•Goes Into Tiles, Lightings, POP & Toiletries
•What The MD/CEO, IDOWU LAMIDI Told City People
Dollar Construction is one of the leading real estate companies in Nigeria. It plays big in Abuja, Ibadan & Lagos. The CEO of the company, Idowu Lamidi is a very focused entrepreneur who has done well for himself. Recently, he upped the game, by going into massive importation of Tiles, Lightenings, POP & Toiletries like WC, Toilet & Bath Accessories. He recently talked about his success story. Below are excerpts.
Within a short space of time, Dollar Construction has taken over the real estate industry in Ibadan. How did you achieve that?
I would like to narrow our performance and sustaining power down to 2 things. One is that at Dollar Construction we make teamwork our objective. During the years we’ve built a team of core professionals in every field of our operation. These are guys that understand the job and are capable hands. We all understand the company’s aims and speak in one tone and delivery is not our problem.
The second aspect is that we don’t joke with our clients, we understand what they want. We share ideas and concepts, we update them regularly. We just don’t build and hand over, we go through the phases of delivery and make sure they are hundred percent satisfied before we let go.
When we first arrived in Ibadan, what we met on the ground was quite different from what we understand as Real Estate. Here, a builder will just secure an area, fence it around and call it an estate. But with Dollar Construction, we go the extra mile in the areas of infrastructures and Security. It took the people some time before they understood what we are doing. But they can now understand the wide difference between us and others.
You all know that our estate is located in a highbrow area of Ibadan. Jericho/Idi-Ishin is a Government Reserved Area and an environment for the high-heeled. There we have 105 units of houses, 5 bedroom duplex, 4 bedroom and three bedroom with all modern facilities.
We have now started Phase 2 at Alafara. This is what we did to meet the demand of our other clients that are looking for houses smaller than what we have in Phase 1, and the selling of lands is also included in the package of Phase 2.
Our estates are accessible and equipped with modern facilities, we just don’t boast, our clients understand what we are capable of.
I guess these are parts of our sustaining power and we are bent on doing more. Our mission remains the same, placing Ibadan on the global stage when it comes to construction and Real Estate.
2021 is believed to have dealt a big blow to businesses all over the world, because of Covid-19 and fluctuations in foreign exchange in Nigeria, so many businesses could not survive. How did your company weather the storm?
All thanks to Almighty God. It was indeed a trying period. But I need to confess to you, during the pandemic there was a kind of boom in real estate. You’ll be surprised at this, but the facts are there.
It was during this period that a lot of people realised the value of properties. At the time when other businesses were failing, a lot of people were diversifying, and the best they could do then for sustenance was to trade some of their properties.
What we know as real estate is when you have invested in properties that could be of use in an emergency period such as what was witnessed during the pandemic. This is a sector that it’s hard for you to lose, because every year your investment appreciates. You can’t buy a house now and in 5 years the value remains the same unless you didn’t put some key factors into concentration when you were buying.
Again, talking about foreign exchange, it remains a big problem and that is why the value of properties goes up every day. A house you built 10 years ago for a million naira, you would be surprised you would need about 8 million naira now for that. Prices of materials have gone up.
How do you see the real estate competition in Ibadan?
Well, I can’t really say there’s competition judging by where we came from. We started in Abuja and we are still operating there. We are in Lagos too. I can’t really compare the competition in Abuja and Lagos to what we have here. We came to Ibadan fully prepared, we knew what we were coming to do, which is far different from what all others are doing.
I noticed you now sell Land which was contrary to what you claimed you came to do in Ibadan?
That became necessary because we needed to accommodate more of our clients. That is the major reason behind our Phase 2 at Alafara. We need to bend some rules to accommodate and meet demand of our clients. Our mission is to build for both the rich and the not so rich, and I don’t think we have derailed from that. We are only selling lands to accommodate some of our clients.
What’s your projection for 2022?
To make Dollar Construction better and bigger than where we were in 2021.
I already told you we’ve started the Phase 2 of our estate in Ibadan. A lot has been happening. Some months ago we signed a contract with a company in Belgium, the agreement is part of our lighting projects where we source for independent energy/power supply for our estates and other areas. We also have a contract with a German tiles-making company, they sell the finest and best tiles you can think of, we are their only representative in Nigeria, we are already building a show-room in Abuja for that, we also have a showroom and warehouse for the tiles in Ibadan. We are at the same time working on a project in Lagos, its a mega plaza, and there are other contracts we are doing, roads and some housing units in Abuja and other places, so we already have our hands full for 2022. Our dream is to extend even beyond the shores of Africa and we can see it manifesting.
Tell us about dollar construction, What Services Do You Offer?
We are a real estate company with projects in Abuja and Lagos, we are presently working on the new one in Ibadan. The one at Ibadan is a 105 units of housing estate in Jericho Idi-Ishin GRA .
We provide top class quality services to clients with interest and to uphold the ethical and quality values of the engineering profession with a mission to be the trail blazer in the field of civil and electrical engineering through value added services.
We are not only into construction, we have other companies like the West Brain Global Resources Limited, Source Model Academy, Pan Media, Fingerlick and Dollar Farm.
How old is the company and what are the major achievements in terms of projects?
I can say Dollar Construction is 11 years, but I’ve been in Construction longer than that. I was doing government contracts and it wasn’t until 2010 that I started my won company.
In terms of achievements, we’ve done a lot of projects in and outside Abuja. We have our own estate, Westwood Homes in Abuja and we have done a series of housing projects for government agencies and institutions. They are all scattered all over Nigeria.
How Is Dollar Construction Different From Other Property Companies?
we are careful about the quality of work we render to our clients. We are careful not to deviate from the core standard of engineering construction and we do not compromise our standards. We abide by and follow the tenets of construction as well as the laid down rules and regulations. What stands us out again is our staff, they are well trained and certified. One funny thing we normally joke about here is that we don’t operate a boss/employee structure, we are all the same. If you get to any of our sites you won’t be able to differentiate who is who. All our staffs know the purpose and the vision of the company. Those in Construction, Marketing, Adverts and Sales all know the vision and we meet once in a while to strategize.
What Is Your Message To Your Potential Customers?
Try us. We don’t have to boast. Our estates are open. Just come in and see what we have on the ground.
Tell us about yourself, why did you go into real estate?
My name is Idowu Lamidi, I’m from Oyo State. I was born in Ibadan, had my primary and secondary school in Ibadan before moving to the north where I later finished my education at Nassarawa State Polytechnic where I had my HND in Civil Engineering, I also hold another HND certificate in Land Administration while I’m presently a student of Nasarawa University studying Business Administration.
I did my Industrial Training with ADKAN, is one of the leading developers owned by Yinka Bibilari. That man has been a role model to me since when we were building the Model City, Gwarimpa. That gave me an interest in real estate in 2003. Our boss then, Bibilari gave me the vision. I was an IT student and he was our boss, we were not even close but he inspired me without him knowing. I always look at him from afar, how he handled the project and he sets the fire in me because I felt I can be like him and even surpass him. He was the man I looked up to and he made me believe it’s possible to achieve anything because he sets the vision and the possibility for me. That is how I started Dollar Construction. I’ve been in real estate fully in 2010, but I’ve been doing government contracts before then.
I started Dollar Construction in Abuja, our first project was a disaster. it was a housing project at Lugbe. I finished a project in Keffi, the Police Housing Scheme and the Road Safety Co-operative Housing at Masaka, the estate is named after Wole Soyinka, you know he started the FRSC in Nigeria. Immediately I finished at Keffi I started my own real estate at Lugbe, but it was demolished in 2013. It was already on the completion stage, some people had moved in.
On the day of the demolition I was in Ibadan when I received the call, it was as if the world would end. But we thank God for where we are, we were able to scale the hurdle after many problems and issues.
I was taken to EFCC, ICPC, Police, but I kept telling them our intention was to provide houses, it was a lesson and we thank God we are still standing.
Are Ibadan elites ready to buy houses like those in Lagos and Abuja?
The main factor you need to consider when you ask that question is one, Are there still choice locations in Lagos and Abuja anymore? What you see is people digging deeper and giving strange names to dignify where they live.
Our project in Ibadan is in a central location, you can access our estate from different parts of the city.
We are not outside Ibadan. We are within the city. You can’t have beautiful structures like this in remote areas. Who doesn’t want to live in Ibadan?
To be honest with you, when you go round Ibadan and discover the prices of properties and rents, you would see a slight difference. Ibadan is the new deal. People would tell you they love the city, it’s peaceful. Who doesn’t want to live where it’s peaceful? We just need to work on the facilities and take the city to where it should be. Do you know the story of Magodo in Lagos? When they first started selling the lands, people were laughing. Now they are buying even the water-locked part of the area.
What makes Dollar Construction different from other real estate companies?
What sets us apart is the quality of work we render to our clients, We don’t deviate from the core standard of engineering construction and we do not compromise standards. We abide and follow the tenets of construction as well as the rules and regulations. Again our staffs are well trained and certified. They can work in all departments of the company, they can function in construction, marketing, adverts, sales because they are wholly trained and understand the dream of the company.
Again at Dollar Construction, there is no employer/employee structure. You won’t know the security from the Director, we all work at the site and we enjoy doing that and we joke about it.
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