THE CHANGING LAGOS COASTLINE!

Monday

I am not a speaker of doom, only a keen observer of development taking place around Lagos and understanding the nature of buildings and the environment.

Over the weekend there was a surge in the ocean current around the Kuramo beach area of Lagos, which increased water levels and overflowed unto the land. This unfortunately led to loss of lives and destruction of property. There have been many postulations as to why this occurred. Some have laid the reason squarely at the door of the developers of the Eko Atlantic City, who have been dredging and sand filling the area for a while now. Ironically the surge did not affect the development itself

One idea that seems not to have been explored is that there was an earthquake the same day in Indonesia, which may have triggered shocks affecting ocean levels across other parts of the world, including Lagos. It is a possibility!

Tuesday

Driving along the Bar Beach Road, which is now Ahmadu Bello Way in Victoria Island, you could be forgiven for thinking you are lost. For one, you can no longer see the beach from the road and secondly, even if you manage to climb over the heavy boulders that have been put up on the promenade, you still will not be able to see the ocean, it has disappeared! It is quite distressing to see that what had for so long been a beauty spot for Lagosians, has now quietly been eroded by project developers! They claim they are building a city of beauty that will outshine and beat Dubai and Malaysia!? Let us watch…

Wednesday

Am not sure how many people can remember Ikoyi Park? I spent many childhood days in that tree filled park, catching tadpoles and having fun. Well, it is now what is called Parkview Estate/Banana Island. The Park was demolished, the waters sand filled and houses build there. It has become a concrete jungle. I am all for development and progress, but not at the expense of destroying natural god given pleasurable sites. There is really nothing left around Lagos that can constitute a free relaxing day out with children or even adults! What we have now are shopping malls, filled to the brim each weekend with fun seekers eating and spending money.

Thursday

On the topic of sand filling and dredging, I personally fear that will the accelerated rate that this has been taking place on the Lagos Island, in particular the Lekki axis, we are in danger of triggering our on earthquake or tsunami in the not too distant future! Just think about it? Estates springing up everywhere on pure sand filled sites from rivers, lagoon and the ocean. Water penetration into homes has become such a common problem that no one seems to know how to address, short of demolishing the properties.

Friday

Lagos state government needs to take some drastic actions to prevent what could be a problem for homes built on sand filled sites and even dry land surrounding these sites. With the very rapid urbanization and building of estates on every inch of available land, sewage and drainage systems have been blocked or are nonexistent, thereby causing flooding around and into properties or even a backlog or waste into homes. Urgent steps need to be taken, now!

 

Until next week!

OUT OF THE DARKNESS!

A candid account from the frontline of the property market! Caroline Adeola Akinlotan info@rsgproperty.com, rsgproperty@gmail.com  0803 2516955, 0702 9590667

Monday

Is it my imagination, or have I noticed an improvement in our power supply? Certainly the Island/Lekki axis seems to be having longer supply of electricity.  Less diesel was ordered on estates, in the last couple of weeks Am sure this will be good news for residents who have been paying astronomical amounts to service generators. The Minister of Power has promised an increase in power generation starting from July 2012, It seems he is keeping his word I hope it is a continuous and permanent improvement to all areas

Tuesday

Still on the issue of power supply, Whilst Nigeria battles with providing electricity to its 150 million people, India lost power supply to over 600 million of its population this week, that is roughly half of its total population! The country was thrown into chaos when

Wednesday

The Makoko waterside shanty community which has been built up over a number of years on the waterside in Yaba, has been finally demolished. Hundreds of thousands of people have been made homeless without a thought about relocating or providing alternative accommodation for them. A few months ago I wrote about the threats to demolish this community when a senior state official said in the press that “he did not care where they went to, they should just move themselves away from the area” At the time I had dared to venture into that community for some charity work and I was appalled at the sanitary conditions, or should I say, the lack of it. Therefore the community does need help. I am dismayed though it has been so ruthlessly demolished without a thought for alternative housing for them. Where will all these people go?

Thursday

In the process of demolishing the shanties of Makoko, some children unfortunately lost their lives in the chaos that followed the officials moving in with their bulldozers. A community leader was also killed in the process. It is sad that lives were lost and from news that has been published, no plans have been made for these displaced residents and their numerous children. The State Government should step in to ensure the safe resettlement of these people, although it may unfortunately be too late for some.

