Fashola Demands Professionalism As SURCON Inducts 267 Surveyors

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has charged newly inducted land surveyors by the Surveyors Council of Nigeria to exhibit a high class of professionalism in the discharge of their duties.

Fashola, who gave the talk at the 2018 induction ceremony for 267 new surveyors by SURCON, which held recently in Abuja, welcomed and congratulated them for their success  as members of the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors.

Represented by the Minister of State II for Power, Works and Housing, Suleiman Hassan, Fashola implored the inductees to adhere strictly to the standards of the profession they had chosen to pursue.

He said, “I urge you, as you collect your certificates today, to go and practice professionally, knowing that this government, more than ever before, believes so much in the contribution of professionals so that it can bring about the desired infrastructural development.

“The Federal Government has invested seriously in infrastructure. In the real sector alone, we have made the commitment of about N2.7tn. Commitments have been made in sectors like agriculture, mining and roads, among others.

“If you believe in the ability of this profession to contribute to the economic growth of this country, you have to identify where you belong. You already have the basic training and have been certificated for that. All you need is to put the knowledge into practice in line with professional standards. I congratulate you all.”

Earlier in his address, the President of SURCON, Joseph Agbenla, noted that with the 267 newly inducted members, the number of registered surveyors in the country had increased to 3,627.

He urged the inductees to uphold the ethics of the profession and stressed that anyone found wanting in the course of practice would have his or her certificate, which remains a property of SURCON, withdrawn.

“I am highly confident that you will always remember that the seal and the certificate you are all having today belong to the Surveyors Council of Nigeria and may be recalled by the council if your professional conduct contradicts the rules, regulations and ethics of the surveying profession,” Agbenla said.

The Surveyor-General of the Federation, Ebisintei Awudu, advised the inductees to keep enhancing their capacity and ensure that their practice add more value to the profession.

He said surveyors should strive to improve their skills in order to adequately understand how to use the tools provided by the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation.

Awudu stated, “By the constitution of Nigeria, the OSGOF is principally mandated to do cadastral, geological and several other types of surveys. So try and improve your capacity on these aspects.

“At the OSGOF, we are working to ensure that our constitutional mandate is carried out at its best. We are working to ensure that we have some unmanned aerial systems to make information gathering easier as a way out of the challenge of poor visibility and to establish more core stations.”