School of the Built Environment Oluwaseun Ajayi Our staff

Dr Ajayi is Programme Leader for our Real Estate BSc and MSc degree. Prior to this, he worked as a German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Scholar at the International Real Estate Business School, University of Regensburg in Germany. Additionally, Dr Ajayi taught as a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Real Estate, Oxford Brookes University, United Kingdom. prior to this, What's more, he was a lecturer and teaching assistant within the Department of Estate Management at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Nigeria. Lastly, Dr Ajayi taught at School of Construction Economics and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. 

Ajayi holds both an Upper Second-Class Honours and Master of Science Degree in Estate Management from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria. His Masters by Research Degree focused on the appropriateness and suitability of facilities management approaches for enhanced decision making. Furthermore, Dr Ajayi is a  Tertiary Education Trust (TET) Fund Scholar. His PhD research focused on the performance of listed Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

He's lectured across a broad range of subject matters in real estate at both at Obafemi Awolowo University and the University of the Witwatersrand. He continues to lecture and render tutoring services at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels and to a mix of student cohorts from different backgrounds. He has supervised and currently supervises at the Honours and Masters of Business Administration levels. Ajayi was appointed Supervisor to Master of Business Administration (MBA) students at the University of the Witwatersrand Business School in 2019. He sits on the Abraham Valuation Consult Firm as Board Member in Lagos, Nigeria. He is the Chief Executive of a PropTech Company called Sheltarea Pty Ltd registered in Johannesburg. He is a registered Estate Surveyor and Valuer in Nigeria (2014).

Dr Ajayi has published in both local and international journals of repute. He attracted a 2019 prestigious German Academic Exchange Service research grant for further study at the reputed International Real Estate Business School (IREBS), University of Regensburg, Germany. Other awards include Best Lecturer, Department of Estate Management, Obafemi Awolowo University (2017), Tertiary Education Trust Fund from the Federal Government of Nigeria (2017), IREBS Conference Grant (2018), James Webb Foundation Award (2020), Doctoral Completion Grant, IREBS, Germany (2021), Best Paper Award, Zambia (2021), Best Paper Award, Ghana (2022), Oxford Brookes University Research Grant (2023), James Webb Research Grant (2023), International Travel Grant, ARES (2023).

 Dr Ajayi leads and lectures on the following modules:

• RL7000 Real Estate Valuation
• RL7001 Asset Management of Real Estate

His goal in teaching is to foster the acquisition of a base of concepts and learning skills to facilitate further learning and thinking. Through all of his teachings, he ensures that students are guided in the evaluation of evidence, critical thinking, argument development, verbal and written expression, and the application of general principles to novel settings.

These competencies equip students for a broad range of demands in future academic and occupational settings. To promote the development of thinking and learning skills, as well as facilitate an understanding of course content, Ajayi ensures that all of his courses are structured around three common themes: an emphasis on psychological research, the development of writing skills and the generation of enthusiasm for scientific inquiry.

• Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
• Property Technology (PropTECH)
• ESG & Sustainability
• Facilities Management

Journal Publications:

• Fateye, T., Ajayi, O.D. & Ajayi, C.A (2022). Modelling of Daily Price Volatility of South-Africa Property Stock Market Using GARCH Analysis. Journal of African Real Estate Research (under production)
• Ajayi, O.D. & Akinsomi, O. (2022). Are Secondary Equity Offerings (SEOs) of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) REITs less underpriced than non-BEE REITs? Journal of Property Investment and Finance (under production)
• Oluwunmi, A.O., Emeghe, I. J., Oni, S.A. & Ajayi, O.D. (2016). Demographic Factors and Students’ Satisfaction in Nigerian Private Universities. Covenant Journal in Research & Built Environment (CJRBE), 4(2), 87-98
• Adewunmi, Y. A., & Ajayi, O. D. (2016). Attitudes of Nigerian facilities management professionals to the benefits of benchmarking. Facilities, 34(7/8)
• Oseghale, G.E, Ikpo, I.J., & Ajayi, O. D. (2015). Causes and Effects of Building Collapse in Lagos State, Nigeria. Civil and Environmental Research, 7(4), 34-43.
  
  Book Chapter
• Ajayi, O.D. & Akinsomi, K. (2019). Empirical Evidence on the Measurement of Information Asymmetry on the Pricing of REITs on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Being a full refereed book chapter accepted for presentation at the 11th Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Postgraduate Research Conference, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa.
  
