By Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye
Philomena Henshaw, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Phil Consulting has been an estate surveyor and valuer for 17 years, and she’s well-respected in the field. In this interview with Saturday Sun, she spoke, among other issues, on why there are frequent cases of collapsed buildings in Nigeria. She blamed it on corruption and compromise of the standards. She also talked about multiple streams of income and the need for people to put talents to work for them.
Are there some signature projects you’ve handled?
I have handled smaller projects here and there. But my best practice is in commercial property management. I have, under my portfolio, a lot of offices under my care. Some of the plazas are well over 90 offices, some 45. I oversee some residential properties too, estates and all of that.
How have government policies impacted the housing sector, positively or negatively?
The government has put policies in place. But they don’t keep to those policies. A typical example is development control. You have areas mapped out for certain developments and people buy based on the required expectations of those areas. But because there’s no effectiveness in monitoring, people do whatever they want. Development control is a major concern. For example, El-Rufai allocated this place as a government reserved area. But you have a lot of hamlets and villages still around, thereby bringing up security issues. So the government does not insist or in most cases, bend their rules when it comes to enforcing what they have approved. That is one of my major concerns. It also affects values. When you put up a good structure and in the next building there is a shanty, there is a security risk. People don’t accept coming this way because they’re not sure that they’ll be safe.
Have you been able to engage the government on these issues?
What can we do? If it’s not in their plan; they will not answer you. We’ve spoken to them. We’ve told them, especially about the road. There’s a company that came in from Lagos. They wanted to take the whole place. What deterred them was the road. They were insisting that the landlords should come together and construct the road. But I pay my taxes. So why would I come to build roads? I don’t have that type of fund.
Real estate has been described as the riskiest investment to make in Nigeria because people often get conned easily. How can this be remedied?
People get conned on real estate investment because they do not follow due process. A lot of them trust information from relatives and friends. But before you get into either property purchase or any transaction in property, get the right people involved. That includes your lawyer to do a search and your estate surveyor to help you in project management. Our people in the Diaspora are busy sending money to relatives to buy land, build and send pictures. If you are dealing with people of low integrity, you will certainly reap the result. But if you involve professionals, I believe that you will not get conned. So I will advise anybody who wants to go into property development to get the right people involved. Do you want a property or house to rent, and you pay your money to someone who does not have an office? He has just a telephone number and the post that says, ‘I’m in charge of this property or building?’ Ah, he will take your money and disappear into thin air. If you are looking for land to buy and build on, deal with professionals: estate surveyors and valuers; legal practitioners of repute and then go through a proper development plan for the place. Don’t build a mansion where you’re supposed to build a block of flats. If it’s not accepted, don’t do it. This is because you will suffer a great repercussion if one day someone wakes up and decides to demolish buildings not built according to the development plan for the area.
What can be done to prevent building collapse?
Follow the due process. When I put up this building, development control came at every stage. At the foundation, even before the foundation was laid, I had to do a soil test. The type of foundation approved had to be strictly adhered to because this location has humid soil. It’s not firm. So the approved building materials that are supposed to be used here to allow for a firm foundation are certainly different from if you were building on soil that is not as loose as this. Do you follow it? If you are putting up a structure, the right questions to ask are: did the quantity surveyors give you the right specifications? Even if they did, did you follow it? People are used to just bribing their way. You put up three, four storey-buildings and say, please, it doesn’t have to go that deep. But they have to go that deep to be able to stand. The size of rods, gravel or chippings and quantity of cement used are extremely important. Even the Bible says, if the foundation is destroyed, there is nothing you can do about it. It will collapse. But where there’s so much corruption and compromise, where you buy off the officials who are supposed to investigate and insist on standards, then you have disaster coming. And when it comes, not only will the property be destroyed, you will have many lives lost.
If you have to advise governments about people living in slums, what would you say?
As I said, our government is the most unorganised. I’m sorry to say so and I hope they don’t come after me. We are not focused. You know, development is not something you do in one, two, four or eight years. It’s a long-term thing. It is something you should be looking at for a minimum of 50 years. In the next 50 years what is my projection? What growth do I expect? I mean, times are changing; the future is here. We’re talking about the fact that with a smartphone, a little machine in your hand, you can rule the world. So why can’t it be planned in that light? If our government can be focused and not live on chasing money, actually genuine money would come in if things are addressed appropriately, and we would go far.
Aside from real estate, you have been promoting multiple streams of income. Why do you think this is necessary and how has that benefited you?
When God created the earth, in the Garden of Eden, there were four streams. He would have just provided just one stream. But he made four streams and they were all to water the garden and make provisions for every aspect. I believe that you can’t rely on one level of income. But if you are contented with that, that’s fine. But a time comes when other needs coming your way will make it necessary to go for other means of income in order to be able to meet them. God blessed each and every one of us with talents. My major talent is baking and cooking. I have made a living from it. If you have the time, as long as one is not suffering in place of the other, you can multitask. I encourage you to try your hands on other things. I believe if we look around us there are many things that you can add value to and sell. I love flowers. A lot of people have been talking to me, why don’t you sell them? But at the moment, I just collect. There are so many basic things, like I don’t buy my ugu, waterleaf, spinach; everything is planted around me here. That could cut the costs of you going to the market. There was a time I had a lot of tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and normal tomatoes growing. I had very nice pawpaw trees all around. I still have sour sop. I don’t have to go to the market to buy them. And if I have a large quantity I could sell them. Those are all multiple streams of income.
How were you able to combine family and professional life successfully?
Growing up with my parents until I started working, I did my best as a child to take care of them and still face my professional life and baking. It was an exciting thing because my father encouraged me. His mum and his grandma virtually trained them on the petty things they did with their hands. He was particularly happy that I picked up the baking thing. My grandmother used to bake cakes for people, for funerals, weddings, for everything. I was basically the one assisting. So that helped. When I got married, I didn’t have kids on time. Then I was working in a bank. My spare time was used to do the things I loved to do. I occupied myself a lot. It didn’t affect me adversely. Actually, at a point, my ex-husband joined me in the baking. Sometimes if I had like two or three wedding deliveries, he would take on some and then my staff. I used to train people, so I engaged them. You don’t pay me for the training. I just encouraged people to join and learn on the job. So when my marriage went apart and all that, I focused on my profession. And, of course, with my daughter, I give it full attention. Initially, I used to take her to work with me until she grew up. Until she gained admission into secondary school, I was fully involved in her day-to-day life. I did the school runs. I didn’t have a driver. I still don’t have one. So I did all my runs. And I enjoyed it. Basically, I’m just managing my time.
How do you relax? What’s your favourite holiday destination within and outside the country?
I relax by sleeping when I draw the line. I like my bed. I relax by gardening. I love travelling when I can afford it. I like to go to the UK, Dubai and America. Of course, by the time my daughter started school, there were a lot of demands on my finances. So the holiday was not a major thing except I had to go visit her. And of course, in these COVID years, you couldn’t go anywhere. But I like my leisure. I like to entertain people. I like people to come and eat in my house. Cooking and entertaining people are part of my leisure. I like to give laughter. I give out my clothes and all that. It makes me excited that I can be a blessing to others.