PROPERTY ARTICLES

Taiwo Ogunbodede is the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO), Cross & Churchill Group, a real estate conglomerate based in Lekki.In this interview with SENIOR CORRESPONDENT Dada Jackson, he bares his mind on the influx of developers into the Mowe/Ofada axis along the Lagos/Shagamu Expressway, Land Use Act, mortgage financing, among other topical issues. Excerpts:

Could you tell us what informed your decision to move into the Mowe/Ofada corridor, considering the fact that developers already exist in that axis. What is the attraction?

Thank you very much for this question. Let me first and foremost say that what informed our decision to move into the Mowe/Ofada axis could simply be situated on the need to catch up with a fast growing area as it concerns real estate development.Also, as you may want to know, the distance from Mowe and Ofada to Lagos is not far. Come to think of it, there are people, who work in Lagos and live in Mowe, Magboro, Arepo, Ofada and other satellite towns. The need to take care of such people in terms of providing quality accommodation for them also informed our decision to start an estate in the Mowe/Ofada axis. Talking about attraction to Ofada, Mowe, Ibafo, in short along that axis, you see in the real estate market, the market is a pyramid. Those at the top are very few. That is those that can acquire property in Victoria Island, Lekki and Ikoyi are so few. But as the pyramid comes down, which is where you have the largest concentration of people, who cannot afford to live in those places that I have mentioned and who also cannot afford invest in real estate. You find out today that with what obtains in Ofada, Mowe, Ibafo in terms of the flexible payment regime .So, in nutshell, the major attraction to developers as far as Mowe, Ibafo and Ofada is concerned is the affordable price of land and any discerning human being would know that in the nearest future, the axis would become a very hot and attractive offer for any developer.

As a developer along that axis, how would you describe the issue of land acquisition in that area? Is it problematic or an easy take?

Let me say without mincing words, that traditionally, land is owned by the families. That is the traditional history of land generally. But under the Land Use Act of 1978, ownership of land has been vested in government, so, what happens in a state like Lagos is where you find a situation where the government goes out of its way to acquire certain portion of land and it goes ahead to release other portions of the same land to families through the means of a gazette. In Ogun State, what happens is that developers go directly to the families to acquire the properties and go ahead to process that title, including the Certificate of Occupancy (C-of-O) and other relevant title documents. The problem we have in Ogun State is a situation where we have lot of land owners who are ready to dispose of their property. But as a developer, you have to be very discerning before you even go and purchase any land, also, you have to be very careful, do an intensive investigation before you dabble into any property, equally, you should be conversant with the owners of the land .In short, you have to be extremely careful before you rush into buying any property or land. It may also interest you to know that in some instances, you have to meet the Baale of the area and those that call the shorts in the area. What most developers do, is that after all these investigations, they now go ahead and pay for the said land and thereafter begin work on the land. It is equally important to state here that the families as you have them in Ogun State, I mean those who you buy your land from, are very mindful of who they sell their land to. Another factor going for those of them who sell land in the state is that one or two members of the family are very enlightened and they also know that once they sell the land, they don't have any business with the developer again. For any investor or developer, you have to do your investigation thoroughly to know the true owners of the land. Also, before you even the family, we do what is known as charting. This is to ascertain if the land is under government acquisition or not.So, once the property is not under government acquisition that means you can actually go ahead and deal with the family and acquire the property.

The scenario you have painted is an ideal one, but how has the experience been truly with the family?

Personally, with the family, I didn't have any serious issue with any body or family I bought my land from. But I recalled just one issue where certain members of the family were not invited to participate in the negation table, and therefore complained that they were either not given enough money or no money got to them at all after we had paid supposed representatives of the family. That is one instance. We also have instances where if you want to buy a land, you have some many families laying claim to such a land. You are now faced with the burden of identifying which family or members of a particular family actually own the land. That in itself is a cumbersome process and you need to know the terrain in that area for you o be able to do your job thoroughly. But for any developer having the intent of defrauding a family in that type of setting is certainly going to be a Herculean task, rather it is the family that would succeed in short changing a developer. .So, the problem a developer usually faces, is that after getting to know the true owners of a land and then to know all the factions that exist in a family, also, the true heads of the family and also ensuring that you are paying to the right person or persons in order not to pay twice for a parcel of land.

Sir, can you tell us specifically the projects that you have on ground; I mean those that have been completed or that are on-going?

Thank you very much. Let me start by saying that what we have on Green Oak Park at Mowe for now is basically site and service scheme. But as from October this year, we intend to start our own construction. What I mean by this is that we want to start building our own flats. But as I speak to you now, we have done about three kilometres of perimetre fencing of the Green Oak Park Estate. Some of our other projects include Meadowsville Park which is located in Akure; Ondo State. A plot of land in this proposed estate sells for N3 million (exclusive of survey fees).We also have Breadfruit Garden which is in Lekki.This particular estate was conceived and developed by Cross & Churchill. In this estate, a plot of land goes for N3.75 million with a Certificate of Occupancy. I must say that only 90 plots are available for sale so it is a case of first comes, first serve basis.

As a developer, what is your take on the contentious issue of the Land Use Act, should it be abrogated or amended?

I don't want to dwell much on the issue but my position as far as the Act is concerned, is that it should not be totally abrogated because as you can see, there are some aspects of the act itself which should be sustained. But the general feeling that the Governor's assent is being abused should however, be looked into. As you are very much aware, the governor is a very busy person. I think that what should be done in respect of the governor's assent is that the process of signing the title should be decentralised for the purpose of making it a bit less cumbersome. The governor should be allowed to deliver the dividend of democracy instead of slowing down the process of governance through the signing of C-of-Os.