Connect with us
study in Ukraine

Nigeria News

Regulating The Practice Of Estate Agency In Lagos

Published

on

By Sola Ogunmosunle

Just recently, the media was awash with the news of a Lagos property developer cum estate agent who duped over a hundred prospective accommodation seekers tens of millions of naira. The agent was reported to have collected various sums of money from the prospective tenants over and above the only twenty four available apartments in the property. This, however, is not an isolated case as it is now a commonplace occurrence as the atrocious estate agents have become a source of sorrow for the hordes of accommodation seekers in Nigeria.

In our major cities, particularly Lagos, where housing has always been a critical issue, the perception of the populace on the activities of estate agents is that of greed, deceit, distrust, trickery and extortion,  Lagosians, if presented with a choice will rather keep estate agents at arm’s length. It must, however, be noted that there are still a few honest and professional agents out there, but very hard to come by!

Accommodation seekers in Lagos are more vulnerable to the whims and caprices of the estate agents for obvious reasons. Lagos is the largest conurbation in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa. It is currently estimated to be the 7th fastest growing city in the world and its population is also estimated to be between 15 and 17 million people and by projection may rise to about 25 million by the year 2015. The implication of this projection is that about 3,000 people migrate to Lagos daily! Being the former seat of government in Nigeria and the commercial nerve centre of the West African sub-region, Lagos has always held attraction for the proverbial greener pastures seekers.

These and other factors such as failure of successive governments to address the extreme deficit in housing stocks and establish a regulatory mechanism that can bring about solutions to the problematic housing sector are some of the important reasons why many would-be tenants are at the mercy of these so-called quack estate agents.

Due to the high level of unemployment in the country and most unfortunately because the estate agency business is not regulated in any form, it has become an all comers affair for touts, dropouts and people of questionable character. It is also pathetic that many unscrupulous property owners have also found an ally in these quack agents. The frustration being experienced in the implementation of the Lagos State Tenancy Law is a direct consequence of the connivance of these agents and shylock landlords. Due to this landlord-agent collusion, it is not uncommon for prospective tenants to be exploited by being asked to pay all manner of agency fees that are usually over and above the principal rent. Tenants are also compelled to pay higher rents over and above the prevailing rates in order to find ways to circumvent the tenancy law that prohibits advanced rent in excess of a year. Their tricks are just innumerable! Even at that, some of these agents’ activities are inimical to landlords.

Despite the fact that the nefarious activities and antics of these unscrupulous estate agents are not hidden to accommodation seekers, they are left with not very many options simply because of lack of accommodation in Lagos. Whenever prospective tenants remind the estate agents of the state’s tenancy laws, they simply give a wave of the hand and sarcastically advise the tenant “to go rent a house from Fashola” i.e. the governor of the state.

The activities of estate agents have always been a source of headache to other professionals and stakeholders in the estate business. Architects, Estate Surveyors and Valuers, Civil Engineers and Builders and other professionals in the property business have been making efforts all along to separate the chaff from the wheat with little or no success. Their intention to sanitise and restore integrity to the sector has been in futility due to the absence of a legal framework on which their efforts could be galvanized.

The Lagos State Government, as part of its responsibility to see to the welfare of the citizenry, is set to provide the missing link in the quest to checkmate the rate of disturbing neglect and fraud ravaging the state in the real estate sector. Efforts are now in top gear to kick-start the enabling law (passed since 2007) that empowers the government to actualise the regulation and control of estate agency and property development in the state. The Lagos State Government has, therefore, prepared a set of rules and regulations for the practice of Estate Agency in the state in order to protect the citizens and reduce the tendency for fraudulent practices. The government is interested in capturing data on property transactions on a regular basis as it is being done in most developed parts of the world.

One of the steps taken to kick-start the law is the establishment of Lagos State Real Estate Transactions Department to strictly monitor and regulate the practice of estate agency and prosecute those who contravene the laws on Real Estate in the state. The office will be a one-stop shop for all activities and enquiries on real estate transactions in Lagos State.

This Estate Agency and Property Development Law is part of the State’s integrated approach to ease the pressure on shelter as documented in its Ten Point Agenda. The Tenancy Law and the Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme (HOMS) are also part of government’s efforts to solve the housing problems in Lagos.

It is pertinent to state now that as much as the government is committed to the regulation of this noble profession, legalistic approach alone may not be enough to solve the problem of quack agents. It must be a collective resolve to push the dubious agents out of business. Every stakeholder in real estate sector must join hands with the government to make a success of the efforts. The purpose of this regulation is not for revenue generation as being touted in some quarters and as such self compliance will greatly benefit all the parties. The government on its part must demonstrate, as it has done in the past, a committed spirit to ensure that this regulation is given enough ‘teeth’ to bite whenever it is necessary.

•Ogunmosunle is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa Ikeja

——————————————————————————————————————————————-
Posted in Nigeria News. A DisNaija.Com network.

Source: PM News

DisNaija.Com publishes regular posts on Nigeria News, Nigerian Newspapers, Online Nigeria Gist.

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.


Your Opinion Counts. Be sure To Leave A Comment, If You Have Any.

Please Like, Share or Tweet. Your Support Is Appreciated.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Nigeria News

Kano Transfers Over 1,000 Almajiris To Different States Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

Published

on

The Kano State Government on Saturday said it has transferred 1,098 ‘almajiris’ to different states of the country.

The commissioner for local government, Murtala Garo, disclosed this while presenting a report before the state’s task force on COVID-19 at the government house, Kano.

Almajiris are children who are supposed to be learning Islamic studies while living with their Islamic teachers. Majority of them, however, end up begging on the streets of Northern Nigeria. They constitute a large number of Nigeria’s over 10 million out-of-school children.

