The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Developer

  • Developer assures of Smart City’s adequate sewage control

    To-promoters  of the Imperial International Business City (IIBC), the Elegushi Royal Family (ERF), has said the IIBC is designed to align with the Cleaner LagosIntiative (CLI) of Lagos State in line with the new global order.

    According to the royal family, the IIBC, on completion, will have facilities to cater for its own sewage and water control to ensure that the dream of making it a smart city is fully actualised.

    ERF head, Oba Saheed Elegushi, disclosed this in a chat with The Nation, after an inspection tour of the site with the city’s project consultant on infrastructure development, Messers Mott MacDonald Limited of London, United Kingdom.

    According to Oba Elegushi, sewage control is a huge task in any city. This, he explained, is the reason for the promoters’ determination to effectively manage waste and reduce its attendant burden on the new development. One of the strategies to be used is by  providing recycling facilities in the city.

    “The waste strategy places emphasis on collection of waste, segregation and treating this via appropriate facilities. We have also realised that by installing Biodigestors, we can supplement energy by providing supplemental generation from organic waste. This is very critical for the IIBC sustainability,” he said. The Royal Father further said the city’s managers will not relent in educating and imploring residents to operate and maintain clean, efficient waste facilities, as it contributes to the local economy.

    Oba Elegushi also explained that waste sources segregation will be encouraged within the residential, commercial and public sections of the city through education and awareness. The wastes, he explained, will be segregated into at least two streams in both residential and commercial properties- that is, recyclables and residual waste.

    “The emphasis will be on developing a sustained message that everyone should respect and take pride in participating. Waste storage areas will be kept away from publicly accessible areas and locked to ensure that access is restricted to the facility management teams and others approved trained members of staff,” he explained.

    He continued: “There will also be waste collection by a single collector. This will be enhanced through building twin waste chute system for low and high rise buildings; door to door collection; concierge system and a dedicated central storage area.

    “Other innovative solutions may include for waste management in the IIBC include provision of Material Recycling Facility (MRF) with manual picking and sorting lines; Anaerobic Digester for processing food waste to produce gas or electricity; or vessel composting to produce compost for sale or use on the island for landscape purposes; Small-Scale energy from waste incineration of residual waste after segregating the waste.

    Mott MacDonald team leader, Stuart Croucher, further explained that waste generated from the city will be split into three different streams for treatment and disposal for instance, adding that dry recyclables wastes will be further segregated, using MRF with manual picking and sorting lines. With this, he explained, products such as plastic, glass, metals and paper can be potentially sold back into the market.

    In dealing with organic wastes, Croucher said two options will be available: using anaerobic digester,  makes the waste to be fermented to produce methane where it is burned to produce electricity or be used as cooking gas. The remainder of the waste will be transformed into a Digestate where it can be used as compost. The second option is Vessel Composting, a technology that will provide the city with high quality compost to be used internally or exported off island.

    Croucher assured that portable water will be provided by the city management company. To ensure that water shortage is never experienced, potable water treatment plant and Deep Well Borehole with several pumping stations will be constructed. Water, he said, will be pumped from water treatment plant, using circular main which spurs off to each development area and to individual properties.

  • Developer to build IPP at Imperial ‘smart city’

    Developer to build IPP at Imperial ‘smart city’

    Electricity supply has continued to be a major concern in the country. Even in highbrow estates, stable electricity can only be guaranteed by the use of generators, a system that is not in sync with the current drive for clean energy usage.

    Lagos state’s new status of a megacity has thrown up the challenge of ensuring a clean and safe environment at all times, especially with the looming effect of climate change. This is why developers are now building into their housing projects, alternatives that will ensure that environmental pollution are drastically reduced, especially in the area of energy usage.

