I always look forward to Salah and the Christmas/ New Year holidays because, amongst other things, those are periods when affluent folks use to show off their affluence. The affluent northerners use the Salah period to show off their exotic cars and houses while the affluent Easterners use the Christmas and New Year holidays to show off their exotic mansions erected in their villages in the East.
Videos and pictures of palatial mansions in villages in the East have been trending on social media since the holidays. The Easterners are jumping on the trend of “operation show your village” to share videos and pictures of the beautiful edifices erected in their homes and communities and I for one am proud and impressed by how beautiful some Eastern villages are.
Seeing some of these state-of-the-art mansions erected in the eastern villages, one will be forced to take stock of the economic benefits or economic value of such pocket-draining ventures, this has also generated the argument that building such money-gulping houses in the villages is a waste of resources as it will be of no economic value to their owners compared to houses built in the city.
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Personally, I strongly believe that the Igbos erecting those pocket-draining edifices in their villages are not building them with the mindset of investment or for economic or financial gain. They built them for social, emotional and sentimental satisfaction. These are assets of sentimental, emotional and social value; and to their owners, all these intangible values are enough for them.
My father always tells me whenever we have the chance to talk that it is the investment or an asset I bring down to my village or to my ancestry home that is the safest. My father, undoubtedly is talking from the lessons the Igbos are forced to learn from the civil war where many easterners lost their businesses, and their properties in different parts of the country and were forced to flee back home to safety leaving everything behind and had to start from the scratch after the war. Some prophets of doom still believe that with the way Nigeria is moving another civil war could be brewing and many Igbos will be forced to leave their investments, properties and assets in their cities of residence and flee back home for safety as it happened in the 1950s through the early 60s but may God forbid.
My father’s advice supports the popular Igbo proverb that says; “Aku ru ulo”, which when loosely translated means; “bring your wealth home where it will be safe and much appreciated”.
Be it as it may, for the sake of argument, let me play to the gallery and share just two economic benefits these palatial mansions may bring contrary to what some haters may think
Firstly, an eastern community or village with such beautiful mansions will easily attract investors and tourists; this will therefore generate revenue for the community. Moreover, an eastern community with such beautiful edifices will facilitate development in those villages and will no doubt attract the attention of the state government to come and further develop the community.
Therefore, as an Igbo businessman or career person doing well in your field of endeavor, if your people are yet to benefit from your wealth then you have not started as it is said that charity begins at home. Take your wealth home where it will be safest and much appreciated; Aku ru ulo!!!
