The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of RIEL, a full-fledged real estate and asset management company, Dr Kolade Adepoju, was our guest on our Radio Show, Parrot Xtra/Ayekooto anchored by Olayinka Agboola on Splash 105.5FM, recently. During the interaction, he shed light on why he decided to venture into the real estate business and what the government must do to prevent building collapse in the country among many salient issues… Excerpts
Can you talk more about yourself and, perhaps how you found yourself in the real estate business?
My name is Dr Kolade Adepoju, I attended Wesley College of Science, Elekuro, Ibadan and Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho where I studied Transport Management. Prior to real estate, it is on record that I have been doing business for close to a decade before venturing into real estate. My coming into the industry was not just to make money but also to solve major problems, add value.
Initially, I was into printing and branding, a very booming business in my hands at that time, I produced for governments, multinationals and all, it was from this printing business I was able to afford my first car, imagine having a car as a printer. It was a very successful business and this confirms the fact that I did not join real estate because I was hungry.
I started real estate because it was a time of transition and it was God’s divine leading to venture into it. He has really proven that I did not make a mistake taking that step. One thing I discovered then was that there are three major basic needs of human beings; shelter, clothing and feeding. So coming into real estate was to meet our people’s need for shelter.
Since you transitioned into real estate, can you tell us when you had your big break?
Well, I do not think there is anything like a big break in real estate because real estate is a journey, not a place to come and ‘blow’, if you come in with the intention to em, ‘blowing’, you will eventually blow, blow into big troubles and big debts.
For me, I would rather say I am making progress rather than saying I have had a big break. We are solving bigger problems and the fact is the more problems you solve determines the more progress you make. We just came into Ibadan with a very big project with the intention of solving housing issues, which is what I can refer to as progress. Until we are able to solve the housing deficit, we have not made a big break, meaning that we are still pregnant with our big break.
What are the factors that have sustained you in this business?
In business, the first factor that will sustain you is the general business principles as given to you by God. There are general principles one is required to inculcate without which you are going nowhere. The first is to have a clear vision. For me, I knew what I wanted to do and I went for it, transitioning from the latter to the former.
Secondly, you have to get knowledge about what you want to do. You do not just dabble into a business you know nothing about. I had to seek knowledge in the new business I was going into, so that if I get a call to come and speak about real estate, I do not have to start consulting textbooks or notes, I already know what to say because I had earlier fortified myself with the required knowledge about real estate.
Beyond knowledge, you also need dedication. One thing prevalent in the current business world is that people want to make money from business without putting in their all. In the quest to make money, people should not just sit down and expect that money will flow in without the hand getting dirty. When I started this business, I drove every day from Berger/Ojodu to Abraham Adesanya on the Island back and forth in Lagos, an eight-hour roadgridlock-drive, and I did that for one good year. In that process, I could have given up and gone back to my printing job, but I was determined and dedicated to what I was doing because I knew that was where I was supposed to be.
Passion is another factor that has sustained me. I have passion to make sure nobody sleeps on the street, and this is the thought that wakes me up every morning. My hunger is to create a kind of system and product that is affordable for everybody.
Another factor to consider is patience, if you want to build what will last; you need to build with patience. Many people want it quick, without paying the dues or sacrifice, which will only end in destruction.
I believe the major factor, the Grace of God is a factor we cannot deny, because a lot of people have tried what we are doing and failed, what is crowning our own efforts is the intervention and grace of God. God is sovereign, He does what He will, if He said we would not make it today, we wouldn’t have.
What is the relationship between what you studied in school and real estate?
There is something I always say; it is necessary for one to go to school and be educated, even if you won’t practice what you studied, you must be educated.
One thing schooling (especially university education) does to everyone who goes through it is that it enhances one’s value system in the future no matter the grade one graduated with. Also, it helps to build relationships with different people of different backgrounds, which someone who didn’t go to school can never have.
There is a saying that goes thus “You will be the same person in five years but for two reasons: the books you read and the people you met”. If you meet someone after five years and they are still the same, just know that he or she has not progressed in knowledge nor has he progressed in association. Schooling is important, I have made profits in this real estate business because of the relationships I built in school, imagine if I never attended school.
I studied Transport Management in school and I have made use of the management aspect in managing my own company now. Notwithstanding, I have developed myself more than my education.
What is your motivation in life?
One of my greatest motivations is to give the kind of life I did not enjoy while growing up to people coming behind me, especially my children. I have tasted poverty to some extent, and gotten familiar with hunger. Some years ago, garri was a luxurious thing to possess for me. I never wished to continue or go back to that life or see my children go through the same. That motivates me every day.
