A lot of people have become successful through real estate business in Nigeria, especially in the last 10 years. The sector has produced from time to time, millionaires and billionaires who are successful real estate players.
The majority of these players are Lagos based and most of their business are also in Lagos. Some of them are from humble background with a lot of stories. Many of them often talk about their humble beginning whenever they are given the chance to speak. This is done to motivate and inspire the newcomers who are still struggling to make name for themselves in the real estate industry. Below are touching grass to grace stories of successful property players who are big players in the real estate sector today.
DR STEPHEN AKINTAYO
Dr Stephen Akintayo is one of the hottest topics in the Nigerian real estate sector right now. Dr Stephen is the founder of Gtext Homes, one of the subsidiaries of Gtext Global.
Born in the Gonge area of Maiduguri, Borno State, the North-Eastern part of Nigeria, in a very impoverished environment by a civil servant mother who raised him and his four other siblings with her meagre salary. His father’s contract business had crumbled before he was born.
His passion for philanthropy was informed by his upbringing. In his words: “My surname was poverty. Hunger was my biggest challenge. I had to scavenge all through primary school to eat lunch, as I didn’t go to school with lunch packs. We were too poor to afford that, but things got better in my secondary school days.
Although, my mum would go to her colleagues to borrow money to send me to school each term. It was humiliating when I see them looking at my mum with utter dismay as someone who kept begging. It hurt dearly. I hated poverty and I pray to help more families to come out of it.”
Dr Stephen learnt how to spell the word “THE” in JSS 1. His educational background was faulty. You could easily conclude that Stephen would never amount to anything in life. He spent ages 8-12 in an environment without electricity, within a forest region of Maiduguri-Damboa road. “I laid on a mattress at age 13 for the first time”, he said. At 17, he read his first business book, “Rich Dad Poor Dad” and the rest is history today.
DR KENNEDY OKONKWO
This is a grass to grace story of one of Nigeria’s top real estate tycoons, Dr Kennedy Okonkwo, MD/CEO, Nedcomoaks.
Amidst the economic misery, Dr Okonkwo accomplished one of the major highpoints of his real estate career, which was the completion of Victoria Bay 3, a sprawling real estate project comprising 587 units of houses. Dr Okonkwo marked the feat by announcing that he was stepping down as CEO of Victoria Crest Homes (a subsidiary of Nedcomoaks Ltd) and passing over the baton to his wife, then. There he revealed alot about his past. “Hence today, the mantle of leadership has been handed over to my partner and wife, Ichechi Okonkwo, to continue to move on with the vision, while I focus on strategic things aimed at expanding the portfolio of the group in itself. “The decision that day was a reflection of how far Dr Okonkwo had come in life, and his new reality stands in stark contrast to his humble beginning as the son of a poor retired soldier who could not afford to provide a decent shelter for his family and struggled to finance his education. Despite the reality of his parents’ poverty, Okonkwo showed great promise in his academics. His impressive performance in school inspired his father to go all out to support his education despite his limited earnings.Part of the reason why Kennedy’s father supported his education so much was that he saw his brilliant son as a visa out of poverty. “My dad saw education as the only critical thing needed for true survival,” Dr Okonkwo said. At a point, the burden of funding his education became too much for his father’s lean pocket, so he sought help from an uncle. “He had to meet my uncle to tell him his son needed an education. And my uncle told him to go and calculate what it would cost to train me from now till university. When he returned to my uncle, my uncle threw the paper at him because he felt the bill was hefty. “But, dad felt even if nobody was going to support him to educate this his young brilliant son, he was going to go the extra mile to do all that was needed to get me educated,” Dr Okonkwo stated.That rejection left a lasting mark on his young mind and strengthened his resolve towards success. Life under Ikeja Bridge. It wasn’t long after Kennedy lost his father. He was only 16, and at the time and his life was torn into shreds. Not only was his education in jeopardy as a result of his father’s untimely demise, but his family was also evicted from their home in Ebute Metta, a Lagos suburb. At a point, the only place they called home was under the Ikeja bridge in Lagos State.
Today, this young man in his 40s is one of the biggest real estate players in Nigeria. His real estate company Nedcomoaks has provided thousands of houses in the last few years in business.
DR BAMIDELE ONALAJA
Dr Bamidele Onalaja is another name. The current Chairman, Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria, Lagos Chapter also shares his humble background.
The successful real estate guru is always using his past to encourage the new players.
“I have told you time and time again that I worked as a Coca-Cola truck boy. I have a mark on my leg as a result of a bottle that broke and injured my leg. I can never forget it. As a truck boy, you live from hand to mouth. But I am grateful to God for where I am today”.
He’s one of the players who is highly successful today.
When I finished from Lagos State University where I studied Economics. I worked with Chief Adeyemi Lawson and that was my first job. It’s the first private real estate company in Nigeria, Agbara Estate. I was the Marketing Manager for 2 years. And that’s where I developed a love for real estate. While growing up, some of my father/mother’s friends, who worked in the ministry then left the ministry broke and poor. They left there without any house. Many of them live in government houses for up to 60 years and above. These were some of the things that touched my heart and I said I want to help this kind of people. And I started gathering experiences about 20 years ago at Agbara Estate. And I said I was going to make the difference.
