The Governor of Lagos State, Gov. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, has restated his administration’s determination to transform the state into a smart city, where technology and sustainable urban planning converge. The Governor gave the assurance at a Global Property Conference held on Saturday in Lagos. The conference was organised by Gtext Holdings, a conglomerate that covers real estate and other businesses, TheMediaGood Newspaper can report.
It will be recalled that the Governor, at different forums, stated that by 2030 the smart city ambition of the state would have been fully realised.Sanwo-Olu, represented by Mrs Temitope Akinbola, the Director, Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority, said the state government had initiated projects to improve housing affordability and infrastructure. “Also, partnering with private investors to develop housing projects, meeting diverse income levels. This is all part of our larger vision to ensure that every Lagos resident has access to safe, secure, and affordable housing, “ the Governor said.
Also speaking, a legal practitioner, Mr Femi Falana, urged parties seeking to succeed in the real estate sector to seek professional advice and make integrity their watchword. “You need to study the environment; partner with those already in the business; and learn the act of succeeding in the business.“Once you can do that, you must ensure that you are not too much in a hurry to make money to the extent that you sacrifice integrity, “ he said.
He also urged young professionals to seek financial, and legal advice, and to know the rudiments of the business in order to succeed.According to him, this entails familiarising themselves with laws governing real estate in the country, the Land Use Act, and other relevant laws.“So, you must also join the movement to get the government to contribute more in terms of prices of building materials.“ Also, in terms of registration of title documents, and reducing the cost of registering and processing documentation, “ Falana said.
Founder, Gtext Holdings, Dr Stephen Akintayo, said that the conference was apt as the real estate sector was going through a tough season – from legal to police issues to government policies.
“I believe that if we want to get the Nigerian economy back on track, create jobs, boost the economy, we can turn Nigerian economy around just with the real estate sector.“However, the bottlenecks have to be removed.“First of all, the Land Use Act is not working the way it should work.“The Land Use Act intends to provide affordable housing, “ he said.
Also speaking at the Real estate conference, former Inspector-General of Police, Sir Mike Okiro.
First of all, I would like to thank Dr. Stephen Akintayo for inviting me for this special occasion. the issue of Omo nile and land grabber is one of the things I find difficult to handle. Because ownership of land is a civil matter.If somebody says, this plot belongs to me, which has been sold not to him, he has to go to court and sort it out. And I think the Omo nile are taking advantage of that. So if they feel they have people, but the land does not belong to them, they go to the land.So the rightful owner suffers. So what we do in the police is, though it is a civil matter, look into it and see if you have gone there, we can charge you for either you have gone there unlawfully, or it has passed unlawfully, or it damaged something, malicious damage. So that’s how the police handle it.
We don’t want to say this land belongs to Mr. A or Mr. B. If he only committed a crime, we charge you for the crime. So we know that in Nigeria land, like my friend SAN has said, the government has not done very well.If this matter of some cases come up with two or three C of O they have to go back again to establish which of these papers is genuine. And if it’s genuine, now we say, sorry, this land does not belong to you. We charge the person to go court. So police is really trying its best, but still Nigerians need to wake up and do the right thing.