Rockefeller said, “After you make money, make more money, after you made more, make more and more money”. In life, I have discovered that there is so little you can do for humanity without money.
How are you managing your relationship with those we refer to as ‘Omo Onile’ and land grabbers?
Those guys are deities, you have to worship them! I have seen and heard people who go about claiming they have passion for real estate, but let me say it today that, it’s not just about your passion, you have to see that God is on the journey with you. Some people’s passion has led them to venture into real estate but we cannot find them any longer today.
There were some times I would visit our sites and my people would be telling me that the land grabbers ‘omo onile’ have just left with fully loaded guns. And some of the times, I have been at gun-point and I can only say my sustainability has been God, because I didn’t just have passion for the business, I was led into it by God.
The land grabbers are not wild beasts, they are very soft people, if you know how to interact and relate with them as friends, you will have your way. Just as policemen are your friends until you commit a crime, they are also your friends until you don’t give them their dues.
The government likewise, has no trouble with you as long as you follow the laid down governmental protocols.
Some people have accused Nigerian governments at all levels of being the greatest land grabbers, do you agree?
No, I do not. Governments are not land grabbers, they are the landowners. Even the land use act says that all the land belongs to the government. How will you call the owner of the land a land grabber?
Many people who say this are people who never had documents for their lands, and the land that does not have a document belongs to no one except the government. The government can never grab land that has a valid document, it is either you built illegally or you went through the back doors or the land you are building on is falsely acquired.
This is not a notion to ultimately support the government though, but first things first. In addition, any land that the government wants to make use of, they give compensation for it.
Lastly, I will like to advise our people to always ensure they acquire genuine land and seek government approval before building on it.
While working as a real estate investor, what can you reckon as being your greatest embarrassment?
It was the day my car broke down in the middle of the road around Ajah at 9pm. That night, many people said different things to me, you know, the car broke down in the middle of the road, and my kind of car is the one that cannot be moved once it breaks down. It was that same day I was attacked at gunpoint. I left that scene around 1a.m. the next day. It was so embarrassing.
Can you discuss the biggest risk you have ever taken in your life?
It is this real estate business. Real estate is capital intensive, you do not just wake up after a good sleep and want to become a real estate developer; you can be an agent though, but not a developer.
Before I came into real estate, I had lost close to 20 million then; all my life savings and other people’s monies. It was in the midst of this that I had a brainwave to join real estate and I took the risk, because God led me, and to the glory of God, it makes sense now.
What differentiates your own real estate business from others?
One thing that sets us apart from others is that we do not sell our land at piecemeal installment. Most developers are fond of advertising to people to pay 5,000 naira installment for a land of about 50 million. They do this because they know people will not be able to meet up with the payment in the future and with that deny them the ownership of the land and ‘eat’ their installment payments. Some even give out palm oil and goats to entice people to deposit for land.
This happens most times because people are also looking for cheap things, and cheap things don’t last. They are mostly unreal. To strike a deal with us, you will firstly drop 50% of the initial fees, we will give you a temporary allocation letter, get 50% documents of the land and be allocated your plot immediately, which will not change after your payment is complete. Ours is not a company that will tell you to bring whatever you have and promise to find a place for you. We make sure that everything we do is according to pattern.
What lessons do you think your fellow real estate developers can learn from you?
In this line of business, honesty is a very important attitude we need to imbibe. Unforeseen circumstances are inevitable, there are instances where a situation arises concerning purchasing of land, when such arises, be honest with your stakeholders, explain exactly what happened and how you intend to solve it. Just be honest.
In addition, no matter what the situation is, do what is right. Cutting corners will only influence the image of your company negatively.
What advice will you give to the public concerning the prevalent issues between real estate developers and buyers?
I will advise them to stop influencing the developers into making dubious moves. Most buyers do not cut their clothes according to their size, they go to places where houses and lands are worth five million and are looking for one million assets, thereby forcing the developers to reduce the quality of building and all. These are some reasons why buildings do not last any longer. Buyers need to understand that the prices of housing materials are increasing.
What can the government do to influence the situation especially building collapse incidents?
Governments at all levels as well need to be ruthless and create a ruthless protocol surrounding estate development. Every construction must be monitored; the quantity of cement mixture and the materials to be used must be followed properly.
This is because the government will be accused of negligence if any building collapses leading to casualties. We need to move from cure to actual prevention.