    This thinking and the future demands on the environment are the reasons a real estate developer and promoter of International Imperial Business City (IIBC), ChannelDrill Resources Limited, has concluded plans to include in its development of the first smart city in Africa, an independent power plant (IPP) to ensure that its smart city project, set for commencement next week, does not only enjoy stable power supply, but uses clean energy supply. The IIBC is a planned smart city located on a 200-hectare expanse land in Ikate  Kingdom, which is to be attained by dredging the Lagos Lagoon.

    In an exclusive chat with The Nation, ChannelDrill Managing Director, Mr. Olufemi Akioye, explained that the plans for the IPP in the smart city is to ensure that the city is intended to be self- sustained. Besides, the use of IPP within the city will ensure that there is no need for the use of generator by its residents, leading to clean energy.

    He also explained that the waste treatment plant to be built on the Island will be producing methane that will be used for production of more electricity or cooking gas. “Electricity will be available on 24/7 basis; cooking gas will also be piped into each building, thereby eliminating the usage of gas cylinders in the city,” Akioye explained.

    Shedding light on the power project within the development, Akioye explained that due to power supply intermittency, the developers have assumed that Lagos does not have capacity to uptake the new demand levels of the island. Therefore, a new intake substation on the Island would be supplied directly from an existing substation on the mainland via a subsea cable.

    Also, this, he further explained, will act as a secondary supply to the city and could potentially be used to export the surplus generated to the existing Lagos distribution network.

    Akioye said exhaust gasses from the generators used in the IPP will be treated by a dedicated gas cleaning plant to ensure that fumes released into the atmosphere complies  with international standards; secondary power will be generated by alternative sources such as waste to power plants, while liquefied natural gas (LNG) will be supplied to the city via barges. “Fuel will be pumped into bulk fuel storage bays via pipelines from the coast. Bulk storage feeds into a treatment plant before entering generator supply streams,” he explained.

    Akioye said the infrasture consultants to the project, Mott MacDonald Limited, London, United Kingdom, are also banking on past project experience on past Master Plans that were executed in climatic conditions similar to those of Lagos to estimate power density figures. He said this will be calculated for each load zone based on land allocation.

    “We are aware that air-conditioning is a large element within power demand in a highbrow area like the IIBC, so preliminary load estimate per plot is 100MVA,” he said.

  • Lagos denies pact with IT Mart developer

    The Lagos State government has denied  any deal with an Infrastructural firm development firm, Master Realty International Concept Limited, over its claims that it has government’s approval to build an ICT specialised mall beside the proposed Ikeja Bus Terminal.

    Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr. Wasiu Anifowoshe, issued the rebuttal in a statement in Ikeja, the state capital.

    He said the state government had not given a Planning Permit for such development.

    Anifowoshe said: “This information is false. The Lagos State government did not issue any permit to him because his plans are not in sync with the state government’s regeneration plan. So, it is not possible for him to obtain approval from the appropriate authorities.”

    The commissioner said the state government remained committed to the actualisation of the relocation of Computer Village from Ikeja to Katangowa.

    He stressed that the government was committed to the continuous implementation of the provisions in the Ikeja Model City Plan, which designated Computer Village for residential use.

    This, he noted, was meant to achieve urban regeneration and increase housing stock.

    Anifowose said the take-off of the Katangowa project was at its final stage, even as he said the government would ensure its completion as scheduled.

  • How Nigerians can own homes, by developer

    Nigerians waiting on the government for social housing may wait for a long time. This is because the economic reality does not leave room for the government to embark on such capital intensive venture. Nigerians should leverage the enabling environment being provided by the government to own homes.

    This was the submission of the Chief Executive  Officer of LASHONE Links Group of Companies, Dr. Lanre Shonekan, at the 7th Annual Stakeholders and Real Estate Investment Forum of the firm held in Lagos at the weekend.

    Shonekan, in a chat with The Nation, said with an efficient mortgage system, more Nigerians would be able to own homes. He, however, noted that many are not aware of the processes to getting a mortgage.

