By Remmy Diagbare

Kiri Wakama is swagalicious. He has an air about him that is care_free a fun loving, jaunty air. A good_time, have_fun_ with_life personae; which must be a magnetic pull that attracts people to him.

Laughter and a cheerful smile is a constant feature. This quick smile and laughter, plus his swag, all combine to make him an engaging personality. As managing director of CMT, a mortgage company and subsidiary of IEI, one of the leading insurance companies in Nigeria, Wakama brings to CMT, over twenty five years’ experience as an architect, banker and property developer.

A man with varied interests, he signed up as a road marshal, and to my surprise, a civilian police, complete with uniform. With his rank in the police, Wakama can arrest erring officers and civilians. As if that was not enough, he is also training to become a priest in the Anglican Church. I am bemused and ask how could he have such opposing interests?

“They are not opposing in any way. As a police man, I want to see justice done and only make myself known when necessary. As for being a priest, it’s a calling that I have. God is the utmost, and I just want an opportunity to serve him in totality.”

HOW DID YOU START OFF AS AN ARCHITECT?

I started my career in an architectural firm called Majero Partnership. It was a large architectural firm. We did jobs for Chevron, Shell, state governments and high networth individuals. I made a detour from architecture when I went to work with the banks. I worked for First Bank before moving to Allstates . I set up their property department. I stayed there for three years before I joined Omega Bank.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO STUDY ARCHITECTURE?

My father was an engineer. He worked with Mobil. As a child, I was very good in Mathematics. Because of that, I was inclined towards

sciences. I didn’t quite like the idea of reading, so I tried to run away from subjects that entailed reading.

Mathematics was good for me because it entailed calculations. Then, I always wanted to create something. I wanted to be a creator. I had a friend whose father was an architect. I used to love to go to his place to just admire his drawings. It didn’t take me long to realize that this was what I wanted to do. So, when it was time to make the choice, I went for counselling, and went for architecture.

SO, HOW DID YOU NOW DEVIATE FROM THE PROFESSION YOU LOVED?

I am a very restless person. At one point, I got tired of architecture. I went into banking; not because I wanted to be a banker but because, I wanted to be a real estate property developer. I felt that working in the bank would give me an idea of how the credit finance world operates. But, I got subsumed in banking because I am passionate in anything I do. I immersed myself fully into banking and I didn’t do badly.

SOON AFTER YOU LEFT ALLSTATES BANK, IT WENT UNDER AND SAME THING HAPPENED TO OMEGA…

When I was at Allstates Bank, it was not collapsing. It was the modern bank to beat. I don’t know what happened after I left in 1999 because, there were no more challenges. I had done everything I had to do. I built all the head offices of Allstates. In Port Harcourt, I built the office and I built an estate Abonnema Housing Estate for the state government. I left because I was too ambitious. I wanted bigger challenges. That’s why I left.

WHAT ARE THE INDICES THAT SHOW A BANK IS FAILING?

First, they don’t have customer data. Then, there is too much corporate politics. There is also the Nigerian factor. You give

somebody the contract to build a house; cement is not there and so, it is tough from day one. When cement comes, the prices have gone haywire. So, the contract is a disaster from beginning. You have a contract to supply things and come back in 30 days. By that time, somebody is sitting on your cheque so, payment doesn’t come in time. Meanwhile, the bank is suffering because they gave you the facility for a short period of time.

There is no power; everything is just wrong. It is not just in the business environment (alone). So, the banks eventually suffer for it. But, rather than accept that they are making a loss, they just keep tampering with their books, (giving the impression that) the bank is making profit.

SO, WHAT IS A SUITABLE ENVIRONMENT?

I visited Ghana recently. They don’t have generators in their banks and they don’t even have bullet proof security doors like we do. So, the cost of running a branch (of a bank) in Ghana is manageable while in Nigeria, it is out of the roof.

You will need close to 10 million naira, aside from operational costs, to run a branch (here). And, that makes things challenging.

LET’S FOCUS NOW ON MORTGAGE BANKS IN NIGERIA. DO WE REALLY HAVE MORTGAGE FACILITIES?

A mortgage is supposed to provide mortgages for people. By definition, mortgage is supposed to be over a minimum of ten years. But nobody puts money in the bank and leaves it there for ten years. He wants 30 days, 90 days, and so all the monies you have in the banks are short_term funds (for which people want) interest rate of 29 or 30 percent. So, what do you expect the mortgage banks to do? Most times, people wouldn’t give their money to mortgage banks because they don’t believe in them. They take their money to the traditional commercial banks. But, the mortgage banker goes to the traditional bank to borrow money at commercial rate.

Recently, I was trying to purchase mortgage for somebody who wanted to buy a house for 50 million naira; to pay over ten years. By our calculation, in ten years, he would have paid about 75 million naira and will still owe another 30 million naira for a house that is 50 million naira because of interest.

