FIABCI-Nigeria celebrates World Habitat Day with colloquium and inaugurates national councils

Oct 10, 2022 Latest News

FIABCI-Nigeria joined the worldwide celebration of World Habitat Day on Monday, 3 October 2022 with a Colloquium, as well as the inauguration of its four National Councils on Tuesday, 4 October 2022.

The ceremony was heralded with a publication in the Guardian Newspaper on 3 October 2022, in which FIABCI-Nigeria advocated for the implementation of the seemingly abandoned Nigeria Housing Policy by the Federal Government. FIABCI-Nigeria President Gladstone Opara advised that, due to the urgency created by the rapid urbanisation and inadequate housing, the government should consider housing development as a social responsibility as opposed to a strictly economic approach.

The full publication is available through the following link: https://guardian.ng/property/fiabci-urges-fg-to-implement-national-housing-policy/

The chapter's activities resumed on 4 October 2022 with a Colloquium at the Lagosia Restaurant in Victoria Island, Lagos. During the event, guest speaker Emeka Okoronkwo, Estate Surveyor and Valuer, reminded the people in authority of the need to also make provisions for shelter for the less privileged. He added that current conflicts around the world, climate change and the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced everybody to shelter indoors, make it imperative for governments to declare an SOS on housing and monitoring of urbanisation. An interactive session also took place, featuring a Q&A focused on different aspects of real estate challenges, both in Nigeria and around the world.

Thereafter, the chapter inaugurated its four National Councils. They are:

1. Council of Developers, headed by Hakeem Ogunniran

2. Council of Experts, headed by Kehinde Akinyemi

3. Council of Managers, headed by Emeka Okoronkwo

4. Council of Brokers, headed by Roseline Amangbo

There are also Deputy Heads for each of the Councils.

Words of advice were issued to the Council officials by Emeka Eleh; Past President of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers. Thereafter, letters of appointment were presented to the Council officials who promised to strive to accomplish FIABCI-Nigeria's mission.

The meeting was concluded with refreshments and networking among the different real estate practitioners present.