 YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD AND YOU: A program sponsored by sustainable design consult dedicated to enlighten listeners to know about the environment, the right of a citizen living in an environment, environmental hazards and things needed to be done to prevent hazards from happening.
On a new episode of the program, the host Comfort Omolafe with the sponsor of the program TPL Ogunseyi Ayodele Joseph will be directing questions to the chairman of Nigerian institute of surveyors(NIS) Ondo state chapter, Surveyor Mrs. Helen Fakorede (FNIS) on Quackery in surveying.
How bad is quackery within Nigerian institute of surveyors(NIS) as at today?
Surveyors,Mrs. Helen Fakorede said quackery is a menace that will not be of good to any profession. She said there is no quackery in Nigerian institute of surveyors. Quackery is bad in survey profession and there must have been more than hundred practicing the profession in the wrong way before one can nab a quack of the profession. She said {NIS} as a body is not relenting in their efforts to reduce quackery in surveying.
How can Nigerian institute of surveyors(NIS) help in solving the problem caused by some of its members that issue certificate to those they train when they were not registered?
The guest said {NIS} has zero tolerance for unethical practice, unethical performance by any surveyor before he or she become a surveyor may not be pursued or investigated on but the moment he or she become a surveyor under the law of Nigeria, the individual is bound to respect and follow the ethics of the profession. Nigerian institute of surveyors at the state branch have ethics committee that is headed by the vice chairman of NIS. She further stated that cases will be referred to the surveyors council of Nigeria if it can’t be solved by the committee. The surveyors council of Nigeria is the body empowered by law to deal with such people. Any surveyor caught doing illegal dealing knows the repercussion of the offence committed and the punishment could be severe.
She said Nigeria Institute of surveyors have no control over those that are not their members but if the surveyor is a registered member, he/she will be dealt with accordingly.
Is it in line with {NIS} constitution for surveyors to give certificates to technicians who have undergone training?
Surveyor,Mrs. Helen Fakorede said there are steps in becoming a surveyor. She said there are trained technicians(OND holders), Technologists( HND holders), Pupil surveyors. These people are not registered surveyors and they are in no position to give certificate, surveyors council of Nigeria who  recognizes surveying as a profession controls the profession of surveying and they are the only one that can recognize anybody be it technicians, technologists or pupil surveyors. It is a gross misconduct and it is a punishable offence for any surveyor that issue certificate to technicians, technologists. This simply mean the certificate the so called surveyor is giving to the technician is invalid according to NIS constitution.
TPL Ogunseyi Ayodele wants some clarity in what the guest said on not having control on the quacks that are not NIS members. He said the quacks are the one spoiling the name and the profession and there must be a control over them.
The guest then said every profession has its own peculiarity. She said  it is not as if they do not have control over the quacks that are not their members, She said if evidences were provided, for instance if a quack surveyor produces a fake survey, it will become a legal tussle between the individual and {NIS} of which Nigerian institute of surveyors{NIS} is leaving no stone unturned to pursue the case.
An individual was apprehended with the offence of forgery of one surveyor’s signature and seal, the culprit had worked with two of NIS members before now. What is the stand of Nigerian institute of surveyors(NIS) on this matter?
Surveyor,Mrs. Helen Fakorede commended the effort of TPL Ogunseyi Ayodele on the way the culprit was apprehended. She said {NIS} were aware that culprit had worked with two of their surveyors, she notified that the suspect was in no way working with the two surveyors involved when he was nabbed, the culprit also forged the signature of one of the surveyors. The guest added that the lawyer of {NIS} is involved in the case and they are monitoring the event.
With the atrocities the culprit had committed, Don’t you think the case should be brought beyond {NIS] and transferred to {SOCON} to handle it properly?
Surveyor,Mrs Fakorede in her words said at state level NISÂ and {SOCON}Â work together and in every state, there is {SOCON}Â committee on ethics and it is chairman by the surveyor general of the state of which the chairman of {NIS}Â state chapter happens to be the secretary of the committee and the office of the surveyor general is working adequately on the issue.
Is Nigerian institute of surveyors (NIS) in conjunction with the government inflating the fee of survey plan?
