Richard Nyong at 40: A Man Changing Nigeria’s Housing Narrative With His Dream

By Fadekemi Ajakaiye

Since Independence, Nigeria’s teeming population has consistently grown by over 2% yearly thereby making her the most populous African nation with over 90 million more people than second placed Ethiopia, according to Worldometer, an online data center.

Whilst Nigeria’s growing population has provided some leverage however, it has also made the shortage of infrastructure and other essentials more conspicuous. With a reported housing deficit of over 17million as of August 2012, when it was estimated that Nigeria will require 700,000 houses annually as compared to the less than 100,000 that was being constructed at the time to effectively cater for its people’s housing needs according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

An obvious lacuna in the housing industry, it became obvious that the government would require more support in this sector to help close the gap thus, Richard Nyong – Founder & CEO, Lekki Gardens Estates Limited, fresh from the university spotted this trend and identified it as a key opportunity to contribute his own quota towards what could have been described as a fragmented sector at the time.

From identifying good land deals and matching them with buyers as a third-party sales consultant, to acquiring some pieces of land of his own from his commissions, it was only a matter of time before Richard Nyong became a household name in the Nigeria’s real estate industry. Young, charismatic and courageous, Richard is the perfect salesman. His people’s person skills and high emotional quotient meant that he could effectively connect with his clients and project the value he was offering above that of any other player so as to ensure that his clients got the maximum value possible for their investment.

After stint of successes in land sales, Richard strategically scaled his business to include property development which would then offer him the opportunity to directly contribute towards developing more housing units in the country. Fast forward from 2012 when Lekki Gardens was founded till date, Richard Nyong has developed over 15,000+ housing units across Lagos, Abuja, Ogun and Port Harcourt. The man who is now regarded as “The Indisputable King of Nigeria’s Real Estate Industry” has not only made luxury housing affordable rather, he has also made the process of homeownership easy with his range of tailormade payment plans for different house types.

In less than a decade, Richard Nyong’s contributions have made the Nigeria real estate sector vibrant and appealing to other investors who have all ventured into the market to contribute their quota towards narrowing the housing gap. Richard turns 40 in the coming days, and one would expect that for all he has accomplished at such a young age, the billionaire businessman will go into early retirement however, that does not seem to be the case as rumor has it that he is already touring other African countries with the same vision of making affordable shelter available to all.
In all, “life they say starts at 40”, so it appears we might have to wait to see what other disruptions Richard Nyong can steer with his wealth of experience and fortitude.