After 11 years in the business of providing shelter in gated communities for different classes of Nigerians, Sterling Homes Limited says it is today celebrating the impact its activities in that space have made on families and the economy.
Within that period it has been in business, the company has lifted 25,000 families out of the property market, having delivered 25,000 homes in its land and housing schemes. This means that, given an average of six persons in a family, about 150,000 persons have got homes courtesy of the company.
Within this period too, the company has provided a good number of jobs, comprising direct and indirect, skilled and unskilled labour. This has not only helped the workers settle family bills, but also given them a sense of worth in society. The economy benefits from this, one way or another.
“We set out to provide gated communities that promote a good environment. For 11 years, we have been able to deliver 25,000 homes for different categories of people in our land and housing schemes. This has helped to house an equal number of families and also reduce the housing deficit,” Kunle Adeyemi, the company’s CEO, told BusinessDay in an interview.
“One of the things that give us joy and a sense of fulfilment is when we see dreams being realized in terms of people aspiring to have their own homes and we are the vehicle through which such dreams are realized,” he added.
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He explained that the company has been privileged to help people nurture homeownership dreams in which case they have been able to help vulcanisers, teachers, roadside mechanics, food vendors and other people in that class own homes, adding that these people have become landlords and landladies through the structured payment plans and after-sales service the company offers.
“We have been able to do this using our projects in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Abuja, representing two geopolitical zones—South West and North Central. In our new dispensation, we have decided to spread our tentacles beyond the two zones to South-South, North East and South East. We want to be in every geopolitical zone to be part of efforts at providing housing solution there,” he assured.
Adeyemi disclosed that their mission as a company is to be the best and not only that, to be a reference point in the field they play, believing that one thing is to be the best and quite a different thing to be a reference point for excellence, prompt delivery and be topnotch for customer and after-sales service.
As a man who had a very difficult childhood growing up in a very challenging environment, he said that his company always likes giving back to the people he described as the “most neglected in society.”
“I am always eager to go back to the community where I grew up to be a blessing to them. For that reason, we have built schools, renovated some and provided learning materials and equipment. We do this every year. This year, we were able to host 27 public primary schools in a local council development authority in Lagos for the Children’s Day celebration,” he said.
As part of activities marking their 11th year anniversary today, the company would be going to a school in Mowe where they have a project and they would be there to present educational materials.
It has not been a bed of roses for the company, according to the CEO, as there are challenges that come in various channels—regulatory authorities, customer behaviour arising from poor purchasing power, unregulated prices of building inputs, and the ‘Omonile’ factor.
“But challenges are part of life. We believe that no student graduates out of school without writing exams. So, we see challenges from that perspective. They are examinations we must pass to get to the next level;11 years down the line, we have learnt the language and how to speak it fluently in order to communicate very well to all the principals and principalities within the system,” he enthused.
In spite of the challenges, Adeyemi sees Sterling Homes becoming a global phenomenon when it will be counting 20 years in business.
“We hope to be a force to reckon with in providing housing solution, particularly in West Africa. We want to replicate our vision in major West African cities. We hope to establish public-private partnership across various countries in Africa,” he said.
