You were a member of a 7-man technical committee inaugurated by the Lagos State government to probe the recent collapse of a building under construction in Banana Island. Since that time many more buildings have collapsed in the state. What can the state government do to curb building collapse in Lagos?
To curb building collapses in Lagos, the Lagos State government can take several measures. They can strengthen Building Codes and Regulations and ensure that construction standards are adhered to strictly and regularly updated to reflect best practices. Inspection and monitoring are very important. They can implement regular and thorough inspections of construction sites to detect and address potential issues before they become critical. The third measure is enforcement. The state government must enforce building regulations rigorously and penalize violators to deter substandard construction practices. There must be public awareness. The state government should educate builders and the public about the importance of proper construction methods and the consequences of cutting corners. Another step is the training of professionals. The government must ensure that builders, engineers, and architects receive proper training and certification.
The problem of getting title documents and land grabbing has continued unabated in Lagos State, what is your advice to the state government on this?
To address the problems of title documents and land grabbing, the Lagos State government can consider the following steps: The government must simplify land registration, streamline the land registration process to make it more efficient and accessible to the public. The government must also digitalize land records. They should use technology to create and maintain an up-to-date digital database of land records to reduce the likelihood of land disputes. The other one step is land regularization, the government must regularize land ownership, especially in informal settlements, to provide legal titles to residents. They must strengthen security, improve the security of land documents and increase law enforcement efforts to prevent land grabbing.
Lagos State government came up with a rent to own initiative to make housing accessible and affordable to its teeming residents. Is it a good move and are you also thinking in that direction in some of your GMH Luxury housing schemes?
Rent-to-own initiatives can be beneficial for increasing housing affordability. The state government is in the right direction. It allows individuals to gradually acquire property while living in it. Whether it’s a good move or not depends on the specific details and implementation. Such initiatives can help the middle class and low-income earners, provided they are well-designed and transparent. As good as this initiative is, GMH Luxury isn’t considering rent to own for now.
Are your housing schemes for the super rich, middle class or low income earners and where are they located?
GMH Luxury caters for both the middle class and super-rich earners. We offer various payment plans that accommodate different financial capacities and our properties are strategically located in areas that cater to these demographics. We have properties on the Island in Lekki and Ikoyi. We also have properties on the mainland, in Gbagada. This approach reflects our commitment to serving a range of income groups with diverse housing options.
Poor mortgage system has continued to frustrate home ownership in Nigeria. What is the way out of the problem?
The poor mortgage system in Nigeria has long been a barrier to achieving widespread homeownership and effective home ownership and housing programmes. High-interest rates, limited access to affordable mortgages and a range of challenges have frustrated the aspirations of many Nigerians to own their homes. To address these issues and make homeownership a reality for a broader section of the population, a comprehensive approach is needed. To improve the mortgage system in Nigeria, the government can collaborate with financial institutions to offer more affordable mortgage rates. They can establish housing funds or subsidies to assist low-income earners with down payments. Implement credit scoring systems to assess borrowers’ creditworthiness accurately. They can also reduce bureaucracy and streamline the mortgage application process; encourage private sector participation in the mortgage market. The government can strengthen regulations that govern the mortgage and real estate sectors. This includes creating legal safeguards, improving transparency, and ensuring that foreclosure processes are clear and efficient.
Is Social Housing Possible In Nigeria?
Social housing is possible in Nigeria but faces challenges related to funding, implementation, and maintenance. To make it successful, the government can allocate a sufficient budget for social housing programmes: Partner with private developers and NGOs to build and manage affordable housing units. They can implement policies that promote social housing as a priority. Regularly review and update the social housing program to ensure its effectiveness and sustainability.
How are you able to carve a niche for yourself in the nation’s competitive housing sector?