Friday

It is highly amusing to hear about land tussle cases that go on in Nigeria, some border on the ridiculous and others sound like comedy sketches. I was reading with my eyes wide open, the land dispute going on in an Abuja high court between two “very very very” important women. One of the women was given an allocation of prime land with Right of Occupancy for her NGO a few years ago. Development started on the land in late 2011 during which a backdated revocation notice was sent to her by the relevant Ministry. The land was then duly allocated to the second woman’s NGO??? The FG has stepped into the case, which has been back and forth in court and has now been adjourned further till the end of this year! It will be interesting to see the outcome of this case. As the proverbial saying goes, “when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers”

Until next week!

WHEN TWO ELEPHANTS FIGHT, THE GRASS SUFFERS!

Monday

Who should pay the agent? This should be a straight forward question, especially with the recent Tenancy Law, which laid down regulations for tenancy matters. Yet this question continues to rear its ugly head daily between clients and agents. The Law says that whoever appoints the agent, should pay for the service. What is so hard to understand in this matter?  You still find Agents hustling everyone else apart from their clients for their fees, or as in my case last week, the client blatantly telling the agent to go get their fees from elsewhere.  Who will implement our Laws?

Tuesday

I heard on the news this morning that Hugo Chaves, the President of Venezuela, has embarked on a mission to provide at least 2 million good quality low cost housing for all the disadvantaged people in his country. He has apparently already provided homes for hundreds of thousands of his people since his tenure began and will press ahead until it reaches the two million mark and above! Poverty levels have dropped from 50% since his tenure started to 28% today! That is so commendable. Why on earth can’t Nigeria do the same? If only 1% of a fraction of all the alleged stolen money from oil, pensions etc was put towards developing homes for Nigerians, half of the country’s problems would be solved

Wednesday

The Makoko waterside shanty community which has been built up over a number of years on the waterside in Yaba, has been finally demolished. Hundreds of thousands of people have been made homeless without a thought about relocating or providing alternative accommodation for them. A few months ago I wrote about the threats to demolish this community when a senior state official said in the press that “he did not care where they went to, they should just move themselves away from the area” At the time I had dared to venture into that community for some charity work and I was appalled at the sanitary conditions, or should I say, the lack of it. Therefore the community does need help. I am dismayed though it has been so ruthlessly demolished without a thought for alternative housing for them. Where will all these people go?

Thursday

In the process of demolishing the shanties of Makoko, some children unfortunately lost their lives in the chaos that followed the officials moving in with their bulldozers. A community leader was also killed in the process. It is sad that lives were lost and from news that has been published, no plans have been made for these displaced residents and their numerous children. The State Government should step in to ensure the safe resettlement of these people, although it may unfortunately be too late for some.

Friday

It is highly amusing to hear about land tussle cases that go on in Nigeria, some border on the ridiculous and others sound like comedy sketches. I was reading with my eyes wide open, the land dispute going on in an Abuja high court between two “very very very” important women. One of the women was given an allocation of prime land with Right of Occupancy for her NGO a few years ago. Development started on the land in late 2011 during which a backdated revocation notice was sent to her by the relevant Ministry. The land was then duly allocated to the second woman’s NGO??? The FG has stepped into the case, which has been back and forth in court and has now been adjourned further till the end of this year! It will be interesting to see the outcome of this case. As the proverbial saying goes, “when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers”

Our own Tsunami

Monday
With the few days of rainfall we had recently and the resulting aftermath, you would have thought a hurricane and tsunami hit Lagos State. The shoreline and beaches around the Lekki Peninsula, seems to be eroding at an alarming rate! Some homes in the Alpha beach area had the ocean pay an unexpected visit, with sea water flooding roads, houses and shops, knocking down structures and causing chaos in the area. People had to vacate their homes.  What was once seen as desirable to live near the sea, has now become life threatening.

Tuesday
More and more estates are springing up along the Lekki expressway axis, small, medium, big, serviced, remote, motorable, unmotorable. These estates come in various sizes to suit all pockets. I had to visit one of these estates today, but unfortunately had to turn back before getting there, due to the terrible access roads.

Wednesday
We have been promised by the Eko Electricity Distribution Company(EEDC)  that they will immediately commence the free installation of pre paid meters within one month of payment of connection charges. This will be good news for millions of residents who have are being charged for electricity they are not using. Now people will only pay for what they use and buy only what they need. No more illegal charging and fraudulent activities around electricity. The CEO of EEDC has said that we will start to see an improvement both in power supply and in services by the end of this month. We look forward to this miracle IJN

Thursday
I received a phone call from a lady who lives in the UK but has an empty property on one of the popular estates on the Island, she wanted a short let tenant for her 5 bedroom detached house in Lekki. I told her I would do my best, but she should consider having a tenant for at least one year as most short let requests are for smaller serviced units in VI or Ikoyi. She agreed to this and I spread the news to other agents and clients I thought may be interested. I was contacted by another agent who had a client working in an oil company near the estate. We arranged an inspection immediately. The client, who was relocating from abroad, was happy with the property and started negotiating immediately.  He wanted 2 years instead of 1 year. I sent him a formal offer and contacted the landlady.

