By Christy Anyanwu
Among Nigerian netizens and the global social media circle, Ichechi Okonkwo is known by her sobriquet, ceooflagos (pronounced ceo-of-lagos). Yet, she is in real life the Chief Executive of Victoria Crest Homes, a real estate development firm. Okonkwo resigned from the banking industry to join her husband, Kennedy Okonkwo, in providing homes for Lagosians. In this interview, she gives advice on what government needs to do, to alleviate the huge housing deficiency in the country.
What has been you experience in managing a real estate firm as a woman in Nigeria?
There’s no job that is meant for a woman or a man. For me, I always say that the grass can be green for anyone at any corner. It all depends on what exactly you are looking at and how you are watering it and taking care of it. Real estate used to be thought to be ‘a man’s work’ but a lot of women have come in now and they are making their mark in the real estate space. It’s still very much male-dominated because most of the people at the helm of affairs in the real estate space are still men, so, we are trying to push to see that more women can come into real estate business, build their careers and also invest actively because a lot of them always think that maybe because of our culture or tradition, women are laid back when it comes to real estate investment. I think if we have more women actively investing, others can see and they can dominate. I think we should be preaching the gospel of real estate investment among women. We just have to keep talking about it. Anybody who has that knowledge should talk to the next person, and that person speaks to the next person. In that way, we would be able to bring a lot more women into the space and they will begin to actively get involved in what is happening in the real estate space, building a career and also actively investing.
You talk passionately about this sector. How long have you been in real estate?
I have been doing real estate now with my husband for less than a decade. I was working in the bank before I got into real estate. It hasn’t been an easy ride, but most of what has helped me is mentorship. I have learnt a lot from him and I also learnt a lot from my dad. Seeing both of them actively involved in real estate has really helped me grow in real estate knowledge. It’s not easy being who I am, prioritizing helps me a lot, I try also to build a good support system around me so that I don’t have to be everywhere at the same time. I delegate duties.
What major challenges have you experienced in real estate business and how did you handle them?
In Nigeria and Africa generally, there is a huge gap in the housing markets. We have over 22 million people in Lagos alone. We have that growing population every year. If we put together all the real estate developers, we only do about 3 million houses every year. So, we are not able to meet with the demand of the people. So, it’s a huge challenge. Everybody is trying to see how the private sector and the government can partner to alleviate some of these challenges.
Again, accessing finance is a major challenge in the real estate space. Acquiring land to be able to build houses is also a challenge because most of the time, lands are allocated to non-developer. That makes it difficult for us to access it directly. You have to go and pay excessively to those who are not developing. The reason is that the government gave the lands to those who are not developing, who turn around to sell to developers. This makes it a bit more expensive at the end of the day for us who are developing for the end users.
Last year we had the pathetic case of the Ikoyi high rise building which collapsed while it was being built. And there have several other incidents of building collapse. How do we stop this from happening further?
The government has regulatory agencies that are responsible for monitoring building projects, whether bungalow, storey building, low or high rise. I’m not sure of what exactly happened and led to the collapse of the structure. So, I cannot comment on that. All I can say is that we as a people need to learn how to become more responsible and make sure that we do not joke with human lives. In so doing, we make sure that we do the things that are necessary. There are certain standards for every property. I know that we have government agencies that regulate the construction of properties. If the officials of such agencies do the right thing always, like late Prof Dora Akunyili did at NAFDAC, I believe building collapse end and we will be fine.
How many years did you spend in banking industry before going into real estate business?
I was in banking for about five years.
Tell us about your growing up. Were your parents into this kind of business too?
My dad is a surveyor; I’m the first in a family of five. I saw him actively investing in real estate. He developed commercial and residential properties. We never knew what it was like to live in a rented apartment. Even when I was getting married, I knew I did want to do rentals for a long time. After we got married we made sure we were able to get ourselves somewhere of our own. That put off the stress of landlord. We were able to plan ahead for the future of the children. When children know this is their space, their home, it gives them a sense of security and they can focus on their studies and all that. Seeing my father actively involved in real estate, and getting married someone who was also into real estate, I was already familiar with the terrain, and I just continued like that.
What would you like the government to do for your sector?
They should be able to support developers more, give us access to properties, not funds per se. Government cannot give you money but they can give you land so that you can develop and sell.
What is your philosophy about life?
A dream they say will never become reality through magic. It takes hard work, determination, and lots of perseverance. Always remember and bear in mind that life is a series of choices, and most choices are based on two things: love or fear. Both can masquerade in different ways along your path, but you should love what you do and do what you love.
Briefly tell us about the CSR of your company?
We have been doing grassroots CSR with the communities around whereby we organize games for them, to bring our community, our estates together. However, due to COVID-19 we couldn’t do anything for a while. So last year we thought of holding an Olympiad not just the race. We had football competition where all the estates played against each other. We had different indoor and outdoor games like tennis, draft, scrabble and chess competitions. We had different categories of athletics like sack race, spoon race, 100 metres, 30 metres, 50 metres for the different age groups. The sports event gave them an avenue to compete and the winners got prize. The event was an opportunity for them to come together to connect, play, have fun. Both the adults and children interacted and networked. We called the Victoria Crest Olympiad. It will be an annual event.