THE REAL ESTATE AND MORTGAGE SECTOR IN NIGERIA HAS THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF QUACKS’

There is nothing unusual about his person to show that he has a royal blood running in his veins. His humility and modesty won’t even allow him showcase himself as a prince. Many had attested that his unusual disposition is rare and should be emulated by some silver spoon children who see royalty as an automatic success in life. Prince Adejuwon Akinfolurin, FNIM is one of the few whose life and disposition is devoid of an opportunist.

Akinfolurin was born into a double royal family from Okitipupa in Ondo State some 61 years ago. He started his education from Ebenezer/St. Saviours African Church School, Ekotedo, Ibadan after which he proceeded to Ilesa Grammar School, a foremost Ionian institution on Western Region Scholarship where he obtained his West African School Certificate Examination result with distinctions. He later proceeded to University of Ife, I.A.R & T where he obtained the Ordinary National Diploma in Agriculture, thereafter he was admitted as a transfer student from University of Ife to the University of the Philippines at Los Banos, an exclusive and only state owned university reserved for priviledged Filipinos.

His academic excellence gave him the opportunity to secure one slot of four reserved African Continent of an Integrated Foreign Scholarship award at this prestigious University. Prince Akinfolurin held a record of not only the first foreign student, but also the first African to graduate from the College of Economics, Developments & Management of the University of the Phillinpines in 1980. He finished in the category of Magna-Cum-Laude (First Class).

Akinfolurin’s early career started as a banker from the Central Bank of Nigeria. He later worked in other banks including the then Owena Bank of Nigeria, Middle East Bank in Dubai, UAE and others. His quest to move up the ladder as an employer of labour made him take his leave of the banking sector and indeed any form of paid employment after about a decade of dedicated service in the sector.

He later floated the Manhattan Investment Limited, a foremost investment company, the M & E Group which includes the Finance Company and M & E
Mortgage Limited, one of the very first primary mortgage institutions in Nigeria. In 1998, he also established Western Atlantic Corporation Limited.
Reacting to what propelled him to set up his own company, the affable professional of repute noted: ‘I will say the inspiration came from God. I have always wanted the best for myself since childhood. I have worked in the bank and there is hardly any form of banking training that I haven’t attended within and outside Nigeria but yet that does not make me fulfilled. I was looking for an avenue to discover myself more. It was while I was on this mission of self-discovery that I decided to go into mortgage banking. Even in mortgages, I still wanted to create something different and more fulfilling. That was why we recently signed an MOU with the Centre for Management Development, a Parastatal of Federal National Planning Commission under the Presidency to float the first Mortgage and Real Estate institution in the country called MOREACADEMY’.
He continued: ‘This is a specialized academy providing the much needed capacity building to banks and financial institutions as well as real estate practitioners engaged in real estate business in the country’.

Commenting on what can be done to eliminate the operation of quacks in the country, the seasoned and patriotic professional explained: ‘In any economy where there is no regulator or where they are weak in implementing certain policies, it becomes all commerce industry. Real estate and mortgage in Nigeria is the sector with the highest number of quacks practicing freely. The real estate and mortgage industry in Dubai is flourishing and leading because there are strict regulations in place to check the activities of quacks and other fraudulent people. It is to get rid of these cankerworms that have eaten deep into the flesh of real estate and mortgage in Nigeria and consequently deprived it of growth and profitability that MOREACADEMY is established. We will be working with Estate Surveyors and Valuers Association of Nigeria to make sure that things are put in the right direction.

We are talking with relevant authorities and agencies and you are sure going to feel the positive impacts all over the country soonest.