11 Estates with over 4,000 Housing Units – How this self-made millionaire rose from a humble background and street hawking to a real estate mogul

DUBAI, UAE, January 21, 2020 /Neptune100/ — “An unexamined life is not worth living.”- Socrates. This radical and powerful statement rings in a universal truth that is more applicable today than ever. From an employee of Coscharis Group, to a highly successful real estate maverick in a short span of time, Gbadewole Amos Kayode, the young Nigerian real estate entrepreneur features on the luxury edition of Pleasure Magazine’s January/ February Cover, depicting a reflection of luxury garnished with a Chalhoulb Group – owned helicopter in the background.

This feature revealed the very intriguing story of how Gbadewole got to where he is today, at the helm of a multi-billion real estate firm. His humble background and street – hawking experience taught him to value the security of owning a home and perhaps set into motion his future career in real estate. This is a story much in tandem with the “from-rags-to-riches” or “worked-my-way-up-from-the- bottom” phenomenon.

Crown Allied Global Realty & Homes, a multi-billion-naira-registered international luxury real estate Company, headquartered in Abuja, has another office in Lagos Nigeria. Part of its businesses include; real estate investments in Accra and Kigali, with the list of potential countries only growing.

In the insightful interview with Gbadewole Amos Kayode, he revealed how he developed the habit of saving ₦2,000 ($7) out of his meager weekly allowance during his National Youth service at the Coscharis Group. He had a definite sense of direction and exact idea of what he wanted to do in life.

After a year of service and stuffing his earnings in a shoe box for safe keeping, Gbadewole had saved enough money, ₦170,000 ( $500) to make his first move. As an entrepreneur, Gbadewole is an inspiration who sets an example not just through the way he pauses to indulge his passion, but as well on how he has traversed through the learning curve leading to a global breadth of experience.

The Nigerian has indeed come a long way from his academic journey and burnt the candle at both ends to be a high-flier today. At an exceptionally young age, he began working while pursuing his education. After his university education in Ilorin, Kwara State, he moved to Abuja the Federal Capital Territory with the intent to make something out of his life. Life wasn’t a bed of roses for him; nevertheless, he accepted challenges, not being the kind of person to have regrets and preferring to focus on the proverbial “Half full glass”. Reminiscing the good old years, he gets nostalgic and quotes “Every pain is the harbinger of good times to come, like the darkest hour of the night is before the dawn”.

In his capacity as the CEO of Crown Allied Global Realty & Homes, he is also responsible alongside his wife Olubunmi, for the overall operation and management of the luxury homes group while planning the strategic direction and procedures consistent with established policies. He efficiently plans, schedules, delivers and monitors the success of marketing campaigns with the objective of making the company as strong and visible as possible. A professional in his own way, he lends integrity and pragmatism to everything he undertakes.

On the way forward with housing challenges in the country, he revealed to Pleasures Magazine that public-private partnerships can ease Nigeria’s housing crisis. “Financing infrastructure deficit across Africa will involve collective innovation both across the public and the private sectors,” Gbadewole said.

He further stated that creating affordable housing in the developing world requires truly understanding how people in those communities live, stressing that “a careful understanding of these facts would help in determining how fast we can meet the demands of fast-growing African cities.”

He revealed also an in-depth survey of the key challenges in creating affordable housing in Africa’s growing cities and the need for efficient housing solutions with the role of the government in driving public – private partnership.

Amos Kayode attributes his success to God, his hard work, preparation and willingness to move quickly when he saw an opportunity.

On his company’s products: Gbadewole said “In our current markets of operations, our properties are located in the areas that are desired by the wealthy and middle class, from Ikoyi to Asokoro all the way to Ibeju Lekki, Lagos. Currently, we have provided over 4,515 housing units, with;

6 Estates in Abuja
Crown Luxury Estate, Abuja
Crown Golden City, Abuja
Crown Vista City, Abuja
Crown Oakland City, Abuja
Hybrid Estate, Dawaki-Abuja
Crown Residence, Asokoro-Ext. Abuja.

4 in Lagos:
Crown Smart City, Ibeju-Lekki
Crown Star City, Ibeju-Lekki
Crown Canaan City ,Ibeju-Lekki
Crown Hilltop Residence, Ajah-Lagos.

1 in Osogbo
Crown Heritage City,Abeere,Osogbo.
“We currently have 11 estates and proposing to provide 7,500 houses globally in 2020. With plans to reach out to 12 countries; 5 in West Africa, 2 in Europe, 1 in America and 4 in East and Central Africa,” Gbadewole stated in his recent interview with Pleasures Magazine.

He does not claim all the glory but stated that,”Crown Allied Global Realty & Homes is not just one individual, my wife Bunmi is the Managing Director and our team is a combination of passionate individuals who bring together expertise and skills along with their dedication and clear passion for the industry. Since we created the company, it’s always been our desire to maintain a structure on the human size, one that is reactive, focused, progressive, passionate, committed and creative.”

Gbadewole who possesses a B.sc Econs from the University of Ilorin and MBA Finance from the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, is presently a Ph.D. (Econs) student at the Prestigious Commonwealth University London, England. His success has fired up the more fiercely his optimism about the opportunities in Nigeria.

“Regardless of what you see in the news today, Nigeria still holds a place in most people’s hearts and minds as the place where you can be anything,” says Gbadewole, “and I believe Nigeria is a country that rewards hard work. You can really make it here.”

Also featured in this issue is the wedding of the award-winning Nigerian singer, Abolore Adegbola Akande, popularly known as 9ice and Olasunkanmi Ibidunni Ajala. A special feature is on the success story of the largest privately-held luxury goods retailer and distributor across the Middle East since 1955, Chalhoub Group and profiling of top 20 most innovative African companies in Real Estate 2019.

In fashion, Salvatore Ferragamo, an Italian luxury goods company, with headquarters in Florence, Italy featured its new collections release, themed “A subtle game of seduction”. Abuja based fashion designer, Ogwa Iweze also showcased her latest DZYN’s Summer Spring 2020 Rise.

And as usual, the magazine is incomplete without your light stories and other human interest narratives. Read about the Zaya Nurai Island, a paradise that feels like another world completely.

These and many more reports combine in making the magazine a collector’s item and reading pleasure for all and sundry.