A 42-year-old woman, Ms Aderonke Hamzat, has revealed how her land asset in Lagos State returned 10 times her principal in just 6 years. Ms Hamzat told Economy Post on Friday how her decision to rush where angels failed to tread changed her life story.

Speaking with our reporter in Lagos, she said: “In 2019, a friend of mine wanted to travel to the United Kingdom. She told me that she was selling all her properties in Nigeria, one of which was her plot of land at Ikotun, Lagos. I ended up buying the plot at N4 million at that time.

“I fenced the land. I planned to build a four-bedroom flat on it, but, unfortunately, I was duped, so I lost everything. That left sour taste in my mouth, and I could not do anything on the land. Meanwhile, people were coming to buy it. I remember someone priced the piece of land for N18 million in 2022, and someone else wanted to buy it at N22 million in 2023.

“However, my will to keep the land weakened in March this year when a company came and priced the piece of land at N40 million. It was 10 times how much I had paid for it 6 years ago. So, I had no option than to sell. I used the money to develop another plot I had bought at Agbara, Ogun State, 7 years earlier.”

Smart investments

Ms Hamzat’s story captures how smart investments – land, stocks, mutual funds and other securities – can change people’s lives within the shortest possible time.

Land has proven to be very lucrative investment in Nigeria’s commercial city as its return can range from 20 percent to as high as 5,000 percent over a period of time. But the situation depends on asset location and availability of titles. Also, real estate is sensitive to development. If the government is setting up an airport, or a private businessman is building a gigantic factory in a particular location, the demand for real estate and prices of real estate assets in that area will jump, Economy Post had earlier noted.

READ ALSO: ‘I took a chance on this insurance stock – and it changed my story in three months’

For instance, 10 years ago, a plot of land was lower than N200,000 at Aguleri/Umuleri axis of Anambra State. But since the Anambra airport sited an airport in the area, land prices have gone as high as N5 millon to N10 million per plot.

Generally, returns on residential real estate have averagely stood between 4 and 10 percent in Nigeria in recent times. This means if you builld a house and let it out it to residential tenants, your returns after recouping your principal could be less than 10 percent annually. But commercial real estate returns can be higher. Their returns go as high as 12 or 15 percent. That is, if you build a house for businesses to occupy, the rents would be higher.

Shortlet returns are, nevertheless, much higher. That is, if you build a house and let it out for a short period of time, the returns can range from 10 to 30 percent, according to data. “Short-let rentals like Airbnb are the latest trend. Travellers prefer serviced apatment over hotels. This has opened huge opportunity for property owners,” said Esso Properties.

However, generally, when you buy land or housing asset and keep it for a number of years, the value appreciates. You can buy a piece of land for N3 million per plot in 2025 and sell it for N35 million in 2025, depending on the location.

Stocks are lucrative too

Stocks are also lucrative and life-changing. A Kano State-based trader, Mr Oluwadare Olutosin, had earlier narrated how one insurance stock changed his life in 2025. He spoke with Economy Post during an investment summit in Lagos, saying that he used to think that the stock market was meant for some special individuals.

According to him, he had now started believing that Nigerian stocks were among the best in the world in terms of returns.

“In April this year, a friend of mine gave me N5 million to keep for him. He wanted to start a building project sometime in September and didn’t want to tamper with the money. He asked me to keep it safe for him so that he wouldn’t spend it.

“In May, someone asked me to invest the money in the stock market, convincing me that the money would yield bigger returns by September if I did. On May 20, I heeded his advice and invested the whole money in Sovereign Trust Insurance, which was priced at N1.03k per share at that time.

“By August 18, the share price had risen to N3.20k, meaning that it had appreciated by 210 percent within three months. Without wasting much time, I decided to sell. At the end of the day, I earned additional N10.5 million from the stock.”