    Besides, he explained that because of the high cost of building, his firm has researched into how to build cheap and efficient houses, using different materials, and at the same time training people in real estate development and management.

    To achieve this, the firm, Shonekan said, has partnered with another  firm that specialises in a technology that allows building with containers; this technology makes it possible to own a two-bedroom apartment with about N1.5 million.

    “We are exploring ways of delivering quality houses at very affordable costs to our people; and we have partnered with a reputable mortgage bank to make this possible. The 18 estates we have is a testimony to our desire to make more Nigerians home owners at relative low cost,” Shonekan said.

    He explained that the firm is also into training and skills acquisition programme which cuts across all facets of human endeavour. This is because of its belief in equipping people for the future and also assists its trainees to get access to funds to start up their business. These include players in the real estate sector.

    Its mortgage partners, AG Mortgage Bank,  Plc, through its head of business development, Mr. Chibuzor Ifenkwe, explained that the way forward out of recession in the country is not for people to solely depend on the government alone but be meaningfully engaged in job creation through skills acquisition.

    “We know very much that government cannot  generate employment that would go round and when you see people that are ready to be supported, the bank is willing to do that,” Ifenkwe said, adding that the bank has been in the partnership for sometime, helping trainees and graduates of the school because of Lashone Links Business School’s outstanding record of training and meaningfully engaging people in skill acquisition.

  • Developer ‘fleeces’ residents fleeing Ikorodu

    Over 150 Ikorodu residents seeking accommodation at Surulere and Coker areas of Lagos State have been allegedly defrauded by a property developer identified as Kabiru Adeyemi.

    The residents, who claimed the total amount paid the developer amounted to about N50million, said they resorted to flee from Ikorodu following the spate of kidnappings and killings by ritual gang, Badoo in the area.

    It was gathered that the victims, comprising about 100 families, had paid the developer for alternative accommodations at Iponri, Aguda, Coker and Orile.

    Most of the victims including widows, it was gathered, were squatting with relatives in Lagos after abandoning their homes at Ikorodu.

    It was learnt that Adeyemi charged some of the victims N240,000 per year for a room and parlour apartment, but when they went to take possession of their respective apartments, they discovered people were already in them.

    Irked by the development, some of the victims were said to have filed a complaint at the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (FCIID), Alagbon, which led to Adeyemi’s arrest.

    The victim’s were said to have protested to the International Centre for Human Rights, Non Violence and Safety (ICHR) office, Alaka Estate, Iponri, lamenting that they were stranded.

    A victim, Linus Ejiofor said he fled Ikorodu in May and has been squatting with a relative.

    He said he paid N200,000 for a self-contained and promised to balance N150,000 when he got the key, but another person had occupied.

    Ejiofor also lamented that he introduced a lot of people from Ikorodu to the developer, not knowing it was a scam.

    Narrating her ordeal, one Mrs. Johnson said: “I fled my house in Ikorodu following incessant attacks from Badoo. I contacted an agent to help me get a place and he took me to a house undergoing renovation at Mashalasi Street, Iponri. I saw a woman, Mrs Fumilayo and a man called JJ.

    “Mrs. Fumilayo told me that she and her husband were the developers renovating the house. My agent and I inquired about a mini flat and she said it was N250 for one year. She told me to make payment into her bank account which I did. I brought the teller to her and was issued a receipt.

  • Developer rues downturn, unveils multi-million naira properties

    Developer rues downturn, unveils multi-million naira properties

    The Managing Director, OMAIS Investments Nigeria Limited, a firm of estate developers, Chief Omochiere Aisagbonhi, has lamented the downturn in the economy and its effect of the real estate business in the country.

    Aisagbonhi, who noted that governments of other countries  give genuine business men interest free loans and bail outs to ensure that they continue in business, regretted that it has been  the opposite in Nigeria where government stifle and suffocate small businesses with taxes.

