Wealth, an abundance of valuable possessions or money, or a plentiful supply of a particular desirable thing.
The show of wealth is mostly tied to personality. People who are naturally brash and extroverted in nature will have 100 naira, break it into one naira each (new notes), and spray it all over the place.
The introverted ones stay quiet no matter how much they make.
The definition of wealth proposed above already suggests that it is something you can never hide successfully.
Wealthy people don’t use mundane things, don’t shop in everyday places, and are in constant search of an exotic experience, or a rare satisfaction.
This is usually because they have probably tasted the “normal” stuff already and are in pursuit of something new. From Kobe and Wagyu beef cuts, lobster, caviar, truffles, veal dishes, and rich chocolate desserts, to exotic vacation resorts, vintage vehicles, rare paintings, and other vain desires; the question we often ask when it’s time to celebrate them is, “what do you give to a man who has everything?”
There’s a magazine called Robb’s Report that itemizes and advertises the tastes of the truly wealthy. Scanning through its pages will leave you in ecstasy over the quality and exquisite nature of homes, vehicles, clothes, fragrances, and accessories owned by these people. When you have spent some time in their company and understood how they think, and the things they love, it will become clear to you that there is nothing ordinary about them. Some of them are quite eccentric.
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The flashy nature of certain wealthy people has nothing to do with how much they’ve acquired; it has everything to do with their personality. When I bought a “tokunbo” (second hand) Camry – pencil light – in 2004, a friend expressed surprise that the way I sat down inside the car didn’t change. For him, owning that car at the time was probably the height of experiences and warranted recognition. Extrapolating from there, meant that if he eventually owned a private jet, he would be sitting on the wings so people could see him.
There are some mature thieves in hiding who will never buy new clothes, or change cars, but are robbing the country and their companies dry: buying houses all over the world and giving the impression that they’re suffering. They are not the standard either, because what’s the point of living in such bondage? In fact, the reason these people hide their ill-gotten gain is because they are stealing it. And I note that there are always outliers like Hushpuppi and Invictus Obi. These are people at very opposing ends of the spectrum that only come up once every few decades or so.
Some others just like to enjoy whatever little they have genuinely acquired in ways that they choose.
This brings me to the social media craze over the celebration of life organized by Obi Cubana in honor of his late mum. Frankly, by real measures of wealth, I didn’t see a lot of money displayed there. If we monetize all the cows, event costs, and notes that were sprayed, any good accountant can estimate the total cost of the party. It was mainly done as a show. By that standard, I surmised that they are a group of friends who just love to enjoy themselves.
It’s not fair to sit and judge, because you really don’t know yourself until you’ve been exposed to your temptations. There were outcries over what the money should have been used for, and how things are difficult in the country, and all that. By the way, do you know how many high-end cars and private jets have been acquired by Nigerians in the last 2 years? Do you know it cost Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson over $2 billion to spend 5 minutes in space? Breaking your head over a few young men who gathered to “pepperdem” will blind you to the real issues.
Yes, I also thought about the roads in Oba, but honestly, it is not the duty of private businessmen to fix roads. Our struggles in this country have warped our thinking completely. What on earth would make a bonafide citizen of a prosperous country blame a non-government worker for bad roads? The fact that we have become our own infrastructure and utility providers does not exempt the government from being held accountable for these things. Don’t forget that these same businessmen contribute their hard-earned money to pave the streets and provide private security within their estates in Lagos and elsewhere.
It’s always easy to speak out and determine what others should be doing using our own metrics and wearing our own glasses. We also need to lose some stereotypes; they don’t work anymore these days. Startups are being valued more than age-old financial institutions these days, maybe we should devote our energies to finding ways to make some of this money ourselves?
Harold Nwariaku, FCIPS is the lead consultant, Harold & Co Procurement/Supply Chain Consulting and Nigeria branch chair of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply.
Website: www.haroldandco.com
