Property summit: Ondo beckons on developers, investors

Dachi Maduako, Lagos

IN an attempt to expose the great potential of the state on property and real estate, the Ondo State Government recently gathered all stakeholders in Akure to explore the inherent potentials of property development in the state.

In the two-day property summit with the theme, “The Prospects of Real Estate Development In Ondo State”, participants from various works of life had the opportunity to know various developmental programmes raging from the establishments of Olokola Free Trade Zone and Deep Sea Port, Oluwa Enterprise Park , agro allied industries, Ondo State University of Science and Technology to exploitation of the fast bitumen belt and creation of enabling environment put in place to boost real estate development as well as creating jobs in the state.

Prepared to tap the anticipated real estate booms in the state, the state Governor, Dr. Olusegun Agagu, in his welcome address, disclosed that he had released a sum of N100million to the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Environment with a mandate to establish a Government Reservation Area (GRA) in the headquarters of all the eighteen Local Government Areas of the state.

He stated that his administration had paved 900 kilometer of roads both in the upland and riverrine areas; and improved provision of potable water supply from four per cent in 2003 to about 50 per cent in 2008.

He said, “We have connected many more towns and rural communities to the national grid. In addition, we have repositioned our educational facilities to meet the challenges of would-be increase on manpower requirement.”

“Ondo state is a gateway to east and south-south in the southern axis while the northern axis leads to Abuja and the other northern states. These attributes, in addition to the economy boosting programme mentioned above, make Ondo State an attractive destination for property investment for today and the future,” the governor stated.

Part of the objectives of the property summit, Agagu said, was to expose great potentials of the state on real estate and enable citizens of the state to partake in the benefits of investment in real estate.

He expressed optimism over the summit, saying if answers were found to issues germane to property investment in the state, it would go a long way to meet the challenges facing property development.

“The summit should, therefore, be able to address the issues of how to use property investment to create job opportunities, the role of financial institutions and the advantages derivable from a synergy between the public and private sectors in the area of property development,” he stated.
Commissioner for Lands and Housing and Environment in the state, Mr.

Ayo Ifayefunmi, described the concept of property summit as another ingenuity of Agagu- led administration to discover all hidden treasures that have hitherto remained largely untapped in the last 32 years of the existence of the state.

He recalled that since inception of defunct Ondo State Housing Corporation, its activities had remained largely routine by establishing one or two built-up estates and selling of lands in other estates under site and services scheme, saying this led to the restructuring of the housing agency.

One of the guest speakers, Rev. Jide Awosedo, who also is the President/Chief Executive, Grant Properties Limited, Lagos, said there was need for government to actively engage in property development in order to tackle the problem of housing and employment in the country.

According to him, government should actively engage in the provision of the enabling environment for the private sector to drive the housing industry, mentioning land, legislation and policies, appropriate technology and finance as resources required for property development.

He explained that funding for intending owners/occupiers, which stood as less than N25 billion as at July 2006 through the National Housing Fund was grossly inadequate, urging commercial banks to come to the rescue, while other funding options must be sought.

He said, “As part of PPP efforts on finance of housing, it is needful that government legislates, and puts in place policies that will encourage that inflow of developmental funds for housing development from world bodies. In addition, government should lend its support to private sector investors seeking such funding from foreign financial institutions.”