To say that the rich also cry is to say that no section or class of humanity is immune from the vagaries and vicissitudes of life, from olden to modern times. Recently, my intervention was sought in the resolution of a family feud where siblings of late rich parents had become bitter enemies for several years. Neither were they opposed to my writing about the issue at the end of a happy re-union, for the purpose of public enlightenment.
Anyone may be tempted to think that family feuds and long-drawn bitter feelings are the exclusive experiences of polygamous homes. But this is not quite the case always; rather, what should be of greater public interest would be the issues which bring about feuds and bitter divisions in rich homes of highly respected parents, whether living or late. Because of the comic way that this 31-year old family feud was resolved, the previously antagonistic siblings joined hands as resource persons in a research project. Quite instructive!
Wealth of rich homes is most often invested in real estate, with landed property in and outside Nigeria. In fairness to the rich class, we must admit that not all rich persons and homes made their wealth through politics, corrupt or criminal means. In higher economic and business studies there is the theory that it takes great wealth, which would not exclude crude, primitive accumulation, to create and spread wealth. Someone must have the crude audacity to be a Robin Hood, before wealth can spread out; neither must such robbers hang!
Recent experience in South Africa is a message; not that nobody is above the law, but that human law is an ass that can be led by the nose. For an ex-President to be sent to the prison for proven cases of corruption, resulting in widespread violent protests, looting and death of many persons, gives the impression that one man’s looter is another man’s hero. The danger lies where a looter or corrupt leader eats alone, without spreading the crumbs from the high-table to his grassroots. The fault lies with capitalist economy which we operate and which can hardly be changed without sad results.
We may not believe or accept it as a factual reality, but current global political economy operates on what is known as Schwartz’s First Law, which states that 80% of any nation’s wealth is owned and enjoyed by less than 20% of the nation’s population. On the other hand, more than 80% of the population scramble over less than 20% of the national wealth. Call it capitalism or primitive accumulation of wealth, the truth is that it is a system that has been enthroned, behind which lies what we call corrupt practices.
The operational mechanism of this system of political economy is not known to over 80% of Nigerians who suffer under it; rather, the way out is to join the operators of the system. To say that behind every great wealth there is usually a crime is quite correct, so long as it is understood that the crime in question is a crime against collective humanity, fostered by capitalist global economy. It is also the root of global crimes and national instabilities.
It would hardly be denied by any honest person that all human institutions and all spheres of life have been corrupted and debased. The result of this sad state of affairs is that only smart and clever ones fit better into the current state of global aberration. They succeed better too, while those who long for something better gnash their teeth daily. Even as being rich is not evil, wealth and power have become vital instruments of corrupting humanity in all ramifications.
We find the working of capitalist economy in Shakespeare’s Pericles, where a fisherman said: “Master, I marvel how the fishes live in the sea”. The master replied: “Why, as men do a-land: the great ones