By Yemisi Suleiman

Bamidele Chris Onalaja is the GMD/CEO of Revolution Plus Property, an organization he co-manages with his wife Tolulope Onalaja.

Driven by passion, resilience, strategic vision, and a knack for innovation, Onalaja has risen from his modest roots, to leading a prosperous real estate company in Lagos.

With an MBA in Marketing from Lagos State University, LASU, a Diploma in Project Management from the University of Lagos, UNILAG, this alumnus of Lagos Business School has utilized his skills to forge a successful career.

Beginning his career path in the banking sector, Onalaja transitioned to real estate out of a desire to provide affordable housing to members of society.

In two days, this real estate guru turns 50! For his golden jubilee anniversary, he opens up on his career path and his interesting life in real estate.

In two days, you will turn 50, how has the journey been?

I give thanks to God Almighty for making me see this day in the land of the living. Clocking 50 golden years on earth is God’s grace.

 When I look back at what God has done, and where he has put me, my story is a story of God’s grace. I thank him for his mercy and for singling me out to love and to bless. Considering where I came from and grew up, it wouldn’t have been an easy task.

What are you most grateful to God for?

I am grateful to God for His protection, guidance, love, and blessings; that is why I have decided that this very year, I am going to celebrate it big time.

What are some of the most significant lessons you’ve learnt along the way?

I have been on this earth for 50 years and I have learnt so many things in my personal life, business, and church.

Well, the most important thing I have learnt is to walk closely with God. Over the years, I have learnt contentment; I have learnt that nobody can dream for you. You have your dream, pursue it and make the dream come true. It has been a very tough journey to be here. I did not grow up with a golden spoon or silver spoon. I came from a very humble background.

My father could barely afford my school fees and even a sandal to wear to school when I was in primary school. Once Baba Ijebu, (that’s the name we call him) buys a pair of sandals for you, for one session, and it gets spoilt, or you misplace it, you will walk barefooted throughout that session. He was a very strict man. But all those lessons I learned made me stronger. 

How and at what point did the vision for Revolution Plus Property come up?

 I started Revolution Plus out of passion for people to have affordable homes: not for money per se-. I worked as a mortgage banker for 13 years. I saw how people were suffering, with no homes, nothing. When I turned 40, I left paid employment, because I had prayed to God that by the time I am 40 years old, I don’t want to continue to work for anyone. I just want to be an entrepreneur. How I was going to do it, I didn’t know.

I was confused at the time. But the Holy Spirit threw more light; and with the help of my wife who is my pillar and my support, then the company started with zero kobo.

We started our project in Mowe. Then my wife’s uncle bought some land. That was the first money that gave birth to Revolution Plus.

Then, of course, I have my siblings; I have a wonderful family, they are the best family anyone can have, very supportive. I have two mothers; my biological mother Christiana Onalaja who is late now, and Oyebimpe Onalaja, who is the mother we all see now. So, I grew up with love from both mothers in a polygamous family.

What was it like growing up in a polygamous home and how did it shape your life?

It was an interesting one; my father ensured that we grew up under the same roof, with no discrimination among us. As I said earlier, he was a very strict man. When you go against his rules, you get the beating of your life. My father had a good relationship with his koboko (horsewhip), he will flog you. All those things cumulatively, formed and shaped my life in the last 50 years.  Unfortunately, both my parents have passed. But, I have another mum that I look up to as a mother. She has been so fantastic and supportive, a very prayerful woman too. So, it has been an amazing journey. I think the word of God also helped me in this life because I never dreamt that I would achieve so much success growing up.

As I said, I wasn’t born with a silver spoon and my father had 10 children to feed. Sometimes, we had just one meal in a day (0-1-0). You eat that one meal, drink water and go to bed. In the midst of all that, my father tried his best and was able to send us to the University. He was a good man.

So when you set up, Revolution Plus, what were some of the challenges you faced, and how did you overcome them?

Finance, there was no money to set up the company the way I wanted.

We started from Mowe towards Abeokuta/Ibafo and one of the major challenges we faced was when we wanted to move our project to the Island, Ibeju Lekki. From Mowe, we moved to Ikorodu.

