A client recently reached out to me to make enquiries about a property in Lagos we were promoting. During our conversation, he said he only wanted to buy properties in Lagos.
In his words “There’s nothing going on in other States, why should I tie my money down?”
“Ahh, you are wrong on this one sir”, I quickly replied. We had a long conversation and I was able to make him see reasons why buying properties in other States is a wise investment strategy.
Then it dawned on me.
What if many other people share this same mindset, believing they should only buy land in one state while ignoring other states with huge growth potential?
I decided to write this article to address this misconception and open investors’ eyes to the opportunities that exist across different states in Nigeria.
Table of Contents
Reasons you should Consider Buying Land in Other States
Lower Land Prices in Emerging Markets
Just because a state is the most developed does not mean new cities in other states will not emerge. Likewise, a place having ill fortunes today does not mean it will remain that way forever.
One of our clients moved to Bariga, Lagos in 2002. At the time, Bariga was a ghetto. It was a place people aspired to make money and leave immediately. A place musicians sing about or use for music videos when they want to describe a ghetto.
He lived there because it was closer to the hospital where he worked.
Bariga had ‘mad’ potential. Take a look at this;
A 7 minutes drive from Bariga and you get to the University of Lagos. 10 minutes and you get to Yaba College of Technology. 3 minutes drive and you are at Saint Augustine College of Education. The University of Lagos and Yaba College of Technology are both prime higher institutions in Nigeria with lots of students.
From Bariga to Victoria Island, the financial district of Lagos is just a 25 minutes drive.
With all these hotspots around it, yet, Bariga was still a ghetto.
One year after living in Bariga, our client saw an opportunity to buy a fenced land for ₦300,000. He knew that the area had potential and went ahead to buy the land even when he had 12 plots of lands at different locations in Imo State.
By 2023, Bariga had become an area where students were paying up to ₦500,000 for a 1 bedroom self-contained apartment. Families were paying up to 1.2 million for a flat in Bariga.
He sold his land at Bariga in 2023 for 45 million Naira.
Another client who lives in America shared her real estate success story with us. She bought a piece of land in Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom State and rented it out to a farmer.
Two years after she bought the land, the state government built a road beside her land. Immediately the road was built, someone else reached out to her through the farmer to buy the land for 4 million Naira.
She said the total money she spent to purchase that land was ₦537,000. The land was ₦500,000, the extra ₦37,000 was used to buy drinks for the community King.
She says she will sell when the value of her land gets to 20 million Naira. With the way development is coming to Uyo, that might be in the next four years.
There are cities in other states in Nigeria that are emerging. They are bushes today but they won’t be that way forever, as planned infrastructure, population growth and economic expansion transform them into thriving urban centres.
Higher Appreciation Potential
Some states in Nigeria are richer than their counterparts. It’s the reason why you see massive projects and developments in these states while other states remain largely underdeveloped.
These wealthier or fast-growing states attract more government investment, private sector participation, industries, and population inflow. As infrastructure improves and economic activities expand, the demand for land increases, leading to faster and higher appreciation in property values.
Buying land in such states early allows you to buy low while the land is still cheap and sell high when development and population growth have significantly increased demand and driven up property values.
The best part is you don’t have to be an indigene or even live in a state before you can own land there.
Portfolio Diversification
Insecurity and civil unrest is a major factor that determines the value of properties within a state. Once there is a perceived or actual threat to human lives, people migrate to other states or cities, development stalls and the price of property within the affected areas either declines or remains stagnant.
Imagine having all your investments in one state and that state suddenly experiences prolonged insecurity, unfavorable government policies, or economic downturn, your entire portfolio would be exposed to risk, with little or no alternative source of returns to cushion the impact pending when those issues are resolved.
Even when the issues are resolved, it takes time for confidence to return, development to resume, and property values to recover to their previous levels or begin appreciating again.
Spreading your land investment across different states gives you stability, reduces exposure to regional risks, and increases your chances of benefiting from growth opportunities in multiple markets at the same time.
Now that you have seen reasons why you should consider other states in your land investment strategy, you should consider reading our article on how to buy land in different parts of Nigeria without getting your fingers burnt and the best states to buy land for investment in Nigeria.
In Conclusion
Limiting your land investments to just one state no matter how popular or developed can cause you to miss out on some of the biggest opportunities Nigeria has to offer. While Lagos remains an attractive market, growth is no longer exclusive to one location. Across the country, emerging cities are being shaped by population expansion and infrastructures.
Buying land in other states allows you to enter markets early, at lower prices, while positioning yourself for long-term appreciation. It also helps you diversify your portfolio, manage risk, and take advantage of development cycles that are still in their early stages.
The smartest investors don’t wait until an area becomes expensive and crowded, they invest when the signs of growth are just beginning to show. Whether in Lagos or beyond, the goal is not where everyone is today, but where people and development are heading tomorrow.