Mr Garo said the Kano government transported 419 almajiris to Katsina, 524 to Jigawa and 155 to Kaduna. He said all of them tested negative for coronavirus before leaving the Kano State.

Despite the coronavirus test done in Kano for the almajiris, the Jigawa government earlier said it would quarantine for two weeks all the almajiris that recently arrived from Kano.

Mr Garo said another 100 almajiris scheduled to be taken to Bauchi State also tested negative to COVID-19.

In a remark, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje said the COVID-19 situation in Kano was getting worse. He appealed for a collaborative effort to curtail the spread of the virus in the state.

Mr Ganduje, who commended residents for complying with the lockdown imposed in the state, said the decision was taken to halt the spread of the virus.

Kano State, as of Saturday night, has 77 coronavirus cases, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.

The decision to transfer the Kano almajiris is part of the agreement reached between Northern governors that almajiris in each state be transferred to their states of origin.

However, even before the latest agreement by the governors, the Kano government had been transferring almajiris to other states and neighbouring countries after it banned street begging in the state, most populous in Northern Nigeria.

Despite the transfers, however, no concrete step has been taken to ensure such children do not return to Kano streets as there is freedom of movement across Nigeria although interstate travel was recently banned to check the spread of the coronavirus.

 

Sourced From: Premium Times Nigeria

Continue Reading

Nigeria News

COVID-19: ‘Bakassi Boys’ Foil Attempt To Smuggle 24 Women Into Abia In Container

Published

on

By Ugochukwu Alaribe

Operatives of the Abia State Vigilante Service, AVS, popularly known as ‘Bakassi Boys’ have arrested 24 market women hidden in a container truck, at Ekwereazu Ngwa, the boundary community between Abia and Akwa Ibom states.

The market women, said to be  from Akwa Ibom State, were on their way to Aba, when they were arrested with the truck driver and two of his conductors for violating the lockdown order by the state government.

Driver of the truck, Moses Asuquo, claimed he was going to Aba to purchase stock fish, but decided to assist the market women, because they were stranded.

A vigilante source told Sunday Vanguard that the vehicle was impounded while the market women were sent back to Akwa Ibom State.

Commissioner for Home Land Security, Prince Dan Okoli, who confirmed the incident, said that  smuggling of people into the state poses great threat to the state government’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID- 19.

 

Sourced From: Vanguard News

Continue Reading

Nigeria News

Woman Kills Her Maid Over Salary Request

Published

on

Operatives of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Yaba of the Lagos State police command have arrested one Mrs Nene Steve for allegedly killing her maid, Joy Adole

The maid was allegedly beaten to death by Nene for requesting for her salary at their residence located at 18, Ogundola Street, Bariga area in Lagos.

Narrating the incident, Philips Ejeh, an elder brother to the deceased said that he was sad when they informed him that his sister was beaten to death.

He explained that the deceased was an indigene of Benue State brought to Lagos through an agent and started working with her as a maid  in January 2020.

‘’She reported that her boss refused to pay her and anytime she asked for her salary she will start beating her.

She was making an attempt to leave the place but due to the total lockdown she remained there until Sunday when her boss said she caught her stealing noodles and this led to her serious beating and death,’’ Ejeh said.

He called on Lagos State Government and well- meaning people in the country to help them in getting justice for the victim.

The police spokesman, Bala Elkana, stated that the woman and her husband came to Bariga Police  Station to a report that their house girl had committed suicide.

Detectives were said to have visited the house and suspected foul play with the position of the rope and bruises all over the body which confirmed that the girl had been tortured to death and the boss decided to hang up the girl to make it look like suicide.

He said: “The police moved on with their investigation and found a lot of sign of violence on her body that she has been tortured before a rope was put on her neck.’’

He added that the police removed the corpse and deposited it in the mortuary for autopsy to further ascertain the cause of the death.

Elkana said the matter has been transferred from Bariga police station to Panti for further investigation while the couple have been arrested and will be charged to court.

Continue Reading

Tribune

Boko Haram Attacks: Buhari Summons Urgent Meeting Of Service Chiefs

Published

on

President Buhari and the Service Chiefs in a meeting. (File photo)

Ostensibly alarmed by the latest killings of dozens of soldiers by Boko Haram insurgents, President Muhammadu Buhari has summoned an urgent meeting of Service Chiefs to find ways to stop the trend. 

He has also dispatched the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, to the neighbouring Republic of Chad for an urgent meeting with President Idris Deby and his defence counterpart. 

Knowledgeable sources said in Abuja on Friday that the president is worried by on the deterioration of security situation on the Nigeria – Chad Border that has led to the recently increased Boko Haram terrorism in the area.

The sources which did not want to be named in Abuja said: “Nigeria has a Chad  problem in the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) put together to secure the Lake Chad basin areas and repeal the Boko Haram terrorist attacks against all the countries neighbouring the Lake.”

The sources noted that Chad is believed to be having their own internal security challenges and this has reportedly led to their pulling away their own troops manning their own border around Lake Chad,  saying: “That lacuna is being exploited by the Boko Haram terrorists, who go in and out of Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon to launch terrorist acts.  This is a clear illustration of the fact that terrorism is beyond national borders.”

When contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed that the Defence Minister is going to Chad but said he is unaware of the purpose. 

Meanwhile, the military authorities are said to be in the process of identifying the families of the latest victims with a view to making contact with them. 

Credible sources revealed that it is the reason the president is yet to make any pronouncement on the matter. 

“The President has called an urgent meeting with the Service Chiefs, as well as the fact that families of the latest victims of the Boko Haram are being identified and contacts made before a government pronouncement on the tragic attacks. This, it is understood, is the reason for the silence of the government over the incident,” the source said. 

 

Sourced From: Tribune

Continue Reading
Advertisement study in Ukraine

Politics

Popular Posts