ADRON Homes Still Has A Long Way To Go – Akile ADETOLA EMMANUEL KING

He needs very little introduction in the Real Estate sector. If you do not immediately recognize his name, then the name of his organization, ADRON HOMES, will most definitely ring much more than a bell. This is because, within just 5 years of coming into the real estate industry, Adron Homes has experienced such an astronomical rise that it’s become one of the country’s most outstanding Real Estate firm. And it is owned by the incredibly humble and passion driven successful business man, Oba Adetola Emmanuel King, the Akile of Remoland. If you ask those who should know, they will tell you that Adron Homes has earned every bit of the  success and fame that’s come its way because they have worked really hard for it. Their unbeatable packages for all classes of clients no matter how low you earn, has made them the Real Estate firm to beat. Most major parts of Lagos have their well dressed, friendly but effective marketers going after people to sell the company’s products. It is no wonder they bagged the Award for Most Active Real Estate Company of the year at the City People Real Estate Awards 2017 held weeks ago. Oba Emmanuel King, the CEO himself, was recognized. He bagged the award for Real Estate Man of The Year. Just before he left the venue of the City People’s WALE LAWAL got the man of the moment, who recently threw a superlative 40th birthday bash for his adorable wife to take us through the factors that have helped Adron Homes becomes so accomplished within such a short while.   

Congratulations on your double awards. Tell us how you feel at the moment after being honored this way by City People?

Well, I feel good. I feel great. I feel very honoured. And I thank City People for considering Adron Homes worthy of this honour. We are really grateful. This will only make us work harder and strive to do much more than we have already done. I am really very happy today.

Adron Homes is doing remarkably well. Share with us briefly, how the journey has been so far?

Thank you very much, we give God all the glory. The journey has been very interesting, we are simply doing all we said we would do. I won’t say it has been challenging, but just interesting.

Did you have a blue print at the start and knew you were going to get to where you are now within such a short while?

Oh, yes, a lot more than this. The plan was for us to have achieved a lot more than this. We had our one year plan, we had two years, we had five years, ten years, twenty years. From the very beginning, we knew exactly where we were going to. And honestly, we’re not disappointed. I mean, we could score ourselves eighty percent. But there’s still a lot to be done

What makes Adron Homes stand out from the rest? Why is it the name on the lips of everyone in your sector?

Well, a lot of people have asked this same question, and I often ask this question in return, why are they who they are? The head will always be the head, the nose will always be the nose. We are who we are today and we have achieved what we’ve achieved today because of our vision and our mission. You know some people don’t like it loud and big and they’re doing well. They take it one little step at a time and they’re okay. But for us, we like it loud and big. Our mission is to solve ten percent of the eighteen million housing deficit issue in the country within the first few years and you have to take really giant steps to achieve this. That’s the vision and I guess that’s why we are who we are.

Would you say the recession has had any impact on your operations and the business as a whole?

No. No negative impact on my business. It has all been positive. This is because our products are domesticated, our property is domesticated, the resources are domesticated. Perhaps, if we had to rely on foreign exchange to import cement, to import sand and a whole lot of other stuffs, may we could have been badly hit by the recession. But the truth is that everything is here. The people that will buy the properties are here, the houses are here, cement, sand, everything I need are here in Nigeria, so that’s it, there’s no recession.

Sir, how fulfilled are you having accomplished so much? An average person might have the tendency to feel satisfied at this point, but are you hungry for more? 

Very, very hungry. In fact, when we started, we said we would meet about 1.8 million housing demands within ten years, but as at today, we’re just close to a hundred thousand subscribers. Subtract one hundred thousand land owners from 1.8 million, we still have about 1.7 million people still waiting to be land owners, so the journey is still pretty far. So, you can see we have to work a whole lot harder than what we’re doing now because we still have very long way to go.

What inspires you? What drives you and gets you going to do all you’ve been able to do?

What drives me is the need. Some would do it for money, but believe me, we’re not doing it for money, otherwise, if it was for the money, I’ll probably be doing something else. Truth is, what I will eat, what my family will eat and live on for a life time is already there, so I think it has to do with the need. We are purpose driven. We just clocked five years and we have said that within the next five years, we want to have an estate solely for the destitute. I’m talking about an estate for the homeless where we’ll give people free housing. I’m not talking about ordinary shelter here, I’m talking about decent houses worth 25 million naira to people living under the bridge, to those who can’t afford to feed themselves much less afford a home, that’s our passion. So, we’re driven by purpose.

In another five years or so from now, where do you hope to take Adron Homes to?

In just five years of our existence, we have been to Lagos, Ogun, Ibadan, Nassarawa, Abuja, in the next ten years we want to cover at least twenty states out of the thirty six states in the country. We also have some presence in at least three other African countries. We have eyes in Ghana, we have eyes in Liberia and we have in The Gambia.

On a lighter note, how do you relax when you’re not busy addressing the housing needs of the people?

I relax with my job. When I’m working, I’m relaxing. I have a hotel. I have an eatery I eat inside my eatery, as I also have one in my hotel, so we do everything together. I work and I relax at the same time.

How would you assess the industry as a whole, would you say it has flourished despite the recession?

Yes, I will say the industry is moving. When the going gets tough, the tough gets going. Despite everything, the Real Estate industry is doing remarkably well. Government and private investors are beginning to shift their focus and beam their lights on Real Estate as a major bail out strategy for the country.