The lifestyle of Mike Adeyemi Smart, the boss of B.J, Adeyemi Smart Property and Co., presents him as a man with the ability to adapt to any situation that life may throw at him. Though he studied Peace and Conflict Resolution in the university, he made his fortune in the real estate business.
Interestingly, one thing that is close to his heart is politics. He is one of the chieftains of the Action congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Agbado/Oke Odo LCDA of Lagos State.
As a politician, he enjoys close relationship with the Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy.
Bola Smart, an HND Marketing graduate, said he was pushed into real estate business because of his compassion for people with accommodation problems.
“I love peace very well,” he said. “When I discovered that people were crying for housing, I mean people were homeless and living on the streets, I simply couldn’t take my eyes away from helping them.
“I also discovered that shelter is one of the major needs of the people. The moment you have accommodation, every other thing becomes secondary.”
Most of the houses developed in the community have his input in one way or the other. It was in recognition of his contributions to the real estate business that he was given an award as the best developer in his community.
Some people find building houses a Herculean task, he said, advising that those in this category should worry less since it is the job of estate developers to assist in making their dream a reality.
He also manages many of the shopping complexes and estates at Ijaiye, a suburb of Lagos. “I help people to manage their complexes, buy land and build it,” she said.
Without doubt, land is an issue in Lagos and its environs. But Smart says he abhors violence in whatever form, saying that when it is time to build, he has mastered how to deal with the numerous street urchins otherwise called omo onile who have frustrated many prospective home owners in Lagos.
”If I’m building a house, I know who and who to settle. Even before I start, I know what to do,” he said.
The property manager described himself as comfortable, while denying the existence of fraudulent estate operators in the system.
“People are frustrated when they give people money to build house for them and the developer fails to build. You give a real estate person money to rent a house for you, and he runs away with your money. This is very annoying,” he said.
He is not oblivious of the fact that people live under the bridge as a result of fraudulent estate agents. But when you have accommodation, you are psychologically balanced and your mind is at rest. But when you have accommodation problem, there is the tendency for you to develop high blood pressure.
A certified estate agent, he said he had to undergo training and get certified before starting his estate business.
He is greatly excited by the tenancy bill signed by the Lagos State Governor. He sees it as win-win situation for everybody, and described the bill as a right decision by the government.
He said: “The bill contributes to our income. It does not even affect the landlords in any negative way. If they collect their five-year rent, they will waste it and spend it at once. But if it were one year, the money will be handy to solve their immediate needs.
“The service charge for estate developers is not negotiable, the bill does not affect us. If you go through the bill very well, it said your service charge should be collected from your client. It does not state the amount. It does not compel the amount we should collect from our agent.”
While disclosing that Lagos government is still working hard to provide accommodation for the people, he blamed the dearth of the accommodation in Lagos on contractors in charge of these housing estates, who he said have made it expensive for low income earners.
”But it is a matter of time; things will stabilise.”
He, however, commended the Lagos State Government for getting round the problem with the passage of the rent bill by Governor Babatunde Fashola.
“The challenge of doing estate business in Nigeria is enormous. Some landlords give some tenants problems. Some clients also give agents problem.”
In his 20 years on the job, trust, he confessed, had been his albatross. His nose had been bloodied many times. “Most times, after giving money to the landlord and paying commission to the agents, the landlord would come up with a story that he was no longer renting out his house. In that case, the money I could recover was the one I paid to the landlord. The client would insist on getting his money in full.
“The challenge of developing properties is immense, especially in a polygamist family. If you had and agreement with a family, other members of the same family may come out, claiming rights. They can even take you to court and stop the job.”
Though he is a very busy man, with the job consuming most of his time, he confessed that he is still able to steal a few hours to disappear and rest.
“I relax by disappearing two or three hours to enjoy my rest. Sometimes, I would switch off my phones so that I can enjoy the rest. I may travel to my home town, Ode Omu in Osun State, so that nobody would disturb me. And truly, that is the only place that I can really rest without any disturbance. The moment I come into Lagos, there is hardly any room for me to rest because the phones would start ringing.”