The guest said {NIS} is a professional body that decide and work on its scale of fee. The institute does not need approval from the government to inflate the fee  of survey plan. Ondo state surveyors were concerned about the economy status and the last time they increase their scale of fee was seven years ago when dollar was less than 400 naira She further said in the last two years they acquired state of the act equipment that will increase and enhance the value of the product they give to their members for them to be on the same page with surveyors all over the world. The equipment that were acquired eight years ago was six hundred thousand and fifty thousand naira(#650,000) and they got the equipment now for three million, five hundred thousand naira(#3,500,000), she said the cost of producing a survey plan leave them with no option than to go for the new scale of fees.
What is the neighborhood figure that we are looking at ,i.e  for prime and non prime areas?
Surveyor,Mrs. Helen Fakorede said the price for one plot of land about 700 square meters which is also the maximum, for prime areas and for individual survey is #220,000 and it is #150,000 for the non prime areas and if it is a cooperative, there is a variation that the price will cost more.
Your professional fee before was 0-1000 square meters, Has it been adjusted to 0 – 700 square meters?
The guest response was yes, she said they considered it plot by plot and not 0 – 1000 square meters. A person purchasing one and half plot of land must pay more than someone who only purchased one plot of land.
Is there anything like one and half plot?
The guest said the way they plot varies and differs. She said in government estates, there are plots that is as much as 2000 square meters and there are some as small as 450 square meters. The standard plot as at now in Ondo state is 18 meters by 36 meters which is 648 square meter and the surveyors added little variation that a plot may be a little bit bigger and this is the reason it was extended to 700 square meters.
What are the added advantage for people that are paying?
Surveyor,Mrs. Helen Fakorede said everybody and every business are gradually adjusting to the system, for instance, a fish seller before the price of fuel skyrocketed was selling at the rate of #800 will consider the cost of transportation and increase the price of the fish she is selling. She said Ondo state was the last state in south west to increase the scale of fee and the price of other states are way higher than that of Ondo state and Ekiti state. The new rate will be commencing on the first of October 2023 but the surveyors must start charging before the commencement date because before the surveyors finish the survey, before they register it, it takes time and it might elude or go beyond the commencement date.
Could you please explain in details what you meant by no surveyor general approval on surveyor plan as from October 1st?
The guest said the profession of surveying is a profession controlled by the law. The issue of surveyor general approval in quote is called counter signature i.e A situation whereby a surveyor produces a survey and the surveyor general put his stamp and signature on it. The counter signature was abolished by the law of the country in 1974 but probably because of the revenue that have been generated through the counter signature method has been on in Ondo state even since it has been eradicated since 1974 and Ondo state was created in 1976.
The surveyors council of Nigeria looked into it and concluded that of all the states of the federation probably in south west, it is only Ondo state that is still practicing counter signature method. It was later brought up on the floor of the council and the directive was given that it has to be stopped but the revenue going to the government should not stop and the surveyor general notified other states on how to with it.
The guest said  the surveyor general held a meeting with {NIS} and told them that the certificate to be issued is certificate of verification stating all the information of the survey plan on the certificate instead of surveyor general signing on surveyors plan. Once the certificate of verification was given, the normal amount one is paying will continue and at that point, one will know that the land is free from acquisition and that it is correct by every standard.
Are the people not going to face the problem of getting surveyor’s general signature to issue a certificate?
Surveyor,Mrs. Helen Fakorede said the office of the surveyor general is capable and they won’t be leaving any stone unturned to have their professional service to the state. She said the cumbersome past experience will not exist and the office of the surveyor general has put some things in place like having digital format for charting of survey plan, i.e any survey that is presented can easily be charted even before going to the site. She said they we need funding from the government to succeed more in this aspect.
Is there accurate data in Ondo state?
The guest said on the side of the surveyors, they acquired equipment needed. The surveyors in Ondo state are up to date in the aspect of data but for the government, funding has been the issue, the government finds it difficult to fund survey department and the reason is that the end product of surveyors are not physical unlikely when there are road, hospitals, physical structures. It takes trust, believe in the cause for a government to put billion of naira into a system.
How long will it take to get approval, to get the certificate of approval from the surveyor general office after making the necessary payment?
Surveyor,Mrs. Helen Fakorede said if anyone has his or her survey and had made all the necessary payment and the person is not owing anything, the survey will be ready between seven to fifteen days and when the survey is ready, it is now left to the person to get the certificate of verification from the office of the surveyor general.