Gregory Oluwaloni Usiholo, who is widely known as ESV Greg Usiholo, is a veteran estate Surveyor and Valuer with over 25 years of experience in the profession. He is a graduate of Estate Management from Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi, where he graduated in 1992. He began his career in 1995 with the firm of Messrs Diya Fatimilehin & Co., where he rose to the position of Associate Partner and Branch Manager after ten years of practice. From there, he joined Tony Egboko & Associates Estate Surveyors and Valuers as a Partner until 2008 when he established his own firm, Messrs Greg Usiholo & Co., where he is presently the Managing Partner. His experience spans across all departments of the profession for over twenty years, with responsibilities in both public and private sector organizations. He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers.
ESV Greg Usiholo shared his journey
and insights on how the Lagos State government can tackle the growing menace of
quack builders and ensure the safety of residents.
He introduced himself: “I am ESV. ESV,
you know what it stands for? It’s the Association of Estate Surveyors and
Valuers. Gregory Oluwaloni Usiholo, managing partner, Greg Usiholo and Co.
Estate Surveyors and Valuers. We’ve been in practice for over 25 years now as a
company.”
Usiholo, reflected on his career.
“Being an estate surveyor in Lagos, it’s been very challenging, but I have no
regrets. Being that I started my teaching late from one of the best as an
estate surveyor on value, that is Diya Fatimilehin & Co., if you work in a
place like that, you will definitely be grounded. So, whatever I use in running
my own practice, I learned from those two gentlemen who are wonderful estate
surveyors on value. If you’ve done your, I was there for 10 years, I worked
with them for 10 years and left there as an Associate partner. So, if you’ve
risen up to that position in a firm like that, that upholds discipline,
integrity, and hard work, coming out on your own, yes, there will be
challenges, but then you’ll be able to stand the test of time.”
He described the early challenges of
joining such a prestigious firm: “At the beginning, it was quite challenging
for a young man coming into Lagos and working for a firm like that. You have to
wake up very early, get to the office because you can’t come in late there. If
you come in late, you’ll go back home. So, we got that training from working
with that kind of great firm, Diya Fatimilehin & Co. From there, after 10
years, I felt it was time for me to set up my practice. That was in 2005. I had
to resign honorably to set up a great company.”
On the challenges of establishing his
own firm, he said, “Yes, challenges, because sometimes you are not really
prepared to leave when you leave an organization. When I left in 2005, the
first thing I did was I needed to cool off. After such experience, I had to
travel out of the country for two months. While I was there, I was able to put
myself together to say, what do you really want to do? You want to stay here in
England, or you’re going back to set up your practice? So, I took the other
decision to say, let me go back. When I discussed with my immediate elder
brother, who was based in England too, he told me, whichever support you want,
we’ll give it to you. We know this is a noble profession, and you have a
passion for it. So, when I came back, I did all my groundwork, got an office.
He paid, my immediate elder brother, he paid for it. Got my staff, got the
place furnished and all. And we started practice.”
He shared further challenges in
gaining clients: “Another challenge I had was getting clients. But I was lucky
because the good work I had done in my previous place, some of them, when they
knew I had left, came looking for me. They said, well, you did a good job for
us while you were there. It is also our responsibility to support you. So, some
of them came, some I had to turn their back. They said, no, it won’t be good,
yes. But some of them insisted. I said, no, you have to work for us, or we’ll
take the brief away from them. So, instead of making my firm not to have the
brief even if they don’t give it to me, I said, okay, fine, but I don’t want to
do anything harmful to my previous employers who trained me very well. For a
young firm, some people will say, oh, this is a young chap, how do we entrust
him with our properties running to millions and up? But over time, we were able
to get the confidence of most of our clients.”
Reflecting on his 20 years of
independent practice, he added, “In Lagos, it’s very difficult for people to
trust you with their land and properties. How do you give them the trust and
belief that everything is going to be the way you told them? Like the
foundation you have first from your family, you have a family name you want to
protect, and then two, from where you practice from. While we were practicing,
our principal partners exhibited a very high level of integrity, and that can
only keep you in business. If you don’t have that integrity and trust from your
clients, you can’t remain in business for a long time.”
Usiholo shared practical examples:
“There are properties you bring to me to say, handle for me or sell. I will ask
you some very important questions. When I ask you those questions, I will know
whether it’s something I want to do or not. We are problem solvers, but if I
see the type I can’t solve, I will tell you, do this, do this, do this for us
to be able to sell. A typical example: there was a time I was managing a
property. A church occupied it, giving problems with paying the rent. We were
having litigation with them, and I just called the owner and said, see, do you
ever have the intention of selling this place? The man said yes, if I get a
good price, I will sell. I said, okay. Are you having challenges with these
people? Let’s sell to them. He said, do you think they will buy? I said, they
will buy. I approached the church, the redeemed church in Yaba. I said, see,
we’ll be having challenges. That redeemed church had an administrator who was a
top lawyer. I said, see, you’ve been having these challenges with us and the
landlord. If I offer you to buy the place, would you be willing? He said, yes,
why not? I gave him a very high premium, 25 million, which was like 250 million
now. He said, okay, let me get back to you. He got back to me and said, yes,
we’re ready. Let me have the papers. Even the owner was shocked. He said, how
did you come up with this idea? We sold. We made our fees. Everybody was happy.
The owner is happy, the buyers are happy, and for us too, we’re happy. So, you
must be grounded. You must have that experience and the wisdom and grace of
God. God, yes.”
On challenges of double ownership and
other issues, he explained, “We sold properties where we had a case of double
ownership. A lot of people will come back and say, no, this is not the owner. I
am the owner. Again, experience comes into play, and we were able to resolve
it. On one occasion, they had even paid the money to my firm, even though we
did due diligence. I called my client and said, see, this thing will take some
time. Do you want to go all out to wait? She said no. I said, okay, fine, I
will refund to you, including my fees. Three months later, she came back and
said, I still want to buy. Because you exhibited a very high level of
sincerity, we got an alternative for her, and she bought. Today, she’s happy.”
Usiholo warned new entrants: “Some
people want to go into this business, especially those not qualified. They hear
on the phone or via adverts, 10 billion, 20 billion. They think that’s how it
is. Even if it does, there are challenges. You must be grounded. You must have
knowledge of the practice, if not, you will burn your finger. As a colleague
used to say, if you go to the police station and say you are looking for a housing
agent, they will bring them from the same. Agency is deeper than what local
agents do. Some will collect rent, collect caution fees—which is wrong. There’s
nothing like caution fee; it’s a refundable caution deposit. Quacks take it
without the landlord even knowing. My advice: always patronize qualified estate
surveyors and valuers. Your chances of getting substandard service is
drastically reduced. We have a company body that regulates us. Any malpractice
can be reported and disciplined.”
On building quality in Lagos, he said,
“Many tenants complain of the materials developers use. It’s a big challenge.
We must know the roles everybody plays in the building industry. Some of us
have professional courses relating to building, architectural drawing, and so
on, but it is not our core. Getting qualified professionals, from quantity
surveyor to builder to architect and estate surveyor, is essential. The estate
surveyor is the first person you meet to conceptualize what you want to do,
whether for investment or personal stay. But Nigerians like cutting corners.
Are you ready to pay a professional? Lagos has a laboratory to test buildings
and ensure standards. It’s a huge step forward. Are they able to follow
through? Lagos is doing well. But there are building collapses because of the
population and construction volume. Our institution, Nigerian Institution
By Benprince Ezeh
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