…decorated as new Balogun Woro of the Owu kingdom
A foremost Realtor, and the Chief Executive Officer of Olageospatial Global Investment Company, OGIC Surveyor Fashina Olajide has said that the solution to the challenges of housing deficit in Nigeria is for Government at all levels to prioritise the provision of ” Rent to Own” Mortgage facility, emphasising that construction of affordable homes is no longer feasible due to the skyrocketed prices of building materials.
The Realtor who is the new Balogun Woro of OWU Kingdom stated this while addressing journalists during the 37th Lisabi day festival where he led the possession of hundreds of sons and daughters of Owu Kingdom on horse ride from the palace of Olowu of Owu in Oke ago Owu to the Ake palace,the venue of the annual Lisabi day festival for his installations and to pay homage to the Egba Traditional rulers led by the alake and paramount Ruler of Egbaland, Oba Michael Aremu Gbadebo amidst pomp and pageantry.
Surveyor Fashina maintained that the Rent to own mortgage facility is the solution to the challenges of housing deficit in Nigeria because that has been the standard practice in developed nations and the Nigerian government needs to fully adopt it,fund it and make it accessible to all and sundry with verifiable means of pay back.
According to him ” As a matter of fact, building an affordable home is not possible in Nigeria,what we should be looking at is mortgage facility, if government can make mortgage facility available for people, so that they can Rent-to-Own their houses, so as they are paying rent, they are will be subtracting it from the amount of the money they need to pay, for example ,if you live like 10 to 20 years in a place. Within those periods the government would have made provision of that money available for the realtors to build and whereby you are paying your rent back to the government to own the place. I think this is what the government should do for the people. In developed countries, people don’t actually buy outrightly ,they buy using credit facilities and the rest of them.
“I think it is a mortgage facility that we should advocate more for so that things will be easy for the people not necessarily affordable.” He said
Speaking on the 37th Lisabi festival and the theme which is “Encouraging Youth in Agricultural Business: A Panacea to Solving Unemployment in Nigeria.”the realtor described the annual cultural gathering of sons and daughters of Egbaland as a veritable platform to foster unity, peace and progress of Egba land,
He maintained that the Egba people are united and there is no segregation among one another regardless of where they come from weather owu, gbagura,Ake and oke ona.
He however harped on the need for the Kingdoms in Egbaland to establish farm settlements in collaboration with government where interested youths will be trained on agricultural practice with assurance of ready made markets where the farm produce will be sold as that will show that they backed up the theme with actions not rhetorics.
In his words ” Atleast we still foster unity, there is no difference between all the egbas we are one,it is important for us to foster unity.This Lisabi festival give us opportunity once in a year to unite as one and to identify with our heritage, that’s the most important thing I think I see in this 37th Lisabi day festival.
“Whatever we are doing, the Woro dance, and the celebration, the bottom line is how does it progress unity, how can the festival bring so many indigenes of Egbaland together, so that they can come home and contribute their quotas to the development of Egbaland , that is the area I think we still need to work more on, to foster this unity among us all. Because if the people at home are ready to open their arms to receive the people in diaspora ,people that have different views, that have more ideas on how things should be and how things should go,when we accept them and integrate them to come and do their businesses ,that will take the festival to a new level.
” The truth of the matter is that there is so much rhetoric about youths involvement in agriculture.
“We are supposed to have target goals for this, it shouldn’t be a rhetoric every year on youths empowerment via agriculture,where are the farm settlements, we should start by having farm settlements in each of the communities, weather Owu, gbagura, Ake,Oke Ona.
“The kingdoms should make farmland available, they should provide those tractors,and other tools, they should partner with the government, let those things be feasible, let’s create farm settlements whereby we have people that will train the youths that are interested in agriculture.
“I don’t actually advocate that people should be granted free funds,there is a way you could do it, if you create farm settlements, and give people some number of hectares they can cultivate and provide seedlings and anything that will enable them to farm. And also create opportunities that whatever you produce,the community will buy all, so that there won’t be waste, by so doing, you will be able to come out with something real, something sustainable, than just making it a grammar or rhetoric every year.” Surveyor Fashina maintained.
Speaking on OGIC plans for the people, The CEO explained that the company has always been putting smiles on the faces of its customers and everything is built on a credible pedestal and has so many projects in stock for the people.
“The OGIC vision is to build a business empire whereby everybody can connect ,invest and achieve their dreams, that’s why our motto is very simple, “OGIC living your dreams” we didn’t say our dream ,we didn’t say my dream ,but we say living your own dreams.
So OGIC gives an opportunity to make it possible and to make it happen, we can all do it together”
He added that” We have some of our estates that are coming up and we are also coming up with OGIC business club, to enable us to come together,to invest, each and every member of the club will Patronise each other businesses, and share ideas together, sit together so that we can move together.
” We are also planning, under the OGIC foundation, we will be going to Primary and secondary schools, our target is to look at the next generation, just like a Chinese proverb which says that a tree is best planted 20 years ago and the second opportunity you have is the one you are planting today.
“We believe going into a mentorship, Leadership, Orientation program, in primary and secondary schools, we will be able to catch them young, and shape their mindset towards having big dreams, and they will be able to actualise it. I think OGIS will do more on orientation as part of our Social Responsibility” He Concluded.
The Balogun Woro of Owu kingdom thereafter hosted his families and guests which included the Olowu of Owu kingdom, Oba Saka Adelola Matemilola , The Founder of Mercyland School and Premier Paint, Chief Ogooluwa Bankole, Politicians from far and near, and business associates among other dignitaries at his family compound in Ogbe, Abeokuta.
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Congratulations