  Conference Papers (Refereed)
• Ajayi, O.D. & Akinsomi, K. (2022). Do Internally Managed REITs manipulate earnings more than Externally Managed REITs? Being a full refereed paper accepted for presentation at the 21st African Real Estate Society Conference (AfRES), Accra, Ghana, 2022. BEST PAPER AWARD
• Ajayi, O.D. & Akinsomi, K. (2021). Are Secondary Equity Offerings (SEOs) of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) REITs less underpriced than non-BEE REITs? Being a full refereed paper accepted for presentation at the 20th African Real Estate Society Conference (AfRES), Lusaka, Zambia., 2021
• Fateye, T.B., Ajayi, O.D. & Ajayi, C.A. (2021). Modelling of Daily Price Volatility of South Africa Property Stock Market using
  GARCH Analysis. Being a full refereed paper accepted for presentation at the 20th African Real Estate Society Conference (AfRES), Lusaka, Zambia, 2021. BEST PAPER AWARD
• Ajayi, O.D. & Akinsomi, K. (2019). Underwriter Reputation, Market Adjusted Initial Returns and Abnormal Returns: Evidence from South-African REITs. Being a full refereed paper accepted for presentation at the 19th African Real Estate
• Ajayi, O.D. (2018). An Assessment of the Appropriateness of the Different Facilities Management Approaches in Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria. Being a full refereed paper accepted at the 18thAnnual African Real Estate Society (AfRES) Conference, Park Inn by Radisson Hotel in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria.
• Ajayi, O.D. & Akinsomi, K. (2018).Performance of Real Estate Investment Trusts and Shareholders’ Wealth Effect following Issuance of an SEO: The South African Context. An abstract accepted at the Annual African Real Estate Society Conference, Park Inn by Radisson Hotel in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria.
• Ajayi, O.D. & Adewunmi, Y. (2017). Towards Facilities Management Best Practices: Service Providers’ Perception on the Impact of Innovation Sources and ICT in Nigeria. Being an Abstract accepted and presented at the 17th Annual African Real Estate Society International Conference at the Hyatt Regency, Rosebank, Johannesburg, South Africa
• Ajayi, O. D., Ogunba, O.A., and Ajayi, C.A. (2015). Green Buildings: A Panacea for Sustainable Management Practice in Nigeria. Being a full refereed paper accepted and presented at the International EDM conference, Nigeria.

• Best Paper Award (Property Investment), International Real Estate Business School, African Real Estate Society Conference Awards, Ghana, 2022
• Best Paper Award (Property Valuation), International Real Estate Business School, African Real Estate Society Conference Awards, Zambia, 2021
• Fellow, WITS/ASRI Civic Leadership Programme, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, 2021
• Winner, Rising Talent Award Category, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, 2019
• Best Lecturer Award, Estate Management Students’ Association, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, 2017
• Winner, IREBS Doctoral Completion Scholarship/Research Prize, Germany, 2021
• Recipient, Research Scholarship/Bursary, Wits Business School, South Africa , 2020
• Recipient, Wits Annual Fund, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, 2021
• Visiting Scholar, Fully funded PhD Exchange programme by DAAD, University of Regensburg, Germany, 2020
• Recipient, Tertiary Trust Fund, Fully funded PhD by the Federal Government of Nigeria
• Recipient, Conference Research Grant (Paper Presentation), American Real Estate Society, 39th Annual Conference, San Antonio, Texas, USA, 2023
• Recipient, Conference Research Grant (Paper Presentation), International Real Estate Society, 21st Annual African Real Estate Society Conference, Accra, Ghana, 2022
• Recipient, James Webb Doctoral Research Grant (Doctoral Thesis Presentation), American Real Estate Society Conference, Florida, USA, 2022
• Recipient, Conference Research Grant (Paper Presentation), African Real Estate Society Conference, Zambia, 2021
• Recipient, Conference Travel Grant (Paper Presentation), University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, American Real Estate Society Annual Conference, 2020
• Recipient, Conference Grant (Paper Presentation), Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), University of Johannesburg, South Africa, 2019
• Recipient/Scholar, IREBS Foundation for African Real Estate Research, Germany, being a research/travel grant paid for full attendance of AfRES Conference, Nigeria

Since 2023, Dr Ajayi has served as an external Master of Science examiner at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, evaluating the work of students. He contributes his expertise Pro bono publico as a visiting Senior Lecturer at Redeemers University, Nigeria, delivering lectures on property valuation, investment, and finance modules.

As Vice Chair for the Future Leaders of the African Real Estate Society since 2022, Ajayi develops and coordinates programmes for real estate professionals and academics who are kickstarting their careers.

He served as an Academic Consultant for the Oyo State Government in Nigeria, focusing on capacity development of postgraduate students for DAAD Scholarships applications. Since 2022, he has been an Associate Editor at the Journal of Construction and Built Environment, Wits Business School, overseeing the review process for academic articles. Recently as Executive Director Assistant, Dr Ajayi provided full administrative assistance to the Executive Director of the African Real Estate Society, South Africa, managing board meetings and conference planning.

Dr Ajayi has had numberous features with the Nigerian media outlet Spectrum Television, discussing topics such as socioeconomic and political engagements.  

Dr. Oluwaseun Damilola Ajayi
Tower Building, London Metropolitan University, Holloway Road Campus, London
Email Address: o.ajayi@londonmet.ac.uk