Mr Tolulope Adepena, a design and building construction expert, is also the CEO of Pennak Nigeria Limited, a leading provider of innovative infrastructure projects and services.He is into design and building of various commercial buildings, residential buildings, hospitals and malls

In this interview, Adepena identified the need for sustainability in tackling Nigeria’s housing crisis. He also spoke on frequent building collapse, sustainable solutions to tackle Nigeria’s worsening housing deficit, among other issues.

Excerpts.

What inspired your focus of going into building construction?

What inspired me was the fact that we have a lot of engineers and developers who overcharge and under deliver, so I’m trying to bridge the gap whereby we can deliver something worth the budget to a client within the construction industry in Nigeria. We’ve had serious cases of building collapse in this country, and a lot of people would say that most of the building experts cut corners and keep building materials.

Do you agree with that?

I don’t think any building material is that cheap. I just feel like they don’t follow building regulations, and that’s a problem. Most of the materials supplied in the country are well tested, so I think that by not following the regulations, they’re adding more flaws to projects. So we must avoid such kinds of problems. Also, we have some old buildings, many buildings in this country that are supposed to be demolished.

How many years do you think a house should be on top of the soil?

It depends on the substructure.Some are built to last for a while, and some are to last for about 25 to 30 years. It depends on the engineer and what they used for the substructure.

Can you tell us the major landmark project that your company has done?

As a professional, I’ve been in this business for 10 years. For my company, Pennak Nigeria Limited, we’ve been here for seven years. We have done series of landmark projects. We have the interior design part of our company that does designs for fashion stores, we have our construction projects that are done on Lekki-Epe expressway at the moment. We have some landmark projects in Abuja, we’ve worked with GTBank, we’ve worked with Alat by Wema Bank, and a lot of them.

Can you tell me more about the landmark projects?

As a design company, we do some interior design projects, we partner some other parent companies, we come in as project managers for them, So they contract the project to us. We have a series of projects including hospitals and police stations that we’ve carried out.

Can you tell me about your experts who help to set the design of the house and implement it?

For execution of projects, we have the main man on site—the project manager, we have subcontractors who handle the mechanical, electrical and plumbing part of each project, we have our interior designers, who position the project from the scratch, paying attention to every detail, we also have the site managers, people that manage; we also have our safety regulatory compliance, and we also have our security in place to make sure that everything is going on well.

What are the major mandates you give to clients who intend to carry out building projects?

We’ve worked in about eight states in Nigeria. Let’s talk about working in Lagos. So, you just need to have your land, and your documents in place.

What are your deliverables for your clients, and what are their expectations?

They try to expect functionality in projects. We’re accountable to that aspect, making sure that each segment of the project functions properly, following the expectations of what you have proposed to them in the first place. Our interior designers make sure that the functionality goes in line with the beauty of the place.

When you take in a project, what is your approach towards ensuring customer satisfaction?

At Pennak, we call it 4E’s —Expectation, Education, Elementary design, and Execution. We understand the client’s expectations based on the purpose of their structure. We educate the clients on the realities of what they can achieve. We develop the elementary design which gives you a thorough walkthrough. We call it elementary design because it is subject to change during the final stage

What do you consider before going into commercial mall construction?

Commercial mall construction is a different type of complex design that you have to consider a lot of things. We work closely with our teams to avoid a lot of mistakes that some companies make in the course of constructing a mall. We’ve seen a lot of abnormalities with a lot of building construction experts. Some are saying that there are lots of people who are not professional, and into building construction, and that is why we have a lot of building collapse records in Nigeria.

How do you advise a client who wants to carry out a building project?

They need to do their background check. The client will need to know the right company to work with, depending on their capacity, and what to work with. This is very important because some companies do not have the right team to execute the project for you. It is also vital to procure most of the materials that will be needed for the project before commencing the project.

How do you cope with the high cost of materials?

The high cost of materials affects construction projects. Sometimes, we buy most of our materials down before commencing projects because there are very important items. So, when our clients are in need, we resell for the old price, not the current price.

What are the amenities that you prioritise in your housing development?

Good road for accessibility is very important. Power and water are also vital. They are the most important amenities, as they engineer the whole house, and make it very functional, especially if it’s a commercial project.

What are the key things that attract your customer to you?

I will mention our detailing, good communication skills with our clients, and also the delivery. We work with elementary designs where we give our clients proper walk through of what their expectations should be.

