A Critique of the Capital Market Content in Nigerian Real Estate Education

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) is taking on an increasing relevance for the Nigerian estate surveyor and valuer as it grows in capitalization and sophistication. This can be seen in the NSE’s second-largest status in sub-Saharan Africa, the introduction of property securitization and the listing of property companies. Since these changes have implications for the valuer’s professional practice, they necessitate an evaluation of the real estate training curriculum. The capital market content of real estate education in Nigeria is examined in this paper by assessing the knowledge held by recent graduates of estate management. A questionnaire founded on a checklist of pertinent issues which realistically depict a working knowledge of Nigeria’s much improved stock market was used to collect data. This was analyzed by simple descriptive tools to provide a basis for evaluation. The results point to a scanty curriculum. In addition, there is a low awareness of the administrative and economic functions of the NSE. Furthermore, respondents have a poor understanding of core issues in equity investment analysis. Again, there is an inadequate grasp of the relationship between the two investment alternatives, although a majority rightly credit property as a better option. Lastly, respondents mainly do not consider an understanding of the market as relevant to their professional function in a modern economy. The study concludes that the demonstrated knowledge of respondents suggests that the curriculum does not have adequate content on the capital market. It is, therefore, recommended that the capital market content of the estate management course be enriched with more depth and detail which adequately reflect the increasing significance of the market to the valuer’s practice and his true role as an investment adviser in an increasingly financially interconnected world.