What you don’t know about Femi Osibona, Fourscore Homes and 360 Degrees Towers
Lagos State Government says the owner of the collapsed 21-storey building in Ikoyi was given the approval to construct only 15 floors.
General Manager, Lagos State Building Control Agency, Gbolahan Oki, made the disclosure in a chat with the News Agency of Nigeria.
The structure located at 20, Gerrard Road subsided at about 2:45 p.m on Monday.
Oki announced that the owner has been arrested and would be prosecuted.
“The materials he used for the reinforcement are so terrible. He got approval for 15 floors but built 21. He has been arrested,” he said.
The official added that so far, four people have been rescued alive and three bodies recovered. Rescue efforts are continuing.
Dozens of people were at the site when the incident occurred. The construction was to end in 2022.
Unknown to many, Femi Osibona, the Managing Director of Fourscore Homes, is the developer behind the collapsed 21-storey building.
Osibona is the developer of the massive project dubbed: 360 Degrees Towers on 44 BCD Gerrard Road, Ikoyi. The project represents three fine pieces of high-rise and real estate, being built in the area.
Two of the projects were still standing tall while the third one collapsed on Monday.
Osibona had told Thisday in an interview in 2019 that Fourscore Homes is a member of the NHBRC (National Home Builders Registration Council) in South Africa and Zurich Building Guarantee in Europe, as part of the company’s presence overseas.
His company specialises in the building of choice properties in different parts of the world.
Osibona said. “We have exhibited our expertise in property development in the United Kingdom, South Africa, the United States of America and Nigeria. Fourscore Homes possesses uncommon capabilities in redefining property development in any market we choose to play in.”
On the first floor of the building is a suspended platform that serves as a recreational area where residents can unwind and hold a small party, if they wish. Also, there is a five-star lobby where residents can host friends and family members, without compromising their privacy.
The towers have various house types: Maisonettes of about 420sqms each on three floors; penthouses on two floors; and 4-bedroom flats on one floor, with each flat as large as 400sqms – almost twice the size of most flats in other developments in Ikoyi. The penthouses are about 600sqms to 800sqms.
Osibona’s company began its foray into real estate in the United Kingdom before branching out to South Africa and later Nigeria.
In 2009, when Brig-General Buba Marwa (rtd) was the Nigerian High Commissioner in South Africa, Fourscore Homes built six luxury units called Fourscore Mansions in Waterkloof, a very expensive neighbourhood in Pretoria.
Osibona was also the first African developer to develop a seven-storey building in the United Kingdom.
The property called Fourscore Mansion is located at 113, Albion Drive London Fields, E8, 4LZ, East London.
Not only that, he was the first black developer of African origin to build other projects in the UK.
The company’s real estate business started in Hackney, London in 1997.
