A former President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Engr Otis Anyaeji, has said that Nigeria will never go into recession if the real estate sector is stabilised.
His Royalty, Anyaeji, who is the Obi Obahu Okija, Anambra State, is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Otis Engineering Ltd.
In an interview with Daily Trust in Abuja, he said the sector could be stabilised through achieving sufficiency in the manufacture of building materials and equipment.
He said real estate was one of the most important sectors of the economy which needed to be properly developed.
“The real estate sector is the most important in the sense that any country whose real estate sector is stable will not get into a recession. When we talk about the real estate sector, it is not just the buildings. For a country to have a stable real estate sector, you go back to the source of the materials and the equipment you need to put together to get the buildings that make up the real estate. In other words, you go back to cement, reinforcements, cables, pipes, glasses, woods and others. By the time you achieve the capacity to supply these materials and equipment you need for buildings, then your economy has achieved the kind of stability such that you cannot go into recession,” he said.
He further said since the sector had the capacity to stabilise the economy, it was important that developers seek alternative sources of energy so as not to be bogged down by the problems in the power sector.
“Developers can go solar and with good architecture that respects environmental conditions, it is possible that rooftop solar can supply much of the electricity needs of the building. Then the architecture will be such that you minimise the use of air-conditioning in those buildings. But also, the developers of these estates can be a source of funding for the electricity companies and can always get a preferred customer status,” he added.