Friday
The landlady contacted me, to say she really did not want 2 years but will consider it if the client did not use the boys quarters! I explained that a family that needed a 5 bedroom house would more than likely need the boys quarters. She later said “I hear that in Nigeria, I do not have to pay your fees? you will need to sort yourself out with the client” I took a deep breath before saying very politely” Madam YOU contacted me to let YOUR property, my fees should be paid by YOU”  There was a pause on the other end of the line, before she said “ok I will consider something for you!

I am considering dropping this case as a matter of principle, although it will be a travesty to lose what I have already put so much into. What a business!

Diary of a Lagos Island Property Agent - June 8th

WHERE ARE OUR REGULATORY AUTHORITIES?

Monday

Yet another airport disaster in the making as the Abuja and Lagos airports experienced a blackout last Friday which affected the runway landing lights. A Government official confirmed that "some of the runway lights were out of order and needed repairing; he confirmed that both Lagos and Abuja Airports have old melting underground electric cables over 30 years old!

This is a sad indictment of the way our infrastructure is run; this is also an alarmingly common occurrence which could one day lead to another air disaster. Where are the government monitoring agencies? Is life so cheap in Nigeria? The Aviation industry needs to tighten their belts as they are not only compromising the safety of local flights but also of international flights that use our airports daily.

Tuesday

Again we have been made another promise by the Minister of Power, that we should expect improved power supply by the end of this year, which will see output increase from the current 2500MW to over 5000MW! Forgive my scepticism, but we have heard this so many times before and it has all come to nought. Why should we expect it to be different this time? Let us maintain our indefatigable hope and wait and see.

Wednesday

Where are the regulatory authorities for the health sector, education, oil and gas, roads, buildings, manufacturing, pensions, aviation, power, water, security etc? This list is endless. These areas all need an overhaul; a lot of noise is made but no action taken! Who will take action? No one knows? Even our existing regulatory authorities and probe panels are proven corrupt and compromise their investigations into wrong doings. It is a sad state of affairs for the country.

Thursday

I got an email from a witty young banker looking for self contained accommodation on the Lagos Island. I enquired further what his price range and areas were, to which he responded that he was looking for something in between ” a Mercedes quality accommodation but with a Molue price” The analogy at once made me laugh, but brought to mind something I had outside of his comfort zone, but within his price range. I put that to him and he seemed keen to arrange a viewing of the property. Once in a while I receive amusing contacts like this that lift the mood of the intense doom and gloom that is all around us. He has asked that I do not write about him, but unfortunately I can’t help that, I however promise that I will not name and embarrass!

Friday

Talking about naming and shaming, sometimes I wish I could name some unscrupulous agents and clients. One in case being an Agent who saw one of my properties advertised and contacted me on behalf of his client. I gave him the details, but only after I had reluctantly extracted from him, his name and company details as well as that of his clients. He rang me up persistently to arrange an appointment. I did this, and luckily I work very closely with the landlord, who later contacted me to say the agent had turned up unannounced with his clients and had begun negotiation of the rent! The Agent has not contacted me neither is he picking my calls! One really has to wonder at the integrity of some so called property Agents.

Until next week!

Diary of a Lagos Island Property Agent - June 1st

AIR CRASHES, ROAD ACCIDENTS, BUILDINGS COLLAPSING, What Next?

Monday

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the appalling state of our infrastructure. Making particular reference to roads like the Lagos Ibadan expressway and the fact that it is a death trap and the government must intervene immediately. Well only last week over a three day period there were two major accidents claiming many lives and disturbing passage on the road for up to twelve hours.

In both accidents, tankers and trailers were involved causing infernos and trapping people. This is not reporting the accidents and loss of life that occur daily due to the pot holes, armed robbery and careless driving of tankers, trailers and other vehicles. Many of these vehicles are not roadworthy and driven by careless drivers.  I could go on and on. Suffice to say that unless something is done very soon about this and many other dilapidated roads, the needless carnage and loss of life will continue.

Tuesday

Continuing on the state of our infrastructure and lack of maintenance culture, to the horror of the nation over the weekend on Sunday 3rd June 2012 at about 4pm a Dana flight from Abuja crashed into buildings on its approach into Lagos. All 153 on board perished as well as many others on the ground in the buildings. Our nation as thrown  into mourning from yet again another avoidable plane crash, allegedly due to the poor state of the aircraft and the lack of its maintenance.

