The corpse of the Managing Director, Fourscore Homes, Femi Osibona, has been found in the rubble of the collapsed Ikoyi building.
Fourscore Homes is the firm constructing the 21-storey building under construction which collapsed on Monday, on Gerrard Road in Ikoyi, Lagos.
The National Emergency Management Agency confirmed this to TheCable on Thursday evening after rescuers discovered the body.
So far, authorities have announced 39 recovered bodies from the rubble.
Lagos Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso confirmed the recovery of the body.
“He is dead. He was brought out dead this evening”, he said.
One of the survivors said there were about 100 people in the building at the time it caved in.
Some 38 bodies have been recovered from the rubble while nine were evacuated injured.
Olufemi Adegoke Osibona otherwise called Femi Fourscore was a native of Ikenne in Ogun state.
He had his primary school in Lagos before moving to Mayflower School in Ikenne, Ogun State for his secondary education. He then proceeded to Croydon University in the United Kingdom to study Business and Finance for his HND.
Osibona started shoes and suits business in 1991. By 1998, he stopped selling shoes and suits after nurturing a property he purchased in 1997 to a profitable venture.
From there, he ventured into building construction.
Osibona was quoted to have said: “I also noticed that many Nigerians at that time were reluctant to go into construction but I believed anything was possible with God on my side.”
Osibona established Fourscore Homes, a real estate development firm. He said his company is a member of the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) in South Africa and Zurich Building Guarantee in Europe.
“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,” he was quoted to have said.
The sexagenarian is said to be the first African developer to construct a seven-storey building located at 113, Albion Drive, London Fields, E8, 4LZ, in East London. He then moved to South Africa in 2009 where he built six luxury units of houses called Fourscore Mansions in Waterkloof, Pretoria.
Osibona said in an interview: “I was one of the people whose real estate developments led to the growth of East London. I bought a house on New Cross Road and renovated it. I also bought a piece of land behind it and built two flats there, and that is what I will call my first real estate project. That was how I started building houses for sale. Renowned Juju music maestro, Ebenezer Obey visited the property when he was in London.”
According to him, the 360 Degrees Towers in Ikoyi, the ill-fated structure, was designed to be the first of its kind in Nigeria and the structure “will give peace of mind and comfort to the residents, because everything works.”
Osibona told a television station that he built over 50 projects in London and Manchester and from there, went to South Africa to build a number of estates.
“In all the projects abroad, we buy land and develop and I am the builder, I don’t engage any builder. I was in Atlanta for only four months before I decided to buy land. It is the same procedure in housing development and if you have done it in one country, then you can do it in another because it is the same principle,” he said
Osibona was a member of the Celestial Church of Christ (CCC) and a lover of the pulpit.
For him, the collapse of the building in Ikoyi was not the first time his structures will suffer damage. In his talk with CelestialOvation Talk Show, Osibona narrated how four of his 24 flats in Atlanta, Georgia, were razed but the incident turned out to be a blessing for him.
In a viral video recorded on July 4, 2021, Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo of the Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC) London, said Osibona came to him for divine consultation on where he should take his investments to after listening to his teachings on salvation and wealth creation.
“After listening to my tapes, he built 12 apartments in London, sold eight, kept four. Then he came to me again and said, ‘pastor Matthew, lay hands on me; where should I go again?’ After I’d laid hands the first time, he said ‘where should I go again? I want to go to South Africa; please pray for me.’ I prayed for him.
“Ladies and gentlemen, he went to South Africa and built 125 houses in the highbrow area of Centurion, next door to Johannesburg. He broke through exponentially.
“Then, he calls me and says: ‘where are you, sir? I want to come to you.’ I said ‘I’m in Ghana preaching’. He jumps on a plane and flies to Ghana from South Africa. He comes and says ‘where should I go again?’ I said, ‘look, I’m not your financial adviser. Go and meet your financial adviser.’ He said ‘you’re doing better than them.’ So, I laid hands on him, prayed for him and I said ‘go to Nigeria, your country’.
“They call him Femi Fourscore. Femi comes to Lagos, boom, he buys a land in Ikoyi and builds 40 apartments and sold each one for like a million dollars.
“As I am talking to you right now, in fact, this morning, Femi sent me a video. He’s building I think three towers together on Alexander. We know Ikoyi. One is 14 floors, one is 16 floors, one is 21 floors.”
Ashimolowo confirmed that Osibona used to sell shirts and ties in Abuja.
“This guy used to sell shirts and ties in Abuja. I just told you he supplied me. He didn’t even have the shirt and tie; he went to others to get for me during that crisis journey. Now, he has three towers. I’m even wondering who should be laying hands on whom,” the pastor said.
