Johnbull Amayaevbo is the National First Vice President of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV). In this interview with DAYO AYEYEMI, he provided guides for would-be investors and developers in the real estate sector of the economy. He also spoke on the ease of doing business; the role of estate surveyor and the issue of poor implementation of policies in the country, insisting that until the nation gets the latter right, major challenges in the real estate sector and economy will persist.
If you are to advise investors or first-time developers where to invest in the real estate industry 2022, what will be your suggestion?
You know investment depends on the capital outlay, and Nigeria is a wonderful country, a country where we have wonderful prospects in the real estate investments. There are so many areas. Is it in the residential or commercial area? For instance, in the residential area, we all know what rents are in a place like Banana Island. If investors have the capacity to invest in Lagos, people should invest in Banana Island or any other parts of Ikoyi, Lagos where their investment is guaranteed and where their returns on investment can be high within 10 years or before. And again, when you also go to the commercial aspect, shopping malls are still making waves across the country. There is no part of Nigeria’s cities that you would not reap your investments. So that is another area. Another area is students’ accommodation. We know in Nigeria we have so many schools – higher institutions. One of their major deficiencies is accommodation. Schools’ authority in some of the institutions cannot account for 15 to 20 per cent of accommodation requirements for their students. They can invest in executive students’ hostels, which promise a huge return on investment.
But you know that the issue of ease of doing business is still a major problem in the country, which investors have to contend with. Don’t you think so?
If you meet the right professional, the problem is solved. The otherwise ease of doing business signed by the then acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, that is the vice president, in 2017 stated clearly and made everything easy on ease of doing business. There are other supportive current policies of the government that if you engage the right professional, you will see that it will not be a teething problem per-se. This is because the professionals know their right, they know what the law states and they will follow it to the end. For instance, in the real estate sector, before you invest in the sector, the first person you should be meeting is the estate surveyor and valuer, who will give you the feasibility and viability appraisal of where, location and type of business you should go into. The estate surveyor and values also knows when to co-opt other professionals.
Housing Nigerians is still a problem. Also, people cannot afford to pay for the so-called ‘affordable” housing. What is your take?
I totally agree with you. However, governments at all levels are trying their best in various policies here and there, but unfortunately; the implementation of these policies is one of the major problems why housing issues are still the same. We have good policies but their implementation is a big problem. Until we are able to get the implementation right, we will still be having the problem. Whether in the money market, in everything, you see the Central Bank of Nigeria with different policies to support real estate investment – we have fine policies, but their implementations remain an issue.
Why are the professionals in the sector not confronting the government on the issue of policies’ implementation for the real estate sector?
Of course we do that, but the politicians are the problem. That is Nigeria’s factor – the politicians. I was so happy with the last gradaunts of the National Institute of Policies and Strategic Studies. The assignment that President Buhari gave them was to come out with how to get things done. They have submitted their report. The President has instructed the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to implement the report on how to get things done. You can imagine a group of people, over 100 professionals, who sat down and came up with how to get things done from the NIPSS. They have submitted their report and the president has seen it and passed it to MDAs to get it implemented. The problem again is implementation – Nigeria’s factor.