Do you see commercial malls playing a major role in community development?

Yes. A commercial mall makes a community more vibrant. There are many activities going on there, people want to see various things. So, I believe it is part of development.

What do you see as the biggest challenge facing the real estate industry in Nigeria today?

Inflation is the major challenge. The inflation had caused some level of delays in projects. There’s no stable price, and it is really hindering development as well.

How do you cope with the inflationary pressure?

We have our teams, accountants, and proe that can foresee. We have our storage where our clients can buy items at affordable prices which helps to facilitate the execution of projects.

Do you handle projects that have to do with international standards such as smart housing?

Yes, we do. We are trying to attain a goal using the international standard. We handle smart housing for most of our residential buildings to ease power challenges, and make life easier for our clients.

What is your advice to the government on how to improve the housing deficit issue in Nigeria, and the real estate sector?

I would like to advise the government by saying that they can partner with construction companies like ours to give advice, sustainability, and a better approach to building houses in Nigeria, seeing that we have a beautiful vision for the future of the country.

What other things do you bring to play when you’re doing your building projects?

We use up-to-date material, we have the ability to bring something out of nothing, I believe that is why most of our clients love to work with us.

Apart from your work as a construction engineer, how do you spend your leisure time? Do you have time for your family at home?

Yes, I do. God first, the family. So, I have to be healthy, and also create time for watching football, that is my hobby. I read also, I study a lot of things, I like to know how things are possible, and how to achieve things.

How do you adhere to fire and safety regulations when you are doing your building construction?

We provide fire alarms, and also follow the safety and regulatory system of the building, to make sure everything is safe.

Do you compare your projects to the smart house technology, or according to the taste of the clients?

Most of the time, we advise our clients to do it, but most of our residential building projects are smart homes.

As a role model to lots of people, what advice will you give to youths on how to improve and impact on their lifestyle?

I will advise the youths to find a passion or a direction and keep working on it. It might not be a passion to you, but if it’s what you can do very well, keep working on it, and with time, you will reap the fruit of your labor.

What are your future plans?

My future plans are quite broad. We would like to expand and spread our reach to other African countries. We are trying to build something different in another dimension.

When you’re painting a house, what comes into your mind?

What comes into my mind is the quality of the wall; let people see the wall, and smile.

Can you compare the wall designs we have in Nigeria to the ones we have in Great Britain, and America?

Yes, and we have good engineers that can do that.We are doing very solid ones in Nigeria with integrity.

Do you believe that we can do better furniture than we import from other countries?

Yes. I have seen better designs. We just need people with the right skills with great supervisors to work on it. We are even doing it already. That’s the magic to it.

How much do you think is required to build a

standard bungalow of two bedrooms, two sitting rooms, and a bit of spacious garden in Nigeria today?

Considering the state of the economy, let’s say about thirty-something million naira, exclusive of land, to get that done right.

How do you convince me to patronize you?

Your building is your investment. Working with us is a way of giving a proper return on investment. You will make good returns because of the functionality. We have done a lot of projects that you can also see through. That’s for the commercial projects. For the residential project, what I promise you is comfortability. You will always look around your house and smile.

What can the government do to support people in that sector of the economy?

I will say they should stabilize the economy, because doing so makes it sustainable for all of us. Tell me about the mission and vision of Pennak The mission is to remain a company of integrity, a company that the client can always trust as they have been trusting us for the past years, and also keeping on the sustainability, and up to the world standard. Talking about our vision, at Pennak, we consider innovation greatly, and also a relief factor to culture, and gender inequality. We don’t care about gender or skin colour, we’re interested in the skills.

How would you say Pennak has affected lives in their seven years of operation?

At Pennak, we prioritize people, and we do not take lightly the impact we have in all the lives we touch. We make sure that our client needs are satisfied, even before the clients know they have them, with our fully immersive, and ergonomically positive designs. At the end of every project, we make sure we impact the host community of the project with our Community Social Responsibility (CSR) programs. We did a commercial project at Akoka in Yaba, and also one at Owerri in Imo state.

Where did you study, and what did you study?

Growing up mostly in the western part of Nigeria. I had my primary school education in Ogun State and secondary education at Mercy College in Ogun State. I studied electrical engineering at the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), and proceeded after a while to acquire my MBA from London Metropolitan School of business.