered by the Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria (ESVARBON) to practice estate surveying and valuation in Nigeria. The Board (ESVARBON) issues any registered Estate Surveyor and Valuer official stamp and seal which carry his registration number. The valuer is expected to validate his ascent to all his official report of valuations with the instruments.
Being a qualified professional, the Estate Surveyor and Valuer offers a number of professional services to both individuals and the society at large which no one else can provide without professional skill and expertise. These functions include among others the services such as property management, Valuation of assets, Feasibility and Viability studies, Estate agency, Public lands administration, Land use planning and management, project management, property deal counseling, arranging finance for investment, arbitration. Everything that has to do with land and landed property, an estate surveyor and valuer plays a vital role.
Further Reading
A Handbook of Estate Management (Principles and Practice) By Bello, I.K, and Olajide, S.E (2003)
Introduction to estate management by Afolabi Martha.
