The real estate sector in Nigeria is not any different from a market place where you see buyers and sellers of different ages, taste and class, selling or buying goods of different shapes, sizes and qualities.
In real estate, there are so many people playing in the many segments of the market including ultra-luxury, luxury, affordable or low cost housing, each with its own target market or audience.
This is why when people talk about players like Olu Okeowo, founder and CEO of Gibraltar Construction Company Limited, it is easy to place him because he is luxury real estate personified. In fact, as a developer, he has garnered the sobriquet ‘King of Luxury’ and lives in a house dubbed ‘Palacia de Okeowo Mansion’, typifying his luxurious lifestyle.
That is not the case of young Austyn David Nwaora who is believed to be one of the youngest, if not the youngest, real estate personality in his early thirties (precisely 34years with date of birth recorded as November 2, 1989). Nwaora is young, rich, and well read as a Ph.D holder.
Records have it that Nwaora who is the CEO of Suave Enterprises and Director, Bentell Properties, made his foray into real estate at the age of 19. He is currently touted as one the youngest billionaires in Nigeria’s real estate business.
He bagged his first degree in Philosophy from the University of Ibadan, and later went to Nile University, Abuja, for his Masters in International Relations and Diplomacy. He recently completed his PhD from the same institution in Political Science, with specialisation in International Political Economy.
However, the saying that “whatever is born of the snake must be long” is true of Nwaora because the Abuja based young billionaire who is from Anambra State but was born in Kano was born into a wealthy home.
His father, Ben Nwaora, is also a billionaire and the owner of a real estate empire called Bentell Properties. He is the chairman and CEO of Nwaora Group of Companies, Syndicated Construction and Commercial Co. Limited, and Efab Properties Limited which built over 5,000 housing units under the mass housing project initiated by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.
Young Nwaora is one the few Nigerian youths that are demonstrating that the future is now. They are re-writing history, changing the narrative globally in every sphere of endeavour, technology, business, entertainment and art.
He was reported as saying that, though he was introduced into the real estate business by his father, he took time to analyse the business objectively and, fancying it, he came to appreciate it very well.
“Indeed the smile and satisfaction that comes from starting a building from the foundation and watching it morph into a complete masterpiece, as well as the smile a satisfied customer wears when he/she purchases one is very fulfilling.
“I believe that if you have been born with a silver spoon, you should endeavour to turn that silver into gold through innovation, will, and hard work,” he said.
In spite of the huge demands, in terms of attention and capital, which real estate business makes from developers, Nwaora still finds time to balance work, life and leisure. According to him, “I enjoy travelling, for I believe that in travelling one gets to experience new cultures, assimilate eccentric exposure, and see the beauty of the world.”
