Gbenro Adesina/Ibadan
Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State has urged members of the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors to fish out those he called quacks and charlatans impersonating their members to accord the profession its due recognition.
Ajimobi gave the advice today on the occasion of the association’s annual meeting through a statement by his Special Adviser, Communication and Strategy, Mr. Yomi Layinka.
The governor used the opportunity to congratulate the state’s branch of the NIS for producing the 20th president of the institution, Mr. Akin Oyegbola, who was inaugurated at the AGM, held in Osogbo, Osun State.
The event presented an opportunity for the governor to remind the country’s surveyors of their critical role of measuring and mapping the surrounding, using mathematics, specialized technology and equipment to instill order in the physical world.
As the first port of call in building and road construction, the governor said that surveyors also had a huge role to play to guard against building collapse as recently being witnessed across the country.
According to him, “The attendant avoidable loss of lives and limbs, as well as valuables to these ghastly incidents calls for concern of all professional bodies associated with building construction. I urge you to instill order in the physical world by giving sound advice and by providing adequate information that will serve as guide for engineers, architects and developers involved in construction. Let me, therefore, urge the members of the institution to rally behind my dear brother to fish out quacks and charlatans posing as your members to accord the profession its due respect. I want to especially congratulate the Oyo State branch of the NIS for producing the 20th president, whom I was told was the first person from the state to occupy the enviable position”.
The governor expressed confidence in the ability of the Fiditi-born Oyegbola to bring his wealth of experience to bear in directing the affairs of the nation’s surveyors and prayed that his tenure would mark a turning point for the institution.
With the support and cooperation of the strong members of NIS, he said he had no doubts that the new president’s regime would be remarkable and would usher in a new era of accomplishments for the institution.
As one of the oldest organized professional bodies in Nigeria, having been formed in 1934, under the leadership of the late Nationalists, Herbert Macaulay, Ajimobi said Oyegbola had a huge amount of responsibility on his shoulders.