Malam Ibrahim Aliyu, the Chairman of Urban Shelter, is probably the largest real estate developer in the Federal Capital Territory and a major player nationwide.
By any measure, he has influenced the development, architecture, land rights and property use in the FCT. His business model has also influenced other cities across the country.
Some of the most recognisable development projects that he initiated in the FCT include the Garki Ultra Modern Market, Apo Urban Market, Guzape Mall, Kubwa Mall, Urban Shelter Square, Amina Court in Apo, Katampe Housing Estate, Lake View Estate in Kado and Mabushi Private Villa.
There are a dozen more like Heritage Heights in Asokoro, and estates in Kyami, Life Camp, Lokogoma, Kubwa, Dawaki and Guzape, all in the FCT.
There are also a few like the Shelter Valley Residences in Ajiwe, Urban Shelter Estate, Ajayi, Urban Shelter Living Oniru, all in Lagos.
Malam Aliyu has always had an advantage. He has had access to people in power. And that meant access to land, capital, and unlimited credit. But he is building only for the upper middle class.
In recent years, his share of the real estate market has been shrinking due to competition from new entrants. And it is Urban Shelter that is now trying to catch up with the ideas, modern architecture and market demands for a different set of buyers.
Some of the new entrants are breakaway companies set up by his former employees who have learnt the trade, built their own clientele, and somehow raised the capital to change the real estate sector.
In part, the loss of market share is due to different administrations of the FCT adopting different policies towards housing and land use.
For over a decade, past administrations have preferred allocating land to estate developers rather than to individuals.
But in more recent years, estate lands have ended up in the hands of individuals and companies with no capital or access to credit for mass housing projects for the upper or lower middle class.
They instead sell tiny parcels of the allocated land piece by piece; literally marketing them on the streets. It explains the housing shortage in the FCT.
Malam Aliyu, who is approaching 80, has an admirable profile built over several decades in banking, business, the civil service, and politics.
Before venturing into politics in the early 90s, his last government appointment was as Managing Director of the Nigerian Industrial Development Bank, now the Bank of Industry.
According to his own account, he developed a government-allocated plot of land in Victoria Island, Lagos, and subsequently sold it for a handsome sum. That was what put him on the path of property development, catering for the affluent.
The super-rich want more space, privacy and luxury. The lower middle class wants much less than he is offering. That’s the gap new developers are struggling to fill.