I also had the opportunity of working with Refuge Mortgage Bank. That was my first mortgage experience. At Refuge, I was able to create mortgage products through real estate for clients. I was the head of the project there. From there, I started to develop more passion for affordable housing.
And I have told God during that time that at a particular age I want to stop working for anyone. Thank God, He answered my prayer. I said at the age of 40, I want to stop working for anyone because I have seen what people go through working for someone throughout their lives”.
OLAWALE AYILARA
Ayilara (born 8 August 1988) is a Nigerian businessman, investor, and real-estate entrepreneur, popularly known as the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Landwey Investment Limited.
Olawale began his entrepreneurial journey right from a very young age trying his hands on several businesses before finding his oil in the real estate sector.
This is one person who had been involve in so many businesses in the past but failed. He had fried puff puff in the past. He had been in the food business. He also failed. He traveled abroad to seek greener pasture, he also failed.
In 2016, Olawale founded the Real Estate Investing company with zero capital. Today, the company boast of over 22,000 realtors and consultants and over 2 billion in assets.
In 2017, Landwey won the most promising real estate company of the year award at the City People Real Estate Award.
On 19 August 2019, Landwey announced that it had acquired a quarter stake in an online platform for funding real estate projects. This came shortly after its partnership with Piggyvest (Nigeria’s largest online savings and investing platform) to introduce Landvest
AYOBAMI OLUWANIFEMI AKINDIPE
Though he is very young but Ayobami Oluwanifemi Akindipe (born 27th of August, 1997) is a distinctive and exceptional young business leader with a track record of excellence.
He is one of the youngest real estate developers in Nigeria. Ayobami started out early at 13 years old as a bricklayer, moved on to selling drinks, yam floor on the street of Lagos and even sold chargers, recharge cards, phones literally everything he could lay his hands on. He became a real estate agent at age 21.
He studied law at Kogi State University and have since then gotten other business certification as his passion is in the business line.
Ayobami Founded Ace Real Estate Develoment Ltd. in 2019 and have since then developed multiple residential Homes accross Lagos and Abuja, he has delivered over 8 estates accross Lagos and Abuja. Ace recently lauched in Rwanda as the vision is beyond Nigeria but Africa at large.
Notably, he’s currently building an Estates in Lekki Phase 1 named NUMBER 31 and also a massive project in Epe which happens to be the first fully green and a zero carbon city; VISION CITY, a 150-hectare residential and commercial city. The dream is to build a carbon-free city, in his statement “we’re building a functional city”.
PRINCE KAZEEM ELETU-ODIBO
Talking about the big and successful real estate guru in Lagos, Prince Kazeem Eletu-Odibo is one of them, but he had a rough beginning as a child. A few years ago, he told City People his grass to grace story. He told us how he grew up in Ajegunle in Lagos and many others. Prince Kazeem is the CEO, Kazeem Royal Properties.
“I won’t say I discovered it. I just believe! From the beginning when I started growing up in Ajegunle, I never knew I was a Prince, I never knew I was from a royal family. My father died while I was a kid. Lekki then was a bush. There was no expressway there then. The expressway was done between 1981-1985. So, after my father’s final burial, everyone had to take their children away from there. So, I found myself in my Uncle’s place in Ajegunle. I grew up in Ajegunle. So, when I was growing up there, I realized that my mission in life was to touch people’s life. From my primary school days, when it was time to eat, I always took some of my friends to canteen along with me and I would pay for their food.
A lot of my friends can testify to this. Even in my secondary school days, when I was a Bus Conductor before I started driving. I was a Bus Conductor for 3 years before I started driving. I drove Danfo bus for 9 years. Before I started driving I was a Scavenger; I used to pick dirt on the street to survive. I have seen it all in life. A lot of people would think maybe it’s because God has blessed me and that’s why I’m doing all what I have been doing. I have been doing this since I was a child. I never knew I was a Prince. I never knew I was from a royal family. My mom never told me that my father had a land somewhere in Lekki. She never told me anything. I just had that belief while I was growing up; I told God I would like to help people in need. And with the little I had then, I used to help people with the little I could. I believe that nobody can please people but I will continue to help with the little I have. I will do little I can do to humanity”
SIJIBOMI OGUNDELE
The story of this man is inspiring and torching! Currently, this man who is the founder of Sujimoto group, worth billions, was once a Souvenir hawker in France and also did alabaru for his trader Mum in Africa’s most populous market – Oke-Arin, where he was nurtured by enterprising Igbo Traders, which ignited his passion for business.
Growing up in the slum of Agege, as a little 8-year-old, Sijibomi’s first introduction to Entrepreneurship was when he started a bike business popularly called‘Okada’ business, from his little savings. Despite the usual African Parent’s disapproval, he drew inspiration from his mother’s entrepreneurial spirit and grew his Okada business from 1 to 6 motorcycles, a testament to his strong, resolute and resilient business mind.
A rose that grew from concrete, Mr. Ogundele who has built his company, Sujimoto Group, in just 8 years, into a Luxury Construction behemoth, focused on building extraordinary edifices in premium neighborhoods of Ikoyi and Banana Island. With annual revenue of approximately $30 million and many other pending projects, Mr. Ogundele believes the Sujimoto group is worth over $400 Million.
-Isaac Abimbade
