DOING THE RIGHT THING IN THE WRONG WAY: A REFLECTIVE VIEW OF OBI CUBANA'S MOTHER'S BURIAL AT OBA, ANAMBRA STATE

 I was laughing as I concluded to use those words as the title of this piece; simply because I am sure many would probably be turned off immediately by my choice of words for the title and presume what they think I might have to say. Well, I would advise you to take a chill, read till the end and you might probably be shocked that what you think might be the content of this piece is not how I have presented it to be. Just calmly read, check the pictures, watch the videos before you crucify me in your heart or with your comments or even applaud me on this reflection.

Late Madam Ezinne Uche Iyiegbu

Over the last one week or thereabout, the major news trending on media platforms especially among Nigerians has been about a burial ceremony that took place on July 16th, 2021 in Oba, Anambra state of an aged woman who had died in the year 2020. Well, the media atmosphere is not about the life of the woman buried but about the befitting burial ceremony granted her by her son, Obi Iyiegbu, popularly known as "Obi Cubana". The 46yr old billionaire and business mogul who is reportedly worth $500million buried his mother in grand style in what would be a memorable event which would always be on the lips of Nigerians alive to witness the day physically, or as seen on social media; and echoed in the ears of generation yet unborn.

 

Obi Cubana and his wife during the burial ceremony of his mother

I would want to quickly state here that whatever you have read on social media and even this piece that you are currently reading, are all subjective opinions of people based on their perspective of the burial ceremony and you should never in any way hate or begin to look at someone with displeasure simply because their opinion does not tally with yours about the event.

So, here is the main gist. The main discussion started when over 200 cows (not to mention goats and others) were donated by Obi's friends to celebrate the burial of his mother. Even though, I don't feel those cows deserve to die like that... Anyway, I will come back to their matter soon. Everyone was like Wow! this party is going to be 'one in town', and indeed; it went on to be 'one in a country' with the way many people turned up and the manner with which money was spent. One reality people need to understand is that Igbos naturally love to party and spend wildly, especially among their friends and family members no matter how little they might have; it's more like a popular culture among them. This then leads me to the popular discussion on the lips of people each time Igbos party and spend heavily like this - the tag that their money is unclean; either it has its roots from rituals (blood-money) or illegal cyber activities (Fraud/cyber theft). Two names would quickly come to the mind of many people at this point, Victor Okafor popularly known as 'Eze-ego' (king of money) of Ihiala and that of Invictus Obi. For those who would remember, the former was a wealthy personality in the 1990s but the circumstances surrounding his death and the aftermath events following his death in December 1999 and even the current state of his house suggests to many that his wealth was probably not clean (go and read more about him...), while the latter was convicted of cyber theft and currently serving jail term in the United States of America. Oh! I almost forgot! these two are from Anambra State too, which would make many begin to question the wealth of Obi Cubana even more. 

From what I have read about Obi Cubana, he was born into affluence, as his father Sir Nnaemeka Iyiegbu, was a well-known businessman in the Eastern region during the colonial government and his late mother was a co-owner of Giant Steps International School, Oba, one of the highly regarded schools in Anambra state. Now, Obi did not stop there but went up to build on his background wealth by establishing a hospitality club he named CUBANA in 2009 following the establishment of the Ibiza Club which he formed in 2006 in Abuja and is still thriving to date. His establishments are almost everywhere in Nigeria and some other parts of the world. So, in a way, we can trace his wealth.

A must watch compilation video of all that happened at the burial ceremony

Having watched many videos online of which some are attached to this piece, I strongly feel certain things are wrong and shouldn't have been in the events leading to and during the ceremony proper. I will state them below briefly:

The killing of Over 200 Cows

 Personally, I feel slaughtering these number of cows for a burial ceremony is too much. I understand the fact that many people were in attendance, but I can still confidently say that surely, not everyone there was able to get something to eat especially the commoners (the so called poor people). I feel it would have made more sense if 80-100 cows were even killed at the event while a cow each is donated to each orphanage home in Anambra state, then gather the poor in the street, have them seated at the town hall, kill a cow or two for them and have them well fed. After all, they said Obi Cubana is a generous person. This act would have attracted more prayers from these people I mentioned and his blessings from God would even come in triple fold. I saw a screenshot of Daddy Freeze claiming it doesn't matter if over 200 cows were killed since King Solomon in the bible consumed 30cows and 100 sheep daily. My response to this is that even if Solomon fed like this as a king that he was, he fed the people of Israel even more and provided for their needs. The more he (Solomon) did for God and his people, the more God even blessed him.