    He lamented that his company,   because of economic downturn, has retrenched over 78 per cent of its members of staff and shrunk its operations to about 10 per cent. “Government is talking about security issues, yet people are daily losing their means of livelihood to bad policies,” he lamented.

    His firm, he said, borrowed money at 30 per cent interest rate, and wondered how it can break even. According to him, N100 million was borrowed in 2014  from a bank and has incurred N90 million as interest on the loan, wondering how long the company can keep afloat while operating at 10 per cent capacity utilisation.

    Aisagbonhi, who spoke at the unveiling of his firm’s latest feat in the real estate sector, called on the government to come out with robust policies to help businesses and address the problem of multiple taxation. While specifically mentioning the difficulties associated with procuring approval in land documents and ownership transfers, he advised government to monitor its officials in sensitive ministries and parastatals.

    Top on the list of the now available properties is the estate in Agungi, Lekki, in Lagos. The estate, comprising terraces, which sit on 2, 600 square meters, is located behind Shoprite and French Colony. The spacious property is made of eight units of four-bedroom terrace with Boys Quarters.

    Aisagbonhi listed some of the distinct facilities in the Agungi terraces to include swimming pool, playground for children and recreation. He said no other estate in the axis has such generous space and competitive facility at modest price of N60 million per unit.

    Aisagbonhi said the recession, which seriously hit the sector, had eaten deep into his company’s bottom line. He, however, said he remained to provide exquisite residential apartments for middle to high income areas in Lagos and beyond, adding that he has provided mortgage facilities for between 30 to 35 per cent to prospective clients to enable them move into their apartment while they continue with their monthly mortgage plan.

    The developer, in a chat  said, his company’s semi-detached duplexes in Gbagada comprises two units 4-bedroom semi-detached duplexes with one room boys’ quarter goes for a modest price of N55 million each. This, according to him, has between 6 -18 months mortgage to enable prospective subscribers have part of the tastefully furnished upscale residential buildings.

    According to him, the third apartment, a 10-unit super luxury apartments at Shonibare Estate, Maryland, is one of the most secured areas in Lagos, especially with security being an issue in the city.

    The apartments, he said, have fitted kitchen, stainless steel appliances, washing machine, 24-hour security service, Closed Circuit Television (CCTV), electric fence, automated alarm system, water borehole, among others.

  • Court orders developer’s arrest

    An Igbosere Magistrates’ Court has ordered the police to arrest a property developer, Felix Ezeamama, and bring him to court on a charge of unlawful property demolition.

    Chief Magistrate O. O. Oshin (Mrs) issued the warrant following Ezeamama’s failure to appear in court over an allegation that he masterminded the damage of twin blocks of flats at No. 41 Alfred Rewane Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.

    The complainant, Alhaja Halima Abubakar, alleged that Ezeamama, last Saturday at about 4am, deployed over  30 thugs to destroy the property.

    The arrest warrant of May 9, 2017 ordered the police to bring the defendant to court to answer the charge of malicious damaged filed against him.

    The complainant further alleged that the hoodlums also vowed to kll her if she did not voluntarily surrender the property.

    The warrants states “Following complaint made that you Felix Ezeamama on May 6, 2017 maliciously damaged a property situated at Number 41 Alfred Rewane Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.

    “The defendant (Ezeamama) was thereupon summoned to appear before the Magistrates’ Court, in the Lagos Magisterial District at 1200hrs to answer the said charge. Oath has been taken that the defendant was duly served with the summons but did not appear. You are therefore hereby commanded to bring the defendant before the Magistrates’ Court to answer the said complaint and be further dealt with according to law.”

    The complainant had alleged that the invaders, wielding cutlasses, sledge-hammers and guns, forcibly entered her rooms and seriously injured her, her 91-year-old mother and her daughter.

    She said they rummaged through her belongings and stole £7000, $5000, N5million and jewellery, adding that some of the  hoodlums came in army uniforms and threatened to kill her and “nothing will happen.”

