Dr Tunde Adeyemo, the Chief Executive Officer of Pelican Valley Nig. Limited, has carved a niche for himself in the Real Estate Industry; not only in Ogun State and Nigeria, he has spread his tentacles even to the Diaspora with over 1000 clientele-based networks.
Adeyemo, with a Ph.D. in Corporate Governance and Business Management, had his passion right from the onset to do unusual exploits since his days as undergraduate at the University of Lagos. He said integrity, goodwill creativity, trust and due process had been his guiding principle in the past 10 years with no court cases in his Real Estate Business.
The success stories from Pelican Valley, his pilot project, had been a reference point to his other conglomerates such as Pelican Brief and Pelican Ecostay Apartments. Pelican Greenish Farm, which aims at building an economy by introducing a farm market and a farm estate within a jogging distance would be launched and commissioned by the Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun on September 11.
He told INSIDE POLITICS that his second project, Pelican Brief Estate has all the required approval layouts from the State Government with infrastructure such as electrification and road network already in place.
Adeyemo’s desire to be a young entrepreneur in life made him look beyond journalism practice, and since then, he has no regrets whatsoever.
Here is the excerpt of his interview with OLUWASEUN BOYE and LEKAN AGBONDE
Your background
I am a native of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, but I was born in Ikorodu, hence I practically spent most of my life in Lagos. I started my education at Etunrenren Primary School, Ikorodu, in 1983 and later proceeded to the Government College, also in Ikorodu for my secondary education. After that, I got admitted into a Cooperative College where I obtained a Diploma in Cooperative Studies. Thereafter, I was admitted into the University of Lagos in 1998 where I bagged my first degree in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management. I subsequently bagged a master’s degree from the same institution in 2010.
Coping with Journalism and Real Estate
I practised Journalism and Real Estate simultaneously. I reported for Murhi International Television (MITV) for almost 13 yrs. So, journalism is a calling while real estate is my passion. One thing you can’t take away from the management of MITV is that, they allow staff development and permit workers that are creative to ventilate their creativity once it does not affect official duties and delivery. I must thank the Chairman, Murhi Group, Alhaji Busari Gbadeyanka for his magnanimity. I will forever be grateful to him. Journalism has really given me a leap and it has helped my real estate business in the sense that it opens door for me. As a journalist who has been practising for close to fifteen years, the links and contacts are there for me to explore and take their advantages. My credibility has also helped as I have not been linked to any fraud, falsification or controversy. I am just a gentleman and I will remain so. That name and goodwill in journalism has really helped me towards developing my passion. Although, the real estate business has been paying my bills in the past four years but isn’t a valid reason to abandon journalism. I was not brought up to abandon anyone that once assisted me in life. I do not want to be an ingrate. Rather than abandon MITV, I have been giving back to the company; doing my job almost free of charge and equally, contributing to that organisation positively in the last two years. I’ve made up my mind that if they still want my service, I will continue to render my service almost at no cost to the organisation.
An African Proverb says: “A good name is better than riches.” What we have done in Pelican Valley has really helped us a great deal because all our customers there are automatically sharing in the Pelican Brief vision and are not taking it lightly with us.
They are buying in acres because they have seen what we have done in Pelican Valley. For your information, before take-off, we have almost sold out on our first site at the Pelican Brief because they realised almost 100 percent return on investment in just one year as we are strategically positioned to major landmarks in Ogun State. It is not just buying a plot of land for a ridiculous amount of money in a bush and not getting necessary return on investment in 10 to 15 years that matters. If you buy from us, from the Pelican Brief, you are sure of getting over 100 per cent return on investment, in just one year.
The Pelican Valley Estate story
The Pelican Valley is a dream driven by passion and not money. It is a project realised after many years of planning. I believe an ideal entrepreneur should first be driven by passion and not money. The estate has been designed to create a scenic, serene and green environment. We do service plot allotments and build unusual homes for our clients; both Nigerians and foreigners that appreciate the aesthetics of nature and know the value of our world class terrace, serene and green environment. It is a mini estate for the top notch; driven by passion and vision which has been defined through our high-end creativity and innovation. It has positioned itself to provide affordable service plots of lands with best environmental consideration for its numerous clients. The estate is meant to provide affordable housing for Nigerians and other nationals in an unusual environment where they will get value for their investments. In the estate, there are over three hectares of land with valid Certificate of Occupancy No. 0035646. It is located at Oke Mosan, along Kobape Road, (behind Buckswood British-Academy, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital). For now, we are not there yet, but we are making considerable progress considering our humble beginning. In fact, most of our estates are mini ones because we don’t want to bite more than we can chew. We have made our immediate environment more green, accessible and illuminating. We are also planning a public motorised borehole for our immediate community.
The Pelican-Brief
The Pelican-Brief, meant to ignite a smart city is in Kobape, an Egba community which is easily accessible from Lagos and Oyo. It is less than 16 minutes’ drive from the Prof. Wole Soyinka’s Train Terminus in Abeokuta. For the records, trains in the new rail project being sponsored by the Federal Government is to run 160 kilometre per hour from Ebute-Meta to Abeokuta in less than 75 kilometres! We’re targeting Lagos and Oyo states’ markets. We want to bring Lagos, Oyo to Ogun. We’re targeting all the terminals in Lagos. The one in Agege, Ebute Metta. The Ebute Metta rail terminal to the Prof. Wole Soyinka Terminal (WST) in Abeokuta is about 25 kilometres; running at 150 kilometre per hour by rail. So, From Wole Soyinka Rail Terminal in Abeokuta to the Pelican Brief in Masa-Kobape is just 15 minutes. So, when you add the real distance from the Ebute Meta Rail Terminal to the Wole Soyinka terminal to our estate, the total is just about 50 minutes. So one can work in Victoria Island and reside in Abeokuta which will be very easy to commute. We’re also targeting the people in Ibadan too. It will take barely 30 minutes or so from the WST to the Pelican Brief by road which is just barely 15 minutes. To achieve our dream, we have secured about 300 acres of land for the Pelican Brief Estate as we want to ignite a smart city there.
