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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Elections & Politics

FIABCI-Nigeria Must Deepen Government Engagement, Grow Membership, Says Past President Opatola

From ThisDay · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • The past president of FIABCI-Nigeria, Akin Opatola, urged the incoming leadership to increase government engagement and membership.
  • Opatola highlighted hosting the FIABCI World Congress as a key achievement, attracting ministers and policymakers.
  • FIABCI-Nigeria plans international trips to Taiwan and participation in the UN Spring Symposium to share best practices and improve land administration.

Akin Opatola, the immediate past President of FIABCI-Nigeria, has called on the new leadership of the international real estate federation's Nigerian chapter to build on recent successes. He urged them to deepen engagement with the government and expand the organization's membership.

We wanted to bring in Aliko Dangote. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get him, but we were able to get the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

— Akin OpatolaOpatola discussed efforts to attract high-profile attendees to the FIABCI World Congress.

Opatola stated that a primary goal during his two-year tenure was to increase FIABCI-Nigeria's visibility. He noted that despite the organization's long history, its work was largely unknown outside professional circles. Hosting the FIABCI World Congress provided a significant platform to reposition the Nigerian chapter and connect with policymakers and international real estate stakeholders.

"We wanted to bring in Aliko Dangote. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get him, but we were able to get the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu," Opatola said. While President Tinubu could not attend due to a public holiday coinciding with the event in Barcelona, the Minister of Defence represented him. Three other ministers and the Lagos State Governor also attended.

Real estate is an ecosystem. We need to bring everybody together, in fact, even the government and policymakers.

— Akin OpatolaOpatola explained the importance of collaboration between the real estate sector and government.

Opatola emphasized that the successful hosting of the World Congress fostered stronger relationships with government officials. He stressed the interconnectedness of real estate development, stating, "Real estate is an ecosystem. We need to bring everybody together, in fact, even the government and policymakers." He also pointed to the UN Spring Symposium, which focused on affordable housing and included participation from Nigerian Ministry of Housing officials, as another achievement. FIABCI-Nigeria plans to visit Taiwan with officials from the Federal Ministry of Housing and Lagos State Ministry of Lands to study land administration systems, demonstrating a commitment to including government officials in international engagements.

We thought it wise: let’s not talk to ourselves alone.

— Akin OpatolaOpatola described the rationale behind including government officials in FIABCI-Nigeria's international engagements.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ThisDay in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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