… Urges Inclusion Of Strong Monitoring Team, Credible Developers To Ensure Success
Ambassador (Dr) Babatunde Adeyemo, a renowned real estate entrepreneur and CEO of Pelican Valley Nigeria Limited, has praised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration for its bold initiative to address Nigeria’s housing needs. The planned nationwide 100,000 housing units project, he said, is a game-changer that will revitalize the economy, drive national development, and significantly reduce the country’s over 20 million housing deficit.
Adeyemo commended the recent allocation of N126.5 billion from the 2023 supplementary and 2024 budget to fund the project, calling it a laudable step towards addressing the nation’s housing challenges. He urged the President to partner with credible private developers and establish a strong monitoring team to ensure the project’s success.
Adeyemo made his remarks on Friday, May 24, while appearing on the “Meet the Guest” program, a monthly media interactive session organized by the Consolidated Chapel of the Ogun State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Abeokuta, the state capital.
He said, “It (100,000 housing project) is one of the best things that ever happened to Nigeria because many of the past administrations did not put funds into the real estate industry. The present administration at the Centre released N126.5b to finance housing in the country. I see that as a wonderful development. the 100,000 if properly monitored and followed through, it will reduce the housing deficit in the country
“It is very important that the federal government should look for ways to get people of ‘timbre and calibre,’ people of integrity, people that have done it with proven track records to monitor this project. It is very important because we have seen it in the past. Most of the governments in the past put funds into the real estate sector but we have not seen the value for it simply because they were not monitored.
“So, I want to implore President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to follow up this housing project with a very strong monitoring team, strong professionals with good antecedents, people that can deliver, people of high integrity and character because it is very important because once the people to oversee the project are not of high integrity, you would see that at the end of the day everything goes down the drain.”
And speaking on the topic titled, “The Place of Shelter In the life of man,” he said governments at all levels can effectively solve the people’s housing needs by leveraging on credible private developers through making lands available and facilitating a single – digit credit facility for them to build affordable housing for Nigerians.
According to him, the governments alone cannot do it as they needed private developers to complement their efforts at making affordable housing accessible by Nigerians, particularly people of the low and middle income brackets.
He said, “The story of my foray into Real Estate business is in a way intertwined with life experiences as a young boy living with my parents in Lagos with a strong passion to have a second address to my first calling, which is journalism.
“In Lagos, I saw first hand the stark reality of life without affordable housing and what it meant to live in a house partly completed. So, it is not for nothing that when God provided the opportunity, I didn’t misuse it. I made early provision of shelter for myself and my nucleus family as a goal because I did not want a repeat of the unpleasant experiences of the past resulting from lack of a comfortable accommodation.
“Housing is a primary need in the Iife of a man, society and nation. It is very critical to man’s survival, wellbeing and dignity. This is also the reason Abraham Maslow placed it as one of the items on the first layer of needs in his Hierarchy of Needs theory.
“It is in this perspective also I would like to use this important event of the Consolidated Chapel of the Ogun State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) to commend President Bola Ahmed Tinubu – led federal government on its housing projects.
“The President recently approved N126.5 billion from the 2023 supplementary and 2024 budget for the delivery of a total of 100,000 housing units nationwide within 18 months, according to media reports.
“As reported by the media, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Ahmed Dangiwa, during the groundbreaking ceremony for 3,112 housing units and the launch of the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates, in Karsana area in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) informed that the funding for the projects would come from the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development’s budgetary allocation, the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), and Public Private Partnerships with reputable developers.
“There is no doubt that these laudable housing projects will go a long way towards re-invigorating our economy, drive national development and move the country towards bridging the over 20 million housing deficit we are grappling with as a people .
“As the private developers will be part of the stakeholders to drive this federal government’s housing projects, I will implore Mr President to look out carefully and engage only developers of proven integrity, credibility, honour and track record to ensure the actualization of his 100,000 housing scheme for Nigerians.
“The federal government can also support developers like us by making lands available to us and facilitate a single – digit credit facility to build affordable housing for Nigerians. The government alone cannot do it. governments at the three levels should partner diligent real estate firms like us support and complement their efforts at making affordable housing accessible by Nigerians, particularly people of the low and middle income brackets.”
He also bemoaned the fate of low and middle income earners regarding the daunting challenges they faced trying to own personal shelters in the country, saying it is going to be extremely difficult for the state and federal government to build low cost housing estates for them in an inflation – ridden economy.
He explained that the government does not have control over the cost of raw materials – cement, steel, roofing sheet, manpower or have the resources to subsidize them.
“It is going to be extremely difficult for the state and federal government to have low cost housing estates. I’m saying it categorically as a real estate entrepreneur. The reason is that there cannot be low cost housing estates in an inflation – ridden economy because the prices of Cement in the market cannot be subsidized by government. There is a limit to what the government can subsidize.
“The government does not manufacture iron(steel), government does not manufacture cement, granites and sand. Government won’t send manpower to operators in the build industry. What does the government have apart from the land? Even the land you cannot just go hijack land from the custodians of the land. Who will compensate them? We see government using land use Act to take land from people. it is bad. If you take land from people, you must compensate them.”
Speaking earlier, the chairman of the Consolidated Chapel of the Ogun State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Com. Pelumi Olukoga, identified the Pelican Valley CEO as a foundation member of the Chapel and a critical stakeholder who invested his time and resources towards building it up before going into the real estate business fully.
Olukoga commended Adeyemo for the sustenance of the cordial relationship between him and former colleagues in the journalism profession, saying they would continue to tap from his wealth of experience.
