When the news of 47 cows by CP broke last week, I shared a piece I authored about the loud noise decibel among Igbos and the need to lower the lever of accoustics.
I shared the fundraising list for Zenco for a purpose.
A lot of positives and some negatives may come out of it.
There is a kind of complex cold war between the educated professionals in Ala Igbo and our nouveau rich businessmen.This cold war is not defined, it is muted but it’s real.
Funny enough, our businessmen are not illiterates. Anybody that manages between 1 to 20 million Naira for a year is educated in finance.
It takes a lot of fiscal discipline to manage millions and grow it into billions. The Igbo boi system in Ala-Igbo recently inculcated into Harvard is a solid financial education rooted in growing wealth and risk management.
Some of our brothers, after growing the wealth and making money still possess some behavioural complex issue . A lot of them believe that the only way to announce and stamp their presence or arrival is to flaunt wealth, spray cash, throw bundles of currencies- mainly dollars, pounds and Naira- at social events, take Ozo or some other funny, awkward sounding chieftaincy titles.
This unnecessary, noisy show of wealth and fame by some rich Igbo traders and businessmen did not just start in Ala Igbo( Igboland), it is cancerous tumor that has been there for long, the social media only lately brought it to front burner and amplified it.
The money you saw that was raised for Zenco is simply solid social goodwills and debts incurred.
Native doctor wey go town gather plenty meat , na those him dey give give am!
Zenco has been giving cows to people and donating humongous money to similar burial platforms, this is just a payback time for him.
We are in the generation of burying our parents, by Easter the same Zenco will flip open his list and start supporting those that will bury from Easter Tuesday till the next few days of Easter.
When Zenco launched his De General Bitters some years ago, he spent hundred of millions on the launch and signed almost every trendy musical act to promote it, he created a lot of millionaires with his brand.He is not an ordinary real estate player, he builds and goes for prime propeties in Ikoyi, VI and Banana Island. His goodwill is immense.
The Zenco scenario speaks to the truism of the popular axiom: One can only reap what he sowed. You can’t sow cassava and expect to reap a mighty tuber of yam during harvest.Never! Onye kele Sunny, Sunny ekele gwa ya( Anyone who greets Sunny receives Sunny’s greeting in return).
I’m talking from a depth of experience. I’m from Akokwa, a border town in Imo that shares boundary with Anambra. We are Anambra by social DNA, over 90% of my old & new clients are from Anambra. Due to my association with a lot of them, I always get added to over 80% of Anambra high profile burial platforms. I most times give media support or give physical cheques or cash to the bereaved. Where I can afford 4 legs, I provide or monetize it.
I buried my mother in 2015 and my dad in 2021(God bless their souls)
As at 2015, an average cow cost 150k, biggest one then was 180k.
Friends and associates gave me a total of 42 cows, I stopped collecting physical cows when it reached 12, the other 30 were monitized. A lot of the cow gifts were debts which I’m still paying till today.
APC came and destroyed our economy.
First week of January this year, I gave a friend who buried his father cash for a cow. He gave me two in 2015 and one in 2021.
A cow now goes between 800k to 1.5M, it depends on the size and location.
Every cow rope you see going for a condolence must be accompanied with a cash or cheque equivalent.
The bearer of the rope must have killed a local cow for his late father.
Yes, We are business oriented, resilient and hard working but a new variant of Igbo have emerged.
The ugly side of big loud burial in Igbo land are many.
Most of the parents that are used to raise money after their death never had three square meals during their lifetime. There are cases of parents that were living in leaking roofs with 275 lanterns or never had any descent medical attention.
Once they die, a new structure will be erected, many cows placed on detention and chariots like those used in Old Testament assembled to bury a man that was trekking miles to buy bread @ the Market. I know of over six cases of prodigal sons in my LGA that exhibited the same show of shame.
One of them had over 10 state of art cars but while alive, his father came to visit him in Lagos via night bus, his father slept in the B/Q with policemen. He talked with him through the intercom but when the man died, a textile company was locked down to produce over 5,000 pcs of Aso Ebi, six governors attended the burial!
Have you noticed the kind of drugs siezures by NDLEA lately, it now runs into billions.
We have moved from not only a conduit for drugs to Europe and America but a consuming nation.
The effects are evident in the kind of kililing we are witnessing in Nigeria.
A lot of the above stems from the pressures of our boys who want to be like Obi Cubana or CP.
The kidnapping business has added another dimension( organ harvesting & trafficking) are the new Yahoo plus
We used to have the competition of Social clubs in the 70s and 80s-People’s Club, Anaedo, Star and many other.The allure of social clubs is stronger now among this new set of nouveau rich; there are more than 100 new Social Igbo clubs battling for attention in Social media. From their immaculate white attires and different sizes of revered Igbo red cap easily purchased on Instagram, you can readily distinguish them; they ventilate the noise on social media, throwing bundles of 200 and 500 notes about and later start embarking on saddening trips to India to fix their failed organs emanating from consumption of a melange of expensive but lethal ethanol laden drinks; many have elevated the consumption of such liquors a status symbol.
Most of these noisely rich young businessmen, their young families suffer because they hardly spend weekend in Lagos, and when they spend, it must be in choice hotels in Lagos Island or hidden apartments.
Another ugly side is the sudden death emanating from pressure of belonging to big social clubs .
In 2020, my neighour, a Lagos big boy from Nnewi, the owner of Diamond Mall, Amuwo Odofin, Lagos, slumped and died in Lekki, just as his mother’s burial was a month away. He had already bought drinks worth over 60M for the burial.The pressures from organizing a big burial and satisfying the plethora of clubs he belonged to took him away.
Last year, another big oil & gas player slumped and died three weeks to his mother’s burial.
He was renovating his house, infact furniture he bought worth over 100 million had not gotten to his Oraifite country home before he died.
Somethings must be done and urgently too to tame this nauseating tide. The onus falls on Ohanaeze Ndigbo and religious bodies to set the machinery in motion to stop this inelegant behavioural pattern. Soludo’s speech at the Anglican Church retreat explains this ugly trend more explicitly and aptly. Something must be done; we must urgently pour cold water on this raging thoughtlessness of the few which unfortunately, the rest of Nigeria now see as the moniker, trademark and customised brand of the Igbo!
Ndewo nu
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