The Spraying of Cash and People's Struggle to Pick

Spraying Money is part of the way the Igbo people have their parties. It is fun to them and seen as a way to showcase their wealth. However, one thing I noticed from the videos I saw is that Obi Cubana who is a reserved lavish spender didn't spray money but calmy dropped bundles of cash at the feet or on the body of those he wanted to give the money to, while his friends, championed by his right-hand boy whom he trained in business, Paschal Okechukwu, popularly known as 'Cubana Chief Priest' were the noise makers and responsible for the lavish spending and throwing off of cash even more.

Cubana Chief Priest spraying cash at the ceremony

 Cash was thrown in the streets and people scrambled to pick. Many injured themselves in a bid to pick some cash but some gathered more than enough for themselves. Poverty they say is a bastard! It is only a high poverty level that would make someone run to pick cash thrown in the air by a wealthy man. It would have made more sense if the people were arranged by the security personnel and a bale of cash was given to individuals. Yes! I understand that the thrill would be missing, the shouting and running around but we should try to be civilized and still do things in the best possible way that won't make people get injured just because they want to pick money.

 

 

Boy laments on what he had to go through to pick cash from the floor

 Friends ready to count the cash they picked at the burial ceremony

People scramble to pick money at the burial ceremony

My Final Submission

As I was saying to someone a few days ago, even though we can trace the wealth of Obi Cubana to a great extent, can we equally trace the wealth of all those who attended the burial ceremony throwing cash and spending lavishly? the answer is No! What if some of them came to spray money to renew their wealth through the destiny of all those who picked cash from the public? We can't be so sure it is so, or not. Indeed, many claim they were trained by Obi and have come to say "thank you for helping us", but again, we can't be so sure some didn't fortify their wealth with rituals or through fraudulent means to enhance their business growth so that they can be always praised in the society and even try as much as possible to outshine their master's wealth. Indeed, it is quite insane to see rich people spending money they worked hard for, in that manner, then, I ask myself, why is Nigeria still not better? Why are we still growing in poverty? That Burial ceremony has come to show many wealthy people are in Nigeria who are by far richer than those in political positions but still, many basic amenities are still lacking in their communities. There are still bad roads in many parts of the Eastern Nigeria, lack of stable electricity, lack of good functioning water system amongst others. In fact, reality TV star Dr. Cherry reported about staff maltreatment as she revealed on Instagram that the so called 'Big Boys' can afford to spend money like this, whereas, leave their workers unpaid or even want to sleep with some of those who meet them for favor before they can render the help necessary. This is very sad to hear but it is the truth in our world today.

Reality TV Star - Dr. Cherry calls out Cubana Chief Priest over reported staff maltreatment

If these people who sprayed money at the burial In Oba, Anambra State come together to develop even the Eastern part of Nigeria alone, then, poverty will be alleviated from that region and if other wealthy people in other parts of the country do the same, Nigeria would be great and poverty reduced. These people shouldn't wait for the government, they have shown that they have the money, so why not spend it on things that will benefit everyone in the society rather than spend it frivolously. Obi Cubana immortalized his mother with a diamond pendant and neckpiece worth $100,000 and a coffin worth 30million naira. Madam Ezinne Iyiegbu's soul will not win a "Burial D'or" award in heaven for the befitting burial of all time which her son gave her. Yes, it was right to celebrate a mother who died at the ripe age of 78 but the manner of the celebration was quite extravagant while it could have been done in other proper ways and still make it the talk of the town.

The Diamond pendant in honour of  Madam Ezinne Uche Iyiegbu

A Well set reception for only distinguished guests

Well, after all that has been said, one truth remains, and that is the fact that we cannot tell and teach the owner of money how to spend his/her money. We all can think they should have spent it this way or that way but it's their money and they can do with it whatever they please. I am so sure, many of those who attended the ceremony might be investigated more by foreign countries following this burial to question their investments in their country and I pray none should fall victim, lest their case will be like that of Invictus Obi and Husshpuppi (Ramon Abass) and if some begin to die mysteriously or even suddenly in the next few years, they might be judged as well like Victor Okafor (Eze-ego). These heavy spenders at the burial ceremony have surely formed motivational impressions in the minds of people, especially the young ones. While some will be inspired to triple their hustle to make clean money some others will become even more desperate and ready to do anything to speedily make the money sooner rather than later so as to showcase to the world too and spend lavishly. Whichever way, one thing is sure; God knows all and sees all.

@ John Oladotun

     18-07-2021