I coincidentally wrote in one of my recent articles, that due to my fear of air and road travel in Nigeria, this had prevented me spreading my portfolio to other states. This incident has reinforced my fear. I know that our lives are in God’s hands and one must always take risks to move ahead. Sure, I agree and know that logically this is true, but until I feel able to, I will not be setting foot on any local aircrafts. May the souls of those who lost their lives, rest in peace, and may their loved ones find peace and strength to carry on without them.

Wednesday

Over and over again, many fires have been failed to be put out due to the lack of water, even though fire engines reach the scenes of accidents, they are hampered by the lack of water and even manpower to operate the hoses, as a result, the fires invariably destroy property and lives that could have been saved. A house caught fire in the Surulere area of Lagos and despite the fire engnes getting to the incident within half an hour, the fire could not be put out for three hours, after spreading to adjoining properties, due to lack of water.

Thursday

The Murtala Muhammed Airport is in such a sorry state that I feel embarrassed and angry at the increasingly dilapidated state travelers have pass through each time they enter or leave the country. There are frequent incidents of power outages which have even affected the runways and compromised the landing of planes. All too frequently you hear airport staff saying 'our systems are down' so they cannot provide or check documents. Everything ends up being done manually. Your luggage come out 3 hours after you arrive as they are manually loaded piece by piece on the conveyor belt at a rate of one piece per 5 minutes! The facilities in the airport are shockingly poor. God help you if you need the toilet!

Friday

As a country are we progressing or regressing? It is such a sad state of affairs. Where do we start? Do we train staff in maintenance techniques first? Or improve infrastructure first? This is a classic chicken or egg question.  What is clear is that whatever needs to be done and whichever comes first, needs to be done with utmost urgency

RIP to all who perished in the Dana Air crash! Too sad for words

Until next week!

Diary of a Lagos Island Property Agent - May 25th

Light, Water, Housing!

Monday

These three things, power, clean water and good quality housing, are essential for the well being of man and for the progress of any nation. Unfortunately these three seem to be lacking in this country!

What I have noticed is that a lot of developers who build good quality properties, are ensuring that there is water provided to the homes by digging boreholes and putting in a water treatment system as well as ensuring that there is provision for electricity, whether directly or indirectly. Directly by installing one or two large generators to power all the properties, or indirectly by providing connections for generators to individual homes.

I recently met a developer who did not want to be bothered by service charges and the hassle of collecting diesel payment, so he instead provided points for each flat (12 in total) to connect their generators to and service their generators themselves. The problem with this hands off approach though, is that 12 generators or more being put on at the same time, will give rise to complaints from the neighbours, especially if not sound proofed. Also fuelling 12 generators in a compound is a health and safety hazard. The developer/landlord has effectively handed over the responsibility of light provision to the occupiers.

Tuesday

There is an estate along the Lekki Express ay, that has fallen into disrepair and ruin, through lack of maintenance and neglect. This estate is inhabited by people who were relocated from their original places of abode beside Victoria Island, about 25 years ago. Although the estate is in ruins, it still houses many families who struggle daily to maintain a roof over their heads. One of the most popular markets in Lagos resides in this estate, so traffic there is high. The roads during the rainy season are impassable, gutters and drainage have broken down and flow freely into the streets

I understand plans may be underway to relocate these people again, much further from where they are now and this estate demolished as it sits on prime land. This seems to be a case of carrying the same old baggage and lack of maintenance and dumping it elsewhere, until that too deteriorates and is moved elsewhere.

Wednesday

I received a call from a lady today, who said she was acting on behalf of her clients who were abroad, and wanted to see a property we had on our books.  She wanted me to guarantee that it was what she as looking for and that it would be suitable for her clients!  I explained to her that I could send her photographs so she could decide if she wanted to take the next step of visiting, as I could not guarantee her clients taste.  After receiving the photographs, she rang me back to ask if I could give her the street name as she felt she had seen it before, but wanted to confirm.  I told her I could arrange for someone to meet her there, but she insisted she wanted to see it herself.  Methinks she is a speculator and wants to see what is out there.  I have unfortunately been through this too often.

Thursday

A developer I know rang me to say his new development of 16 units which he was preparing to let out had been broken into and all the air conditioners and light fittings stolen! How could this have taken place on a busy road full of gatemen and people? The police were called, but nothing gained from this. It seems the operation had taken place over the course of the night and no one saw anything! More than 40 air conditioner units were stolen.

Friday

I got an invitation to visit the garden city (Port Harcourt) to look at some new developments! I am not sure I want to travel that far although I am aware that there are interesting property opportunities outside of Lagos State. I will ponder on this a while!

Until next week!