Category: Building & Properties

Land speculators are capitalising on Nigerians’ quest to own houses in estates without basic amenities. Yet, the prices are exploitative, reports Assistant Editor MUYIWA LUCAS

 

As his retirement drew nearer, the fear of not owning his personal house became overwhelming. For 25 years, Segun Ojedokun, 55, has been a tenant. So, when a dashing young man approached him about an estate where he could buy a land, he was elated.

The land, allegedly situated on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, has “standard facilities in a serene environment, he was told.”

But, Ojedokun was disappointed, after a visit to the location – it was a virgin land, without signs to correlate with what he saw on a flyer. He left the place dejected.

Emeka Ikechukwu, a businessman had a similar experience. Swayed by the ability of a young female marketer and the very attractive building and layout printed on a flyer, he agreed to buy two plots in an estate around Agbara, Ogun State.

Following his friend’s probe of the marketer, Ikechukwu was shocked to learn that what he saw on the flyer, was a charade since the ‘estate’ was still a virgin land in an obscure location. While Ojedokun and Ikechukwu could thank their stars for not losing money, Dele Oguntade, a retired civil servant, cannot.

For him, it was a double loss as he could not get the land purportedly allocated to him, neither did he get a refund for the land he bought in Ikorodu, on the outskirts of Lagos State. Oguntade has since relocated to the United States.

The property industry is awash with offers by land speculators who parade themselves as estate promoters. This is prevalent in Ogun State, which is close to Lagos, where land is not only scarce, but expensive. It is estimated that over 20 of such estates have sprung up around the state.

The Nation findings revealed that the catch in these estates is the same: flexible payment options spread over six to 24 months, after an initial deposit pegged at between 10 and 30 per cent. Also, prospective buyers are assured of state-of-the-art facilities, such as infrastructure with interlocking paved roads, or ashphalt road network, drainage, electricity, street lights, perimeter fencing with gate, estate 3D layout, global, health centres, security (fire and police station), sewage system, adequate water supply, green areas, playgrounds, and easy transfer of ownership. Such lands are also said to be free from any encumbrance, or government acquisition.

One of such estates is on the Simawa-Ikorodu Road.

According to its website, two options are available for the land – payment of N1.5 million for a plot, or an instalment payment option offered at N2 million per plot and payable over 10 months.

Another estate is springing up in Agbara-Igbesa/Atan area of Ado-Odo Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State. It costs N750, 000 to own a plot there if one is paying at once, with an option of the buyer enjoying a 10 per cent discount. However, three other payment options available are spread over 24 to 42 months.

Although the flyer and handbills advertising this estate say it has modern facilities, what is on ground presents a different story as the “estate” is still a virgin land without tangible development. The company’s website also failed to open after several attempts.

Efforts to get the promoters for comments failed. When a call was put through to the company, a young man who responded, said only the marketing director could comment.

Contacted two days later, the same man said his boss was not ready to speak since the company was trying to “re-strategise” its operations. However, on the company’s website are pictures of “physical allocation exercise,” held on July 13, last year. For now, allocation has been put on hold, while nothing on ground points to the picture painted on its website.

Yet, there are reasons for the continued survival of mush room estates. For Olaniyi Sanni, a civil servant, the fact that he is saved from the stress of dealing with “omo onile” is enough to patronise estate promoters. “Buying land in an estate frees you from dealing with omo onile, whose activities can be a nuisance,” he said. For others, the allure is the ease of payment encouraged such promoters.

However, chances of a subrisciber losing as much as 30 per cent of his money are high in case of a payment default or when a client decides to withdraw from the offer.

While “estates” keep springing up in every corner, the development with the associated challenge of standard assurance is worrisome. Most estates in this category are said to be substandard and not fit to be so called. Although the government is said to grant approvals for the creation of such estates, their substandard state continues to amaze stakeholders. This is blamed on the failure of regulation and supervision.

The unfulfilled promises of adequate security and provision of infrastructure, among others, by promoters of the estate, also leave much to be desired. When The Nation contacted the Bureau of Lands, in Ogun State, no body seemed willing to talk on the regulation of these “estates.” Throughout last week, the information officer could not proffer any explanation either on phone or through an electronic mail, which she asked to be sent to her, saying she had “internet network problem.” By Friday evening, the Director-General, Adewale Mr Osinowo, could not be reached.

Mr Richard Ibilola, an architect and senior consultant with a building construction firm in Lagos, said there are two ways to set up an estate-by putting up the infrastructure and allocating plots for people to buy and develop; and second, by developing fully built structures and selling same to the public. Ibilola, in a chat with The Nation, said there is no standardised estate in this category of estates, especially in Ogun State.

He said most of the promoters were only acting as land speculators and know nothing about estate management and development.

Explaining how the “estates” came to being, he said owners of such mushroom estates either bought a large expanse of land from a family or get paid with land allocation by land vendors, popularly known as omo onile, as commission for helping to sell parts of their land; and therefore, they cannot be said to be developing an estate.

 

GLOBAL Environmental Facility (GEF) gave $23 million grants to Nigeria in four years, Mrs. Halima Mohammed, assistant director and GEF’s Desk Officer in the Federal Ministry of Environment has said.

The grants, according, to her, were for various environmental projects across the country.

She said the funds were being used to implement projects in the Fifth replenishment cycle which is expected to end next June. The grant is used under three focal areas — climate change, biodiversity and land degradation.

Giving a breakdown of the grant, Mohammed said over $14 million was received for climate change; $5 million biodiversity; and $3 million land degradation.

The allocation is under the System for Transparent Allocation of Resources (STAR), which allows GEF to allocate funds to countries to implement projects in specific focal areas.

Apart from the $23 million grant, the country has also benefited under STAR. He GEF also okayed over $6 million for implementation of some projects under Persistent Organic Pollutants category.

GEF is a counterpart funding scheme between the benefiting country and the body.

“Nigeria may decide on the modality to pay the counterpart funding, through the Federal Government, states or the communities. The communities contribute by giving lands and by the time you quantify this, they would have made a substantial contribution to the project,’’ she added.

The GEF works with countries to produce global environmental benefits and based on national priorities for sustainable development.

It is the largest funding agency for environmental initiatives in the world, which also provides grants for projects related to biodiversity and climate change.