1.
FALLIBILITY: The Owners of Lekki Gardens are Human being like you and I,
the ONLY one devoid of imperfection will be the Almighty God. Why not temper
mercy with justice in this unforeseen calamity? I can bet my life on this,
Lekki Gardens or Richard Nyong will never wish to experience such an unseemly
publicity stunts with human lives, it is an error that could happen to the best
of engineers anywhere in the world. The memory of crane collapse at mecca which
killed at least 107 people and injured almost 400 during a severe thunderstorm
accompanied by violent winds is still fresh in our minds, this is a sacred
place where projects are handled by the best in Engineering and real estate
development skills, unfortunately the accident happened and ONLY God knows why
it does at that important period during the pilgrimage.
2.
BASIC NECESSITIES OF LIFE: Lekki Gardens is a service provider in one of
the 3 basic necessities of life i.e; food, clothing and shelter. They belong to
the real sector of the economy whose demand is high and government has never
been able to meet up with their socio-economic responsibilities to the teeming masses.
An entity like Lekki Gardens and its owners needs be encouraged to do more
through our support when things go awry unexpectedly.
3.
NIGERIA’S GDP CONTRIBUTOR: According to a report in 2015 by Accounting
and Auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), “the Nigerian real estate sector is growing at a rate
of 8.7 percent, which is faster than the average GDP growth rate of 7.4 percent”
Lekki Gardens and Richard Nyong are among the biggest contributors to
Nigeria’s GDP and the more reason prosecutor needs to be careful by not “throwing
away the baby with the bath water”. Government at all levels are looking for ways
to enhance the operations and production capacity of critical sectors of the
economy such as real estate in order to boost the GDP of Nigeria’s economy, so
why not re-evaluate the events that led to this unfortunate incident and come
up with corrective cum preventive measures to avert future occurrence instead
of “killing mosquito with a sledge hammer”.
4.
EMPLOYMENT CREATION: Real Estate business is the one of the biggest
employer of labour and provides employment to large number of the populace. I
can boldly reveal to all who cares that I became a graduate, paying for my
school fees from real estate jobs, I was a maison, Tile and interlocking paving
stone installer, House painting and decorations. While In the service of
Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, I usually take up project management jobs during my
leave/vacation, I happen to supervise the first Multi-links base station in
Enugu. Even after I left Gtbank, I was a project manager on several real estate
projects in Abraka, Makurdi, Badagry and Ikorodu. The last was an access road
project in 2014 at Sangotedo beside LEKKI GARDENS ESTATE, Lekki. Lekki Gardens and Richard Nyong employs over 500
persons directly and 100,000 indirectly, can we afford to make life miserable
for such families benefiting from his economic contribution?
5.
INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES: A lot of investment opportunities abound in
real estate development sector of the economy. When you buy or build a house,
and lease out to tenants, that property starts to earn you rental revenue
(monthly or yearly depending on the treaties with your tenants). With increasing
yearnings for affordable housing units and ever growing inflation rate, rental
values are always on the increase. Higher rental prices mean more profits for
you, the owner. Compared to other investment options, the revenue from real
estate is the most consistent. Lekki Gardens and Richard Nyong has created a
wide range of investment opportunities for banks, Surveyors and valuers,
corporate organizations, Insurance brokers, etc.
6.
TAX BENEFITS TO GOVERNMENT: Property tax plays a critical role in state
and national development, property tax is a levy on immovable property, such as
land and buildings, usually paid by the owner to the state. This form of
taxation is closely associated with financing government projects because of
the immediate connection between property values and services funded at the
local level. These services may include the provision of potable water, street lighting,
waste management, security, and the maintenance of public parks, schools and
roads. Lekki Gardens and Richard Nyong must have contributed a sizeable value
in property tax to states where their real estate projects are sited. Why not
give this indigenous firm and this young man a chance to contribute to the taxation
drive of the economy.
7.
SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT: Real Estate developments usually contribute
to the communities their projects are located at, by providing infrastructure,
employment, Skills Training and Development. Most of the host communities have
attested to the fact that the presence of Lekki Gardens in their area has
opened up their access roads neglected by the government. Most communities
whose lands are acquired for real estate developments have found solace in
firms such as Lekki Gardens and the likes. Directly or indirectly, real estate
companies have provided more social infrastructures than any known philanthropist
in Nigeria today.
8.
CREATING HOME OWNERS THROUGH MORTGAGE: Mortgage Home Ownership is an
arrangement that is offered through acquisition of property with intending
owners making an equity contribution of about 20-30% of the total cost of the
property and deferring the mortgage loan amount for periods between 5-30yrs.
Many people have benefited from this mortgage arrangements from real estate
companies such as Lekki Gardens, the dream of becoming a landlord would have
just been illusions save for the magnanimity and patriotic zeal for human
developments of private estate development firms. It is a known fact that governments
alone could