I THOUGHT MORTGAGE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE 29 TO 30 YEARS’ REPAYMENT PERIOD.

They don’t have long term funds to support it. What happens in the developed world is that everybody contributes to a pension scheme. With the pension scheme, you can’t draw until you retire. Imagine somebody who works for thirty years and makes regular contributions to the funds; that money is invested in properties and properties appreciate in value. The point is that you can retire with that property. It stands for value.

Then you pay what ever gratuities and pensions he is entitled to, based on his contributions. It makes mortgage banking very easy because, you know nobody is going to come and disturb you for the next 30 years. However, what happens here is that nobody deposits money or gives loans long term.

WHAT ABOUT THE PENSION FUNDS; WHICH IS A LOT OF MONEY AVAILABLE FOR MORTGAGE USE?

The problem with the pension funds is that the operators of the funds do not have confidence in the Nigerian business man. They give him money to trade and you never know what will happen to it.

There are all kinds of regulations as to how the money should be spent. Buy stocks from quoted companies, which has returned profit continuously for three years, government bonds etc. If you go by that, even the PFA will not make profit.

The mortgage banks cannot draw from the funds because they are not structured that way. I understand the fears of the PFAs; if one loans money and people are not able to pay back, what will you do?

NOW THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THE FUNDS, HOW DO YOU INTEND TO OPERATE AS A MORTGAGE BANK?

The Federal Mortgage Bank and international finance companies are trying to create a mortgage utility fund. Let’s see how that works.

SO, HOW DOES THE MORTGAGE BANK OPERATE RIGHT NOW?

They do everything banks do except foreign exchange. Banking is all about relationships; if I have a relationship with you and I move from one bank to a mortgage bank and you have confidence in me, you are likely to move with me.

We try to have property companies as subsidiaries so that you can control the aspect of construction. We might just be able to reduce the cost of the building.

IF MORTGAGE IS NOT EASILY ACESSIBLE, THE DREAM OF OWNING A HOME IS A PIPE DREAM FOR MANY…

There are criteria for granting loans. There has to be capacity of the bearer to pay. The project has to pay itself. If it cannot, then you would have a problem from day one. There is also the character issue and integrity.

CMT-FIRST WHAT IS THE VISION

To ensure excellent mortgage and financial solutions to its clients. We don’t want to be at the bottom. We want to be at the top of the ladder. IEI is known to be a performer. It is among the top five insurance companies in Nigeria. For us, as a subsidiary, we must play in the first five of our chosen field. We must be creative to provide mortgage and financial solutions to our clients. We will match and surpass any mortgage product.

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF IEI?

It is the first insurance company that focuses on the oil and gas sector. Before now, most of the oil and gas (companies) were insured either from abroad or the very big multi_national insurance companies here. But IEI came specifically to address that for the Nigerian market.

My work is my hobby. Apart from my passion for my work, I like music, I like driving around, seeing the way buildings are designed. I like nature. I like people. I like to talk and counsel people.

IN YOUR DRIVING AROUND, HOW DO YOU SEE THE ORDER IN WHICH WE BUILD HOUSES IN NIGERIA?

Design is personal. The way we plan in this country is such that if I am your next_door neighbour and we both buy 80 plots of land, I likely have an idea of what you are doing, and so we might end up with diametrically opposed buildings.

But there are some better organized environments. There are standards and there are rules.

LET’S GO BACK TO YOUR PASSION FOR MUSIC. WHAT TYPE OF MUSIC DO YOU LIKE?

I like classical music. My father was a classical musician. So, we all grew up with classical music. I like the organ, what they call the organ and trumpet voluntary.

WHAT IS YOUR PHILOSOPHY?

I will like to say that our philosophy should revolve around God. We are not animals who do not have where they will return to. We are human beings, created in the image of God and will return to him at the end of our life’s journey here. But, unfortunately, not all of humanity will return there.

THERE IS SOME GLAMOUR ASSOCIATED WITH ARCHITECTURE. SO, LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR STYLE.

Once upon a time, I suppose, one was into style, but as one got older, you leave these to younger ones. I no longer follow fashion. Now, I build on the way. I think I should look and not the way the world says. In those days, one used to buy everything designer shirts, shoes, perfumes etc. At one time, I moved from buying off the shelves to buying customized shirts. For shirts in particular, I liked Perry Ellis but then I was introduced to some Indians in New York, who were designing for Nigerians. So, I moved from buying off the shelves to customized ones.

HOW IMPORTANT IS IMAGE?

Many years ago, it was everything to me. But now, I look not by sight anymore. I look for substance behind the person. I look at the total being.

HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN YOUR TRENDY LOOKS?

I do a lot of walking around and then I watch what I eat.