I ran into her in a mall in Portharcourt, along the high brow liberation stadium road. It was indeed a home coming for me. As my primary and secondary education was in Portharcourt, though am not from rivers state but Portharcourt has become more or less an adopted home for me.
That city is just beautiful and I plan my retirement years in that beautiful city. The moment I landed in Portharcourt, that familiar nostalgic feeling over shadowed my entire being. How we used to trek the popular Aba/Portharcourt express way every day after school hours, as we must have spent our “transport money” during the break period.
Anyways, let me leave the story of the beautiful garden city for another day. So that was how I ran into Folake at the mall along stadium road. She was my class mate in secondary school (A.D.S.S. Portharcourt). She happened to be among those that trekked Aba road with us in those days.
We trekked in groups in those days. Those who live within the same neighbourhood trekked together as a group. As Folake’s family was living in my street in D-line then, it automatically means we trekked together.
Folake was very brilliant and smart. Though she was not the best in class then, but you cannot take away the fact the she was a promising young woman. As she was so comported, collected and disciplined in all that she did. She was also very inquisitive and asks most of the questions in class.
When others were busy jumping and gallivanting around during break period, Folake was in her desk revising what the teacher had taught in the morning. To crown it all, this young woman was so gentle and shy, but confident and assertive.
So I was not surprised when I saw her at the mall looking ravishing and elegant. Wealth and affluence was written all over her. It was when she was set to go, after our conversation that I noticed that she was the one that came with the LEXUS 350 jeep parked in front of the mall.
“Wow! Frank, so this is you, after how many year?” she had asked rhetorically. “Yes ooo! My dear this is Frank, the one and only Frank.” I joked.
So we got talking and catching on old times. We talked on virtually everything, from the things we did while in secondary school, our teachers then. We also talked about our classmates and what each of them is doing now. And some that have travelled out of Nigeria and those that are now married.
Folake is now working with an oil servicing firm here in Portharcourt. She happens to be one of the executives in the firm. Thus she often travels out of the country to represent her company. She was constantly busy and hardly has time for herself.
When I told Folake that I am now an architect, she exclaimed in excitement. She was so happy to hear this, because, according to her, that was the course she wished to study in the university, but was denied admission, and secondly because she had been thinking of how to start her own personal building, but does not know where to start and how to go about it, as she hardly has time for other things apart from her job.
When I asked her if she had got a plot of land yet, she told me, how could she, when she is so busy shuttling between Nigeria and Europe and America. Folake was really desperate to build her dream home but lacks the proper information on how to take the first step.
At the end, she asked me to help her search for a land in a good location in Abuja, since I reside there. But after our conversation, I thought that there could be many out there who may have same challenges as Folake, especially here in SmartBcamp and may not have the privilege of running into a classmate who is an architect. Thus I have decided to write on “HOW TO FIND A LAND TO BUY IN ABUJA, NIGERIA.”
The first step you take in the process of building your dream home is for you to get a buildable piece or parcel of land. You can save towards this using personal or target savings. You can join co-operatives that are seeking to acquire land or have already acquired land in a good place.
Sometimes you may be opportune to pay for such land in installments. It is advisable to avoid swampy land except you have the necessary resources to spend on a very good foundation. Also note that the location of your land is dependent on the amount you can afford to pay for land. Location determines cost.
The process of buying land in Abuja, Nigeria is pretty simple. It’s almost the same in all the cities in Nigeria. I will cover all of the steps involved in this land purchase guide.
Note that buying land is the first concern. After you successfully purchase a piece of land, you will likely begin to worry about how to secure or protect your investment. Do not worry, for I will also teach you how to secure your land.
So what is the process you follow when you need to purchase a land in Nigeria? The first thing to do is to locate the land you wish to buy. The question is, how do you know a land that is available for sale?
I will tell you. You can find a land that is available for sale in two major ways and they are (1) Using offline (2) Using online methods.
Offline sources include: (a) Browsing property magazines that list properties for sale in Abuja. (b) Browsing daily newspaper magazines, which also feature land and buildings for sale. (c) Talking to friends and family about your desire to buy a plot of land. (d) Contacting a real estate agent near where you live to help you find land available for sale.
Online sources include: (a) Browsing the major search engines like Google, Yahoo, or Bing to find properties available for sale. (b) Browsing through land for sale directories on the established Abuja Nigeria real estate websites. (c) Conducting a land search using a real estate search tool that combs the entire Nigeria real estate websites to narrow down to the land for sale that meets your search criteria.
Do this and you will have your two eyes closed as you sleep, after purchasing any property in Abuja or anywhere in Nigeria. Be wise my friend!
