An Examination Of Citizens’ Awareness And Perception Of The Estate Management Profession In Anambra State

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1       THE CONCEPT OF ESTATE MANAGEMENT

The word estate may be defined in difficult contexts of use. In purely technical terms, it refers to the degree, quantity, nature and extent of legal interest that a person has in real or personal property. Egolum (2003) defined it as ownership or interest a person holds in a landed property and also in legal parlance he defined estate as that which denotes the character and quantum of rights a person has in land and landed property. However, in tracing the origin and history of the word ‘estate’ it was discovered that ‘estate’ and ‘state’ originated from the same word and their meanings were very close (the now archaic ‘reach man’s estate’, for instance, signifies ‘reach the state of manhood’). From the 15th century, however, they began to diverge, estate taking a semantic path via ‘interest in property’ to ‘such property itself’, and finally, in the 18th century, to the ‘land owned by someone’. Both come via Old French estate from Latin status ‘way of standing, condition’ (source of English status), a derivative of the verb stare ‘stand’ (a relative of English stand).

Various professionals see estate differently in other to accommodate the basis of their profession. General science defines it as an area specially designed and constructed for residential or industrial use. An accountant defines estate as property left by a dead person whereas an agriculturist is of the opinion that an estate is a rural property consisting of a large area of land and a big house

The concept of estate management cannot be fully discussed without proper understanding of the term ‘management’. Management means many things to different people. To a layman management means an impressive person occupying an air conditioned chamber with an over staked table and cushioned chair. Some people suggest management as commanding others, to many others management is nothing more than clerical work and putting fancy signatures. But truly management is the process of planning organizing directing coordinating and controlling the activities of business enterprises.

As there is no universally accepted definition for management, it is difficult to define it. A simple definition would be “the act of getting things done by others”. This definition brings two elements namely accomplishment of objectives and direction of group activities towards a goal, a more elaborate definition by Egolum (2003) defines management as the science and art of manipulation and utilization of organizational human and material resources to attain a certain desirable organizational objectives. Put together Estate management is defined as the planning directing supervising coordinating and control of land resources with the aim of achieving the clients’ objectives in the ownership of such estate. Egolum (2003) defined Estate Management as the science and art of coordinating affairs bothering on land and landed property with the aim of securing optimum returns (yields) to the holders of interest

2.2       ESTATE SURVEYORS AND VALUERS AS PROFESSIONALS

A Professional is an individual working within a chosen profession, usually guided by conventions, standards and shared experiences (Agbola, 2002). So therefore, Estate Surveyor and Valuer (ESV) is a professional in the built environment, who is then an Estate Surveyor and Valuer? ESV is professionally and legally defined as a corporate/elected member of Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) who has been registered with the Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria (ESVARBON) and given registration number, certificate, seal and stamp of authority to practice estate surveying and valuation in Nigeria (Bello, 2007, p.200).

Both NIESV and ESVARBON are the professional and regulatory bodies empowered (by the Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration etc. Decree No. 24 of 1975, now incorporated in the Constitution as Cap E13 Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2007) to oversee the practice of estate surveying in Nigeria. Estate Surveyors and Valuers as it is called in Nigeria,

Appraisers’ in US and chartered surveyors in the UK are undoubtedly prominent

Professionals when it comes to land administration and property development matter.

The role to be played by ESV will therefore, depend on status or route by which the services of estate surveying and valuation is rendered; civil officer, public officer, officer of a government parastatal, member of government constituted land/property committee, consultant, representative of professional body among others