    Abubakar said her household was awakened that morning by the sound of people trying to force her gate open with sledgehammers.

    According to her, the invaders broke down her fence, forced their way into house and its rooms and dragged her 91-year-old mother out of bed.

    She and her mother, she added, sustained bruises all over their bodies as they were dragged out and her mother also injured her left knee.

    “The thugs pushed into the apartment, dragged us from the house. One of the hoodlums grabbed and twisted my neck but only God protected me from his hands.

    “They manhandled my elderly mother before rummaging through my belongings and carted away £7000, $5000 and N5million as well as my jewellery,” Abubakar said said she reported the matter at the Ikoyi Police Station.

    She added: “I am a retired civil servant and I retired as a principal accountant after 35 years of service. The property in dispute was allocated to me by the Federal Government. The problem started when I refused to sell my two flats a property developer, Felix Ezeamama.

    “I have been living here for more than 40 years along with other retired civil servants. While others sold their houses to Ezeamama, I refused to sell mine.”

    Abubakar said ownership of the property was the subject of a litigation between her and several defendants including Ezeamama, in suit No-LD/2036/3016, before Justice Wasiu Animahun of the Lagos High Court, Igbosere.

    Justice Animahun, on April 26 after the Case Management Conference (CMC), ordered parties to maintain the status quo and returned the case file to the administrative judge to be re-assigned for trial.

  • Developer takes home ownership to the grassroots

    Developer takes home ownership to the grassroots

    Amid  growing concern of stakeholders on the lingering housing in the country, some industry players have seized the bull by the horns to ensure that Nigerians do not become homeless. And while most developers are concentrating on highbrow areas for estate development, a young and upwardly mobile developer is gradually taking homes to the majority of Nigerians who truly need a home.

    The firm of realtors and investment firm, Pertinence Nigeria Limited, promoters of the ABC and VIP Gardens Estate, said it is gradually achieving its objectives by building houses for Nigerians through the purchase of large expanses of land at places people had thought could not be developed. In this regard, the firm said it is  contributing its quota by reversing the housing shortage in the land.

    The Founders and Executive directors of the firm, Sunday Olorunseyi and Wisdom Ezekiel, in a chat with The Nation, explained that Nigerians have come to realise that  owning a house is a personal responsibility, such that waiting for government to help them in this regard would mean waiting till eternity given its huge responsibilities and cash constraints.

    According to the duo, Pertinence is assisting Nigerians by reducing the costs associated with home ownership, some of which are things that the firm has taken off a prospective house owner. For instance, Ezekiel explained that owing to financial constraint, his firm has been able to acquire large expanse of land which are then divided into plots and sold at reduced prices.

    Besides, he explained that Nigerians have decided to solve their own housing problems by themselves; hence, they get involved in monthly savings to acquire land- an option his firm readily provides a platform for.

    “This is an indication that the market is yet to attain its potential, but in a place like Lagos State, for instance, the deficit is gradually closing up, because people now realise that you can start building a house with N50,000, and that is now being entrenched in other parts of the country,” Olorunseyi said.

    The executive directors of the Lagos-based firm, who spoke at the super promo launch organised by their company last weekend in Egbeda area of Lagos State, said it is in realisation of this desire and to ease life for Nigerians that the firm put together the promo so as to put smiles on the faces of some prospective home owners. In the promo, six plots of lands were given out in a raffle draw to lucky winners.

    The super promo launch, they explained, is their own little corporate social responsibility to the society.

    “This is our own way of appreciating our teeming customers for believing in us since we started business about five years ago. We are giving out six plots of land in any of our estates and all expense-paid return ticket to Dubai to winners today. We are doing this to help people to become home owners. We have done this for about five times now”, the co-founders stated.

  • Lekki gridlock: Developer builds N30m road

    An estate developer, Mr Kennedy Okonkwo, has constructed a N30 million road in Lafiaji area of Lekki, Lagos State.

