Real Estate Investment in Nigeria

Telling folk tales are a form of relaxation where am coming from.  Stories about the tortoise- the wise/canny animal, Lion- king of the jungle, The big Elephant e.t.c were our first lessons on character and societal behaviour. They were usually delivered at night under the moonlight. I particularly remember my days in Mayflower Primary School, Ikenne, Ogun State.

May be that feeling of fun when reading or listening to stories never left me because I grew up still loving to hear stories. Only that now, I would rather read or listen to true life stories of successful people. My God, do I love autobiographies? I can pay anything for them.

That brings me to what I do like to share here today. We published the story of a man I admire so much in the last edition (13th) of our publication – Prime Assets and I do like to share it with my readers here.

Let me serve you  THE Story of the 47-year-old legal aristocrat and real estate mogul- Wale BABALAKIN (SAN)You will love it if you love to read about successful people like i do, here we go;

Up until now little or nothing was said or known about the man that is fondly referred to as Bob by friends and colleagues alike. Bolanle Olawale Babalakin, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and astute businessman is considered to be Nigeria’s best private sector initiative in the aviation industry, with the domestic wing of the

Muritala

Muhammed

International

Airport undergoing a complete rebuild which would set it apart as

Nigeria’s own gateway pride thanks to his construction company- Bi-Courtney/ Stabilini Visinoni.

Towards the realization of this dream, Babalakin, one of

Nigeria’s nouveaux riches, has sacrificed the opulence of his many offices scattered around the country for a large but sparsely furnished make-shift office among the many that stands erected now at a place that will soon become an ultra-modern airport carpark. That is where he constricts his heavy frame virtually on a daily basis to monitor the progress of his all-time consuming passion — the airport project that would rival any of its type in the world on completion. In fact, BOB, has virtually relocated the headquarters of Stabilini Visinoni, the behemoth construction company where he is chairman, to the airport. He now lives, eats, sleeps and wakes this project being built on a Build Operate and Transfer, BOT, basis at a whopping construction cost of $200million.

Do not blame him. Babalakin, scion of Bolarinwa Babalakin, retired Justice of the Supreme Court, is passionate about

Nigeria. “

Nigeria is good. Yes, I agree that at a point things went bad… but Nigerians can create a company like Nestle. It is not beyond our capacity; what we need is focus,” he said. Focus, that has always characterised his every business and career move. “Avoid the company of those who tell you it is impossible,” he advises. At the time he lost the bid to work on the airport project, he was still focused and dogged about his determination to help give

Nigeria a facelift. This must have goaded the federal government to re-award the contract to him when the initial winner reneged on contractual obligations. After a few months of work, the government must be thanking its stars that the job was eventually given to Babalakin. Steadily, he has evolved into an impresario of leverage in using initiatives to change the landscape. Such is the mojo of the Gbongan, Osun State-born business tycoon.

Growing up

Born on July 1, 1960,

Sacred

Heart

Primary School,

Ibadan was where Babalakin began his episodic educational odyssey. Secondary school education was at the famous

Government

College, Ibadan, GCI, now in

Oyo

State, where the intellectual instincts of the ambitious lad were honed. Getting into GCI at the impressionable age of 10, with all the training and hardship, was not what he bargained for. “For a 10-year-old boy, I woke up before 6 am, had 30 minutes of grass cutting, 30 minutes of sweeping and had to be in the dining room at 7 am. Later on, I became a member of the cadet and I had to combine grass cutting, sweeping and jogging around the school as a cadet all before 7 am. If you are late, you have lost your food and you would still be punished for lateness,” he reminisced.

Despite the seeming hardship of those years, Babalakin is grateful because it taught him the virtues of discipline, team spirit and leadership. Hence, anytime he talks about GCI, a glint appears in his eyes while he seems to bob on his seat. “

Government

College,

Ibadan was interesting, I remember that it was the school where values were properly identified. It didn’t matter who your father was, what mattered was what you had to offer… Every student is a potential scholar,” he said. Considered to have considerable academic potential as a kid, “though I never really took my school work seriously”, young Babalakin had a plethora of noble courses to choose from.
Weaned on a family plinth that allowed for freedom of career choice, he decided to toe the line of his erudite dad. “My father was a very outstanding lawyer, but he never believed that he should influence a child’s career. He thinks children should be made to study what they actually want,” he said.

After his A levels at the Polytechnic, Ibadan, Babalakin opted for the

University of

Lagos for his bachelor’s degree in Law. He got his LLB in 1981 and was called to the bar in 1982. He was just 22 years old. But the young man obviously was not content with that seemingly little achievement. Setting out to become a lawyer, Babalakin said, was with the mindset to be an outstanding one, and he worked very hard for it. Apart from blazing through school in flying colours, to the delight of his parents, Babalakin also bagged a Commonwealth scholarship which saw him doing his masters and doctorate, Ph.D., at the University of Cambridge, England.

