07/12/2025
"Real Estate in Nigeria Is Becoming a Ponzi Scheme" - And Nobody Wants to Talk About It
Yesterday, I saw a comment under my post.
The person said:
“Mr Iking, you don’t talk about Real Estate investment… abi na pozi?”
And I laughed.
Because if I truly want to talk about REAL ESTATE in Nigeria…
E go shock you pass NEPA transformer.
Let me start with a hard truth:
If the same thing happening in Nigerian real estate happened in the stock market, Nigerians would have burnt down the NSE since.
But because it is real estate, everybody keeps quiet.
Let me provoke your mind a little…
Oya sit down, let me tell you the Reasons why Real Estate feels like a Ponzi Scheme In Nigeria
Not because land is bad.
Not because real estate is bad.
But because Nigeria has turned it into something else.
Let me tell you a story I’ve never shared publicly.
About 7 years ago, I bought land in Lagos.
Not one location.
Not two.
Three different locations.
And not from “roadside agent” oooh.
These were structured companies, well-dressed, well-branded, well-advertised.
The kind you see on billboards with celebrities smiling beside them.
My brother…
My sister…
That was how I entered REAL ESTATE UNIVERSITY by force.
Documents clean.
Survey clean.
Government approved.
Estate layout on point.
Then one day…
Like Nollywood plot twist…
Government entered the land.
Another party surfaced.
Documents duplicated.
Same land allocated to two different people.
Same survey number approved twice.
Same C of O used to raise money for two different buyers.
I used THREE different agents…
And ALL THREE had different wahala.
At that point I realized something:
Real estate is not the problem.
Nigeria is the problem.
If you like be Dangote’s cousin, once Omoonile remembers the land your father bought “in 1977”, your case fit change.
BUT WAIT… IS REAL ESTATE BAD?
No.
In fact, it is one of the MOST powerful investments on earth.
Let me tell you why:
Land is the ONLY asset human beings can never reproduce.
No factory can create more land.
No company can manufacture extra acres.
No government can expand the landmass of Nigeria.
If Nigeria has XYZ million acres today,
That is the SAME number of acres the country will have in the next 200 years.
Scarcity creates value.
Value creates wealth.
This is why the wealthy hold land long-term.
So what’s the problem?
THE PROBLEM IS SIMPLE: Real Estate in Nigeria Is Not for Ordinary People
To succeed in Nigerian real estate, you need at least one of these:
• A VERY strong legal team
• Deep pockets
• Time to fight battles
• Government-level information
• Or you must be spiritually fortified for battle (I’m joking… but not really)
Because land wahala is real.
People don’t talk about the:
Double allocation
Government takeover
Family dispute
Hidden excision issues
Underwater titles
Fake surveys
Gazette confusion
Litigation that lasts 8 years
Small investor wey use all his savings buy land once wahala start, na depression go follow.
SO WHAT DO I ADVISE?
This is the part experts will understand immediately.
If you want to enter real estate in Nigeria and you’re not yet financially strong…
DON’T START WITH LAND.
START WITH REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS (REITs).
Yes.
REITs.
Why?
Because a REIT gives you exposure to real estate WITHOUT the land wahala.
A REIT gives you:
Passive income
Zero omo-onile
Zero land disputes
Zero documentation drama
Zero government sn**ch
Professional management
And liquidity - you can sell any time
Now read this part slowly:
Use the returns + dividends from your REITs to buy physical land.
That way:
If anything goes wrong, it’s not your sweat money you lost
Your capital is safe
You’re using “profit” to enter real estate
You can buy more land long-term
You’re not stressed emotionally
This is exactly what I do.
SO BACK TO THE COMMENT… “Iking, real estate na pozi?”
No, my brother.
Real estate is NOT a Ponzi.
But the way many people DO real estate in Nigeria makes it LOOK like a Ponzi.
Because:
They don’t research.
They rush hype.
They buy from “emotion”, not “due diligence”.
They trust agents more than documents.
They buy land with last savings.
They don’t understand excision, gazette, litigation, valuation, or title structure.
And most importantly:
They don’t invest like investors - they invest like gamblers.
So Let Me End With This:
Real estate is good.
Real estate builds wealth.
Real estate is generational.
But ONLY if you enter it the right way.
If not…
You will join the long list of Nigerians who still shout:
“Dem scam me for land”
And you will think real estate is the problem…
When the REAL problem is:
You entered an investment that requires HEAVY KNOWLEDGE with LITTLE KNOWLEDGE.
So yes, I will talk about real estate,
But I will talk about it accurately,
critically,
intelligently,
and without emotions.
Because my mission is not to hype you.
My mission is to educate you.
I am Iking Ferry
Founder, Pulseford Business School
Your Financial Literacy & Investment Advocate
Building 1 Million financially intelligent Nigerians.
