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Until you own a house, you don’t have a fixed address- Chief Jamiu Onyide
Chief Oniyide Adewale Jamiu is the chief executive officer of
Jamlat Ike Anobi Nigeria Ltd, a property development firm, in this interview with Adebayo Obajemu, he talks about the state of the property in Nigeria, the high cost of building materials, housing problem among others. Excerpts:
What is the state of housing in Nigeria?
Deplorable! When you talk of the state of housing we talk of deprivation, we talk of a lot of homeless, we talk of millions of Nigeria without accommodation. There is no longer affordable, low-cost housing for the masses.
The government says they can no longer provide low-cost housing. Last week, Babatunde Fashola, Minister for Housing said building materials are expensive, and that there are no low-cost building materials. What most property companies do is to devise a way to help people who have no money to buy property once. For example, at Jamlat Ike Anobi Property, we give out our land at Adewolu village, Coker, Aja, Ibeju Lekki, Oko Murtala, Dangote. Moko Olokin near Ofada to people who wish to buy land on instalment. Once they pay a certain amount, we allow them to develop their land. That’s what most Property companies do these days to help the working class to own their land.
Why is the price of buying land so high these days?
Well, everything is costly now, and it is the goal of everyone to own their land. If you don’t have your property or land, you don’t have a fixed address. As far as I am concerned, the cost of buying land is still affordable. At Jamlat,
Plaza bus stop, No. 40 Ijokoro, Sango, something wonderful is happening. We try to teach people how to detect fake property dealers, we are working round the clock to reduce the rate of fraud in the land business. What many prospective land buyers don’t know is that the cost of processing land documentation and certification is expensive, and we try as much as possible not to inflict much pain on buyers, but there is no way, it will not affect buyers. If the government can make the process less expensive and less rigorous, the cost of buying land will reduce greatly.
Many prospective land buyers often express fears over the activities of land grabbers (Omo onile), what is your take?
The land we sell has no such issue of the unscrupulous activities of Omo onile. Once we sell land, you can begin to develop your land. In addition, we help people who buy land from us to develop their land at an affordable cost. We offer the total package, ensure our customers get value for money.
Of course, the phenomenon is still very much around. I think the Lagos State government has adequately dealt with the menace through legislation. Lagos State government has done well in that regards, I feel the need for other states to follow suit. My advice is that if you want to buy land approach reputable and credible property company. Don’t say you want to avoid expenses and run into a fraud. Do your proper investigation on the land you want to buy, carry out the due process on the seller, the state of the land, because some landfall into government acquisition and you may not know. Don’t just buy land, if you don’t want to lose your money.