It is by actually placing a premium on experience. As you know, there is a popular saying that the level of your training will determine the level of your reign. In 2006, I was actually given the opportunity to work in the bank as a teller but I rejected the offer. Instead, I joined an engineering firm for training purposes whereby I was not placed on any salary, but I walked away from a job where they would have been paying me over N200,000 as at that time. For me, it’s all about experience, because I know exactly what I wanted to achieve there, it’s all about experience. To be the best, you have to learn from the best, then I am a young engineer, all I set out to achieve was to be one of the best to be reckoned with in the industry and that is the driving force. To be very candid, I wasn’t born with a silver spoon so I have to survive, I have been learning this since age nine, on how to survive. What I did differently was that, in the company, I was working then, they were training me on how to design, and there was a tutorial close to the office, so in the evening when I closed by 5 pm, I will go to the tutorial to do two hours that they would paid me N150 per hour and that was what I used to sustain myself on, couple with the little allowance I was getting from home. So after seven month, they placed me on salary of N15,000 and I worked with the firm for two years, I later moved from the job, I went to work with another company, it’s a group of company because I moved away from working with one man to a group of company where they have a bit of structure. I just want to experience how structure works, because where I was coming from, we are the accountant, site clerk, store keeper, I want to work in company where we have site engineers, others and to ensure I stay around and understand how a standard organisation operates, looking at the organisation’s organograms and all that. I worked with the firm for three years and to my surprise, when they interviewed me for the job, they placed me on a salary of N32,000 weekly allowances and I rose from being a site engineer to Deputy Project Manager. I was coordinating three projects at a time, one in Ilaje Bariga, Makoko and Agunlejika in the Cele area of Lagos and shuttled all these sites every day. At those sites, they were constructing different structures at that time. So, after working for a group of companies for about one and half years again, I also wanted to experience how it feels to work in a multinational company. I wanted more roles, and also wanted to see how multinational company looks like; what does it feels like to work in a multinational company, so I applied and as at the time I was applying, the available role was a trainee engineer so, I accepted the offer but it was a massive pay cut for me but I experienced efficiency, specialisation at the highest level working with organisation like that. And in 2010, I pulled out to form a company called Geostruct konsult Limited where we major in piling works.
With the number of building collapses in Lagos and Nigeria, infiltration of developers and the cost of building materials, you have been able to distinguish yourself, what is your secret?
I will tell you this, have I failed before; I will say yes, because failure inspires winners and deceives losers. In my career progression, I suffered fatal failure where I lost a lot of money; I had to demolish 11 units of terrace houses in Magodo due to construction on the major canal, the canal lane was blocked, if you know Magodo and Magodo brooks, what is separating the two, is a canal, some people said it’s land and they blocked the canal and our project is at the receiving end. Because I know the force of nature, how water behaves, we had an option whether to pull down the building or to ensure the canal stays. And since we don’t have control over the canal, we pulled down the buildings; in the process we lost about N370 million. We lost the money but none of our investors lost because we relocated some and refunded some. Truth hurts, but we are not going to deliver a project that cannot stand a test of time.
We will not pass on a project that would not last, we would rather cancel it. And in the cause of our eight years of running, we have had to cancel two projects as a result of environmental and foundation failures. These are the reasons why we have incessant collapse of buildings because they are trying to patch it up and mend it; nobody is going to give you what they don’t have. And as far as building collapses are concerned, if you look at the collapse in recent times, it follows the same pattern. Gone are those days that there was housing collapse only in the rainy season, now we have multiple structure housing collapse.
How come the area of pilling became of interest to you, was it because of the problem of building collapses?
As at that time, pilling was very complicated, people doing it at that time don’t have the technical prerequisite to undertake such projects and rate of foundation failing at that time was actually alarming and I took it upon myself to venture into piling, promising myself to do something differently and ensure that every client get value for their money. In 2010, the little money I gathered was around N570,000. I used it to start up a company called Jostrut Consult Limited. I put the money into the fabrication of what they called a dandle rig. It’s a smaller pilling ring locally manufactured and when this was done I called on people; the operators, we called them the riggers and they have many years of experience like me, so we formed partnership on this project. In 2014, Jostrut Consult has grown up to become a company that has over N500 million in both equipment and cash in the bank.
