Times of chaos, disruptions present opportunities to create wealth – CEO, Lifepage Group

OLADIPUPO CLEMENT is the chief executive officer of Lifepage Group a real estate investment company that credits itself with over 23 projects across Africa. In this interview with IFEOMA OKEKE, he speaks on economic emancipation of the average African, and knowledge platforms such as the Wealth Creation Summit, which he hosts.

How has the real estate sector been affected by the economic downturn and an increasing number of unemployed Nigerians?

Essentially, some sectors were worst hit than others but the real estate sector was not left out. The fact remains that the season equally presented unique opportunities to companies who play largely in the residential development space.

However, we can’t live in denial. The economic impact of the pandemic and total lockdown for a few months in 2020 is still here with us. As a company that plays in the built industry, most of the building materials we use for construction are largely imported and with the devaluation of the naira, prices of goods have hiked significantly. For example, a bag of cement we were buying at N2,550 at the start of a project rose to between N3,600-N3,900 in November/December 2020. The bag of POP cement also went from N4,200 at the start to N8,600 but we still had to deliver to our customers in spite of variations. Many of the electrical and plumbing fittings soared in prices too.

A number of our paying customers lost their jobs and as a result, they could no longer pay for services we rendered. We now have a number of customers who are unable to continue with their investments and subscription to our homeownership opportunities.

The increasing numbers of unemployed Nigerians will only increase civil unrest, crime rate and insecurity issues. This has a negative impact on businesses too. Like I said in a recent interview I granted a TV station, “the problems in Nigeria are systemic rather than climatic. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to our numerous challenges as a nation.”

What stands the Lifepage Group apart from competing firms?

Lifepage Group is an Investment Holding Company with a devoted interest in real estate, investments, construction and housing. We have quite a few other subsidiaries that are doing very well too. We are primarily in the business of making lives richer! We are on a mission to develop products and services that will aid people to achieve their financial and housing dreams. Our ultimate vision is to become a global hub through which all our stakeholders attain financial freedom.

One of the major attributes that stand us out as a company is our integrity and an unrelenting commitment to deliver on promise, even when the numbers do not favour us arising from circumstances beyond our control. For we will rather lose money than lose our name. That’s our mantra!

Read Also: Three takeaways from partnership of power couple Ugur Aslan and Asli Tarcan

As a company that has multifaceted obligations to different stakeholders like investors, customers, vendors, contractors, consultants, government, members of staff, etc, we have had many reasons to renege on our promises due to unfavourable economic policies and unfriendly business environment but we’ve stayed true to our promise.

As I have often said, integrity is not integrity until it is tested and the truest test of integrity is adversity. It may take us a bit more time than planned or estimated but we deliver no matter what. This has endeared us to many of our customers and partners.

According to you, the Global Wealth Creation Summit is an online event put together as part of your company’s long-term vision and commitment to see Nigerians own their homes and create durable wealth. What success stories have you recorded since it started?

I’d like to call the Global Wealth Creation Summit a must-attend for anyone who wants to part ways with mediocrity and attain durable wealth on a global scale. I also tell people that creating wealth is overhyped; the real challenge is retaining wealth. A person is not poor because he has no money. The person has no money because he is poor. The first law of success states, “first within then without. It all begins in the mind.”

So, this summit sets your mind right because creating wealth is first a function of the mind. Secondly, we extend wealth creation opportunities, which if keyed into can put a lot of people on a massive growth trajectory for life. From past events, we have received unending feedback from attendees, saying they wished they had such opportunities way back. This is why we keep hosting events like this to give more people the chance to become fully aware of ways to create and retain wealth.

Why did you start the “Global Wealth Creation Summit” and how long have you conducted this summit in Nigeria?

You see, if you know better you will do better. What you know determines how far you go. This event and several other past events speak to our purpose and the very essence of our existence as a company. Like you just confirmed, this particular summit is a virtual event put together as part of our company’s long-term vision and commitment to see Nigerians own their homes and create durable wealth. The first Global Wealth Creation summit was held in June 2020, although we’ve been hosting similar live events since July 2011.

How do you hope to achieve a different result in the summit from what you did the previous years?

We live in times of chaos and disruptions and this season presents unique opportunities you won’t find at other times. Also, we realized that many Nigerians are starting to despair and buy into the narrative that they can’t create wealth here in Nigeria except elsewhere. This and several other objectives informed our focus for this conference.

There’s a mindset, attitude, strategies and opportunities required to thrive in times like this. These and many more will be presented during the event.

Truth be told, there is no other time that presents opportunity to create wealth like a time of chaos and disruption. These are times where millionaires become billionaires. This reality can only be achieved by people who would key into opportunities around them. This was what informed our focus for this conference. People have to become more aware of how to position correctly, how to make the most of opportunities, change the narrative and make this season the best time of their lives so far.

How do you think the average Nigerian can build sustainable financial solutions to own their homes considering Nigeria’s minimum wage and the unemployment rate in the country?

The first cure to any financial challenge is to deal with faulty belief systems and thought patterns. The next is to ensure you have a source of income or money-making venture, where you have more people paying you for the value you’re providing than you are paying others. In other words, your income must surpass expenditure.

The largest demand for homeownership in Nigeria falls between the middle and bottom of the pyramid. Hence, we make it clear to our partners and customers that your first home do not have to be your dream home. Also, more than one source of income should be everyone’s goal. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a step. So, we basically encourage people to start from where they are on the way to where they would love to be.