Why the choice of Masa-Kobape?
We chose Masa-Kopabe for the Pelican-Brief site because of its proximity to the Rail Terminal in Abeokuta. It is also the only place that one can get the kind of land that we needed that is closer to the rail terminal in Abeokuta as well as to the seat of power in Ogun and at the same time free from government acquisition.
We realised that the past administration had acquired almost all the parcels of land that situate and extend from both left and right of the Abeokuta-Sagamu Inter-change. That’s why it took us almost two years before we discovered Masa and we thank God for everything. There are many unique and attractive features about the location of the Pelican Brief Estate. One of them is rural electrification project embarked upon by the administration of Chief Olusegun Osoba. I will like to commend him for the foresight of installing a 33-KVA trunk line which is more than perfect for the area and our project. The road network is also all seasons good. So, to us Masa is a hidden treasure uncovered by us and we are ready to explore its potential and put the community on world map as a place anyone can live and work in Lagos, Oyo and indeed in Ogun. It is a conducive environment. We also want to commend the Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, who I usually refer to as the ‘Prince Of Hope’, for his administration’s resolve to make life better for rural dwellers. In particular, we equally want to appreciate him for the rehabilitation and re-asphalting of the Abeokuta-Sagamu Interchange roads which has also placed us at a better advantage. We now have better roads and we are closer to major landmarks in Ogun State. In addition, I want to commend the governor for giving realtors a latitude to operate without hindrance or fear of unnecessary government acquisitions. He made it clear that he was ready for public-private partnership in any sector to make Ogun investors’ delight, and this, he has been doing. To me, such hand of friendship by the government has been a great elixir for property business. I say a big thank you to the governor.
Considering the benefits earlier highlighted, buying a plot of land at Pelican Brief now for N3,000,000.00 is an investment of N7,000,000.00 million in the nearest future.
Why the name, Pelican Valley?
The name, Pelican Valley, was born out of the uniqueness of our estate terrain. It’s a difficult terrain which was turned to a beauty and therefore, becoming a reference point in the Ogun State’s real estate sector. Pelican is a powerful bird that signifies vigour and energy to defy all odds to deliver in a critical situation. That is why our estate’s pay-off line is ‘where unusual homes happen’.
What we do at Pelican Valley is a sort of a site and service scheme with emphasis on creativity. This is because our entry into the real estate sector was motivated by my passion for unusual homes and my humble background. So, at Pelican Valley, we do service plot allotments and assist to build unusual homes for our clients.
Lessons of life
My humble beginning was my greatest teacher. My late dad used to say a Yoruba proverb which goes: “Ìyà kò jẹ ọ, o ní o gbọn, tani tíṣà rẹ?”. This translates to mean “You didn’t suffer, yet you said you are wise, who then, is your teacher?” What I have learnt about real estate business is that, as an entrepreneur, you must be extremely patient and nurture the business to grow, not in a hurry to get rich quickly. This is what many real estate promoters in Nigeria don’t do. For example, it took us about three and half years to get a Certificate of Occupancy of some of our lands, then about two years to prepare our terrace, before we even commenced sales. How many real estate practitioners would wait or be patient that long before selling? Some would even use buyers’ monies to pay land owners (omo onile).
Real estate business requires patience and time, not desperation. Let me tell you my experience. There was a period several years ago I approached a bank for loan but at the point of disbursing the loan, the bank’s MD called me into his office and offered me a candid and honest advice that I will never forget in my life. The man told me in confidence that I would not break even or have a peace of mind if I got a commercial bank loan for a real estate business. He further told me that his advice is offered sincerely simply because of his relationship with my link person. The real estate market is not like rice and beans that customers troop in to buy in droves. You can invest millions and not get any return in years. So, what now becomes of the interests and servicing of the bank loans you have got to repay? That is why we see so much desperation on the part of most operators of real estate business in Nigeria of late. They can ask you to contribute one naira every day or buy a plot and get this and that. It’s all about desperation. Real estate business needs patience and consistency – you start little if you don’t want to secure a killer loan. There was a period I used an old model Mazda car for 9 years, changing the engine 3 times just to cut cost and stay in business.
Advice to journalists
Due to poor remuneration of journalists in Nigeria, I believe Nigerian journalists must have a second address so that they can be financially independent and stop running after “brown envelopes” which would eventually water down objectivity and balancing in reportage.
Your advice to the youth
My advice for youths and young entrepreneurs is “any business you cannot start small is not a business”. Start small, buy your time and let it grow naturally. Also, as youths, we tend to do things that are not in tandem with our natural calling. Try to identify what your calling is and pursue it. Using myself as an example, God helped me to discover my callings. I have also over the years known that my destiny and spirit forbids cheating people and to the best of my ability and knowledge, I don’t cheat not only because it is a vice but also because it doesn’t flow with my being. So, as youths, we need to discover ourselves and our passion.
