Chiedu Nweke: From Courts to Building Castles

This is an inspiring story of the meteoric rise of Chiedu Nweke, a lawyer turned real estate developer who decided early in life to chart an entirely different course from his field of study. In this encounter, Nweke provides Joseph Ushigiale a vivid insight into his escape from gown to town where his real estate lifestyle business thrives.

A considerable number of individuals today still believe that their future is shaped largely by the courses they study in school. While that may be true in some instances, there are also those who work deliberately towards changing what would have been seen as their destiny or life’s trajectory. This last set of people see only possibilities, abhor self-limitations, and believe that every problem has a solution.

They are the game-changers, entrepreneurs, and risk-takers in every society who believe that if you can dare, you can win. Rather than wait for a change to come, they prefer to deliberately cause disruptions to force changes and bring solutions to lingering problems. They are winners in the long run.

Barrister Chiedu Nweke belongs to this set of people. Undisputedly, he is a disruptor in the real estate business where his companies control a huge niche market of lifestyle estates valued at billions of naira. A trained lawyer, Nweke has a degree in Law, with an additional LLM from Lagos State University. He is completing his Ph.D. at the University of Nigeria at the moment.

Ask him who he is, he will tell you quite frankly that “I am a project person.” His passion for creating new developments led him away from law into the dredging business. “I have been in dredging business for close to 26 years now.” He would proudly announce to you with a sense of fulfillment. His foray into dredging took him to Baran in Bayelsa state, and in 2009, he said they were invited to Lagos to create the Lakowe Lakes Golf Estate.

“I was one of those that pioneered massive dredging in Lagos. When we were about to conclude the Lakowe project, the beauty of it all, I told myself that this is an opportunity for me to do something in real estate in Lagos. And that was how we applied to the Lagos state government for a concession that led to Orange Island, then Periwinkle,” he recounted.

With the birth of Orange Island and Periwinkle from the backwaters of Elegushi, Ikate water logged shanties, things started unraveling. He partnered with Oba Saheed Elegushi to develop a multi billion naira prime real estate that is today a choice destination. He recalled how he was headhunted for the job. “Well, everything is about ideas. While I was working on Orange Island, Oba Saheed Elegushi, Kusenla III, invited me to get involved in the reclamation of this portion of Ikate Kingdom.
“Initially, there were a lot of shanties, it was a dirty area. Nobody believed it could be turned around to what it is today. But being a man of ideas, I decided to use it to make a statement, and that was why after reclaiming it. I called it Periwinkle. I remember when I told the Oba what I had named it, he laughed and laughed, and asked why I chose the worst of names, but now, people are seeing the vision itself,” he gushed.

Given the success recorded on the first endeavor, Nweke said “Periwinkle has become our own way of expressing ourselves. It is a small estate, but it gives us the opportunity to define who we are in terms of infrastructure, structural construction, and the style of buildings we are designing.”

From the onset, the company set out to create a ‘Live, Work and Play’ environment; that’s why we christened it ‘Lifestyle Estate.’ You don’t have to go far to get to the mall, or church or school, or playground. Everything is around you. I imagined that people who will live here won’t need to go too far to do their jogging, bicycle riding, or whatever recreational activity they want. We’ve provided everything within the estate.”

Within a very short time span, the lawyer became the Chief Executive Officer of a company (Swampsea), which is the technical developer of Orange Island. In retrospect, the secret to his success lies in his resolve to work hard.
“If you are close to me, you’ll know that I log in a lot of time. It takes time for you to get things done, and it requires a lot of patience, tenacity. What I recommend to young people like you is to understand that nothing good comes easy, so when you see a successful person, know that the person has worked hard to get there.”

Narrating an adrenalin-pumping multi-billion naira transaction he closed recently, Nweke described himself as a risk-taker saying that his passion is in “Putting money in things or areas that nobody believes in. Recently, I went to Eko Atlantic, and many developers called me and asked, ‘Chiedu, why are you going there?’ But I like being a pioneer. I take a lot of risks in what I do. When I went to Orange Island, there was nobody, but everywhere now, you see people dredging. The first day we went there, I was in a boat and nobody believed that a town could be created where it is today.”
Another secret to his success in the real estate business is his decision to put the customer at the forefront of his business.

“The most important thing is being effective and efficient, and putting the customer first. I usually benchmark with myself, whatever is not too good for me, I don’t want to give someone else. I never give anybody the wrong gift because whatever I’m going to give to you is what I can use, so I applied that in my buildings. A lot of people come here and question why I’m doing all these. I’m giving to my buyers what I will be able to use.”

Nweke believes in showing gratitude to the same community that gave him the huge break. He has deliberately invested back in the Ikate community that used to be shanties by providing gainful employment to the people.

“When we started this journey, we involved the local community, the Ikate Kingdom. The late Baale of Itedo, who is a spiritual leader, was one of the people that gave me the kind of support I needed to start this project. We pay stipends to the Baale, to the women, to the youths, we get involved in matters affecting the community. In fact, the security and sweepers are from the community. We are part and parcel of the Itedo community.”
Looking to the future, Nweke is bullish and highly optimistic that the future is very bright if the government can provide the necessary conducive environment for investment to thrive.

“I believe that what is important is for the government to build an enabling environment. This economy is a huge one, with almost 200 million people, and we have a young and agile workforce hungry for success. The only thing that is lacking is harnessing it and so many opportunities in this area of business.

“When I mentor young people and I tell them; there’s a Chiedu in you already, you can be what I am. The important thing is to believe in yourself. You don’t need much to be a real estate developer. Everyone owns land somewhere, either by your parents. This journey started many years ago, I started small. When I tell my people I’m going to develop somewhere, they try to discourage me, telling me not to waste my time. But it’s believing in those small things that got me here. There’s so much opportunity in Nigeria, which I recommend the young people to take,” he declared.

He advised the government to train the youth since education holds the key to the future. “Without education, I won’t be here. Give them a good education and then unleash them. There’s a kind of freedom you get when you are educated, you become confident. My worry for Nigeria is the lack of good education. We should invest in the youth, train them properly. Once you train them, you’ll get amazing results,” he stated.

While acknowledging that real estate development is not for the lily-livered, he, however, advised prospective entrepreneurs in the real estate business to “Believe in yourself. The sky is your limit. There’s something I hung in my office, ‘try to look at the earth from the moon, not from the earth to the moon”. That’s the kind of ambition we have here in Periwinkle, and that’s what I recommend for young people. Don’t see limitations, don’t see challenges, see opportunities in everything. Believe in yourself. You will get there.”

Nweke remarked that apart from acquiring education, Nigerian youths should believe in themselves. “Nothing is impossible. You can overcome the challenges of today and tomorrow if you believe in yourself,” he said.