We approached banks for just five million naira, they refused to loan us. our turnover at the time was not less than 30, 40 million. We needed just five million naira to add, but they refused. So, we had to go to a money lender. My wife and I dropped our cars; cars we used to use for inspections. We trekked for 30 days. After 30 days, we were able to pay him back and get our cars back.

Growing the business and being consistent has been challenging, and government policies have also been so challenging. So many things are challenging in the Real Estate business. You have to be tough, and a charismatic person, you can’t do it.

So, what are some of these government policies that are not favourable to the industry and, in what areas would you like to see a change?

I am the immediate past chairman of the Real Estate Developers Association in Lagos. I ran the association for four years, working closely with the government. You know policies are made for people to obey so that the environment can be good for all. Some of those policies that are counted as harsh, like house demolition, for instance, are not a friendly policy. What people are saying is that before you demolish my house, give me enough notice. Sometimes too, when notices like a stop order was served, developers don’t obey, so the government will be left with no option but to move in and demolish.

When they demolish houses, the question on people’s lips is how they got the permission to build in the first place.

God bless you. That is the problem and the question we keep asking is: why wait till they roof or finish building, before bringing bulldozers to demolish? There are compromises between the government officials and the developers. So many times, we have seen that government officials will come and seal, and the builder who has a friend in government, or who knows the one in charge, just calls the person in charge of the area and the case is solved. Before you know it, the man moves back to the site because the person who ought to stop them at that time has been compromised.

A lot of the fault is from the government officials that get compromised, and also the developers that want to compromise them.

So, when a senior officer like the Commissioner, Permanent Secretary, or even the Governor goes around that site and sees that a structure is not supposed to be there, he brings out the file and sees that the developer has compromised. At that point, the staff runs away, he is nowhere to be found. If he’s found, he will deny that he doesn’t know anything about it. That is why they always want to pull it down.

So, what would you advise in cases like that, that will probably stop the trend?

The developers should do the right thing. I am a developer, I am not saying that I am perfect, the government has also sealed my property, and I left it, went to meet them, paid them, did everything I needed to do formally, and then they reopened it.

So, if the government seals up your property don’t break the chain, leave it. Go to Alausa, sit with them, and sort it out. Don’t forget that all government agents and officials are there for us. If there is no government, there won’t be a rule of law, and if there is no rule of law everything will be rowdy.

If you want to advise a young person who wants to go into your business, what would you tell him?

I will tell him to read my books. I have two books I will be launching on my birthday. One is Revolutionary Leader which is my biography. It is about how I started. I tell people that the real estate business is difficult terrain. I have seen people bring juju to me at the site twice, just because of Omo Oniles (land owners).

Not many people can work with their wives and do it successfully; how did you achieve that?

Maybe because I am a different kind of man and I love my wife so much. In this business, everybody knows their roles. My role is clear, and her role is clear but our roles are interwoven sometimes.  I am a project person; I am always at the site. She is the one in charge of everything concerning office and staffing. I am the one in charge of the project; all the land that Revolution Plus bought, I know where each of them is because I bought them. She doesn’t know that, because she is always in the office. Her job involves paperwork and she is so good at it. My wife is extremely organised. She is smart and sharp, anytime I forget something, she reminds me.  So, working with her has been so good. I would have made so many mistakes. I thank God she is here, we are working together and the business is growing.

So what is your greatest wish for yourself, and what would you like to be remembered for?

What I want to be remembered for is very clear already. I am not a waka-pass in this world. I have made a big landmark, a very big landmark. So, I will be remembered, that is done. But what I wish for myself now is long life; if Jesus tarries, I want to be 80 or 90,100 because it is beyond money. Money cannot buy anyone a long life. You can be rich and influential and not have good health. Good health is the most important thing. It is only the lord that gives good health. So, I pray to him every day, to give me good health, to see my children’s children, to be able to impact more life because I think I have not done enough. I want to impact more lives and do big things for God. It’s my wish to build a very big Cathedral for God where people will come to worship. That is one of my desires and God says he is going to make it happen for me.