    Okonkwo, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Nedcomoaks Limited said the road was part of his contribution towards solving transportation problems in his immediate environment.

    Speaking at the inauguration of Victoria Crest Estate 1, built by his company, Okonkwo said: ‘’I built the road without the support of the community and government to solve transportation problems within the community.‘’

    He appealed to the government to provide land and other incentives for real estate developers to solve housing problems in Nigeria.

    His words: “The government needs to rise up to its responsibility to ensure that financing is made available to developers. Government needs to partner with notable and qualified developers to make sure that land is readily available for them to build affordable houses and also build infrastructure like roads. When people have more roads made available, developers can go to different areas in satellite towns and government will take accolades for it.

    “We have been able to create employment directly and indirectly for over 2,000 Nigerians in different areas. That constitutes most of our achievements. When people have employment, insecurity and crimes will reduce because people are employed. We have also been able to achieve developing communities because we have built roads and houses in many communities.

    “We can meet housing needs effectively when there is finance. When developers have financing, they can assist government in providing housing for many people in Nigeria. When government gives additional incentives to developers in terms of land, it will help developers to build more housing units for people in different parts of the country.”

  • Gbagyi women move against developer

    Gbagyi women move against developer

    Situated along the airport road in the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT), Gosa Market for years now has remain one of the most popular markets in the nation’s capital.

    Gosa Market comes alive every Friday with people come all over Abuja including neighbouring towns to buy and sell.

    According to investigations and patronage, commodities of all kinds are cheaper.

    It was like a joke when traders at Gosa Market learnt that some developers are laying claim to the land occupying the market.

    Gbagyi women in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) under the auspices of Gbagyi Women Association (GWA) have taking it up and staged a peaceful protest against move by an estate developer to take over the market space, calling on the FCT Minister, Mallam Mohammed Bello to intervene and rescue the traders from been evacuated from the market.

    The traders who said that their lives are been threatened by developer’s moves, stated that the market has been the source of survival for the indigent people in the FCT and if allowed to be taken away lives may br lost.

    Mrs. Ladi Danladi, President of the Gbagyi women association, who led the protest said that they are appealing to the FCT Minister to protect them, so that this market will not be taken away from them.

    “This government of President Muhammad Buhari is a government that came to fight for the poor and we believe that this government will fight for us. We are here because we do not want the developer Alhaji Umaru Usman to take our market.

    “Because this market is meant for the poor people in Abuja, as this is the only place we can afford. If you go to Garki or Wuse market, you cannot find our type there, because we cannot pay their exhobitant shop rents which ranges from N500,000 to N1,000,000.

    “However, in this market a trader can comfortably do business with N2,000 and take care of his or her family. So, we do not want this market to be taken away from us, because this is our source of survival,” she said.

    Speaking on behalf of GG-DIN, Comrade Jethro Iliya, Special Adviser on Media to the President of GG-DIN, who who was amongst the protesting women said that the case is a very critical one, in the sense that the market has been in existence for ages, and the interest of an individual cannot override the interest of the public.

    “This is a market for the general public and one man cannot just come and chase thousands of traders away simply because he has money and wants to develop the place for his personal interest. This is a market that feeds not just residents of the FCT, but also people from the neigbouring states.

    “This market serves as a meeting point between those from the town and in the villages. Those in the villages who go to farm bring their produces to the marker and those who need them at cheaper rate come here and patronise them.

    “In the struggle to ensure that this market is retained, we had a meeting with the former Minister of the FCT, Sen. Bala Mohammed and he told us that as long as the original inhabitants are here, and they are not been resettled compensated, this market will stay.

    “That whoever comes here that he has been alloted this plot, should come back to the FCTA for reallocation of another plot of land, other he should wait for the original inhabitants to be resettled and compensated. So, we expect that this Minister should assist us by following the same line as his predecessor, because we beleive in his government,” he said.