Foray into investments

At 26, an age when his peers were probably still grappling with the realities of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board examinations, Babalakin was already taking steady, assured steps up the ladder of success. With a Ph.D. in Law, conquering the legal profession was next. However, the course of his life was inadvertently changed by an Australian friend who opened his eyes to the vast opportunities in business and then added the unforgettable clincher: “You will get all the degrees but end up being poor.” Curiously, business was the last thing he ever wanted to dabble into. As a kid growing up, he said, “I thought business was for those who could not become good scholars.” That thought vanished many years ago in

England.

Foray into real estate
Babalakin’s first business venture was in

England where he sold a house belonging to his father, with his consent though. The profit he made on that deal made him take a deep introspection about the trajectory of his life. He realized one thing though: if he was to make it big in business or in the law profession, he had to come back home. “Having made money in Nigeria, I found the terrain so easy compared to

England, where I started. I realised that if you applied the parameter in England to Nigeria and you work as hard as you worked in England, you are bound to make five times more money in

Nigeria,” Babalakin said.

His romance with Stabilini Visinoni, where he now calls the shots began in 1989 when he contracted the company to help him construct a multi-purpose 10-storey building on

Campbell Street, Lagos

Island. By the end of that project, he had become very friendly with the directors in the company. Thus, he awarded another major project to them that is now known as

Bruno

Sheriff

Gardens, Ikoyi.

He never knew that the relationship he was unconsciously building would pay off someday. When the owners of Stabilini decided to sell off their controlling shares in the company, Babalakin stepped in with a N10 million offer and was made a director. This was in 1992. In 1999, he became the substantive chairman of Stabilini Visinoni, making him the first Nigerian to steer the Italian company’s activities.

Since then, he said, “we have been involved in series of developmental projects. But now, we have managed to articulate our business properly and realise we are in four major areas: infrastructural development, leisure, construction and investment. We invest in companies where we have interests but we don’t manage.

We do that under the umbrella of Investment Services Limited. But there are lots of sub-divisions under these areas.” The old Federal Secretariat, Ikoyi, has also been purchased by Stabilini Visinoni which Babalakin averred would now be converted into luxury accommodation for Nigerians.
After the initial scepticism, the strapping Babalakin is not just an accomplished businessman, he is equally a successful professional.

In fact posted on his website is the extent to which his law firm of Babalakin & Co is involved in real estate “As a discerning commercial law firm that recognizes the relationship between Land/Real Estate (considered to be one of the factors of production) and commercial activities, the firm has one of the most extensive legal units dedicated solely to Real Estate and Construction in Nigeria . We have participated in various phases of conception, financing, construction and maintenance of at least three privately developed estates in Nigeria, (including the one generally regarded as the most successful private city estate in Nigeria, located in Lagos), and International Hotel under the Hyatt chain; in addition to various office and shopping complexes. We have also negotiated and advised a State government on the construction of a 22-room modern courthouse in

Nigeria in a uniquely structured transaction, considered a first in many ways.

In our legal advisory role in Real Estate and Construction, we have had to negotiate the acquisition of undeveloped and developed land with occupiers/owners, and advised on how much, and to whom compensation is due. In an operating environment such as

Nigeria where inflation is constant, we have also ensured that construction projects are not frustrated, by advising on undertakings, guarantees, and such other instruments/devices needed to be in place to prevent delay/abandonment in construction works, and that projects are constructed according to specifications.”

As much as he appreciated what late Rotimi Williams, revered lawyer, once said, that he never knew anyone who combined business so effectively with the law profession at a very high level like Babalakin, he does not see himself as a roaring success yet. “I am underachieved in my chosen area. Let me put more efforts, maybe, one day, I will become successful. What I mean by underachieved, as far as I am concerned, is in comparison with opportunity. If a man has 20 opportunities and is able to actualise four, he has not achieved”.

The 47-year-old legal aristocrat and business mogul believes that “most of us want to be successful and what we need to put into acquiring the skill of being successful is training. You must train yourself. It requires education, physical strength and doggedness.”

Wale Babalakin’s creed as it pertains to real estate can perhaps be found in one of his paper titled KEY CONSTRAINTS TO REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA posted on his website, “There is hardly any business venture that does not require to be supported by some form of real estate: from the small business that requires real estate as offices from where its business can be organized, to the major venture that needs it for its factory.

It therefore simply stands to reason that to be true to his professional responsibility every commercial/business lawyer ought to have a proper grasp of real estate law.

Babalakin & Co. happens to be exclusive solicitors to what is perhaps the most successful private estate in

Nigeria, the Victoria Garden City. There are some projects going on in Port Harcourt as well as in

Abuja. However, Babalakin has this to say “………there is still so much to be done. Our real estate development is limited largely to residential and to some extent hotel, office and shopping complexes.”

i SAID YOU WILL LOVE IT, DID YOU?

This is why you shouldn’t be missing prime assets magazine.

the 14th issue will be out by the end of january, ask your vendor or better still call 234-(0)1-8964527 to subscribe.

regards!