The 7th edition of the City People Real Estate Awards took place on Sunday, 27th November, 2022 at the beautiful the beautiful Pleasant Event Center, Adeniyi Jones, Ikeja, Lagos. Days after, the event is still being talked about everywhere, especially among real estate players, in and out of Lagos.
It was a big day for many real estate developers, stakeholders, government agencies, and officials who were awarded and honoured for their outstanding performance in the sector, in the last one year.
The awards ceremony which attracted the creme-de-la-creme in the sector is a reward for hard work and those who impacted the sector positively with their products and services.
The 2022 edition was a classy event different from the previous editions. Those who witnessed the 7th edition will testify to this; as top property players and government agencies like LSDPC, LASPPPA, etc, stormed the venue with big entourages.
Around 3 pm on the d-day, top real estate players, key stakeholders, government agencies, and people from all walks of life started trooping in to grace the much-awaited awards ceremony. We can confirm to you that they were all pleased with the decoration of the venue, especially the inside of the hall, as it was beautifully decorated in black and grey with a touch of yellow, while the chandeliers did final justice to the decoration.
VETERAN BROADCASTER, FEMI CRAIG, OPENS THE FLOOR
A few minutes to 4pm, one of Nigeria’s veteran broadcasters, Mr. Femi Craig, mounted the stage, as he opened the curtains for the commencement of the much-awaited awards ceremony. He was the official MC of the event, alongside the popular comedian, Seyi Law. They co-hosted the event together.
Craig, who was one of the early comers to the event, was neatly dressed in an English suit and he declared the event open with Nigeria’s National Anthem.
PUBLISHER DELIVERS REMARKS ABOUT
THE EVENT
The Publisher, Dr. Seye Kehinde, commended and thanked the key players who made themselves available for the big occasion. He said, “City People Real Estate Awards is an event organised to celebrate the outstanding players in the built environment. This is the 7th edition of the award. It keeps getting better each year and we are very happy to have many of you here this year to celebrate your success. Most of the top practitioners in the industry are here”. He concluded his speech by congratulating the real estate players who were all waiting anxiously for the awards.
DID WE TELL YOU
SEYI LAW CO-ANCHORED THE SHOW?
Yes, he did! The ace comedian showed his dexterity in jokes, as he cracked many many ribs with jokes.
One of the highlights of the event was the comedy session, as dignitaries, real estate players, from all walks of life, laughed endlessly to his jokes. He was the life of the party!
LASPPPA GM GIVES STERN WARNING TO REAL ESTATE PLAYERS
The General Manager of the Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority (LASPPPA), Kehinde Osinaike, in his keynote address, sounded a warning to the stakeholders and other real estate practitioners on what they should know about building construction in Lagos.
The GM started by asking if the event centre where the award held has a building permit! “You know we regulate a very delicate sector. After food, there is shelter and in this part of the world, the dream of every person after food, is to have a shelter. The dream will only be actualized if you have the statutory planning permit. Otherwise, this tall man that’s standing before you will be chasing you everywnere.”
The GM also said that safety is very germaine in the built environment. According to him, “for us as a regulator, it’s important that when you are putting the blocks together, adhere our regulations, otherwise we will not allow you to actualise your dream home”.
He also talked about the role of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA). They are to maintain building construction and renovation of existing and new buildings to be safe, healthy, accessible and habitable.
He also read out some of the requirements of his agency. He warned real estate players that before they commit their hard earned money to any land, they should find out about the status of the land. While noting that not every area in Lagos is “buildable”, Mr. Osinaike said there are some places you can build event centres for commercial use. There are some areas exclusively reserved for residential, industrial, commercial, etc. But over time, we have discovered people aren’t following this rule. Before you commit yourself to that land, find out if the land is a committed one. Don’t let Omo Onile deceive you.
Of recent, we have discovered that over 70 percent of houses in Lagos are either without permits or deviated from that planning permit”.
He also talked about the duration of approving permits. He said in the past, it used to take a long time to process but not any longer. “Since the beginning of this administration, we have reduced it to 10 working days to complete our process. Anybody can take me on this! I will tell you the causes of delay: one, payment of tax and that’s compulsory for everyone in Lagos to do. Somebody wants to build a 10-storey building in Banana Island and he’s paying as low as N10,000 income tax every year! So, if you are not tax-compliant, we aren’t going to release that approval to you. We would call you within those 10 days to come and collect your approval but you have to be cleared by LIRS before it can be released to you.
Another reason why there is delay is that people use third parties, called agents. Some of these agents are only interested in collecting your money. That’s when he would be telling you the file is on the table of the GM and we have to settle him. As we speak, you won’t find any file on my table. I have cleared every file on my table as at Friday”.
DID WE TELL YOU ABOUT THE TURN OUT OF AWARDEES?
They were all present, led by their Managing Directors. Most of them were engaged on the red carpet, as a team of reporters and, photographers from City People gave them at least 2 minutes to express their minds. Some of them included Madam Sade Balogun and children. They were all happy at what they saw. Also, Dr. Bamidele and wife, Tolulope Onalaja were happy at the event. The beautiful couple stormed the venue in their 2021 Mercedez Benz Black Jeep. They danced on the red carpet and also granted a couple of interviews.
What about Adron Homes? They were present at the event. They were led by their GM to the venue. Their table was occupied by their staff.
Did we mention that Dr. Ololade Abuta, MD, Gracias Property and Madam Kehinde Funke stormed the venue together? They were the cynosure of all eyes, as her real estate firm, Gracias Property was awarded Most Outstanding Real Estate Company of the Year, while MFK, won Realtor of the Year. The two were elated and happy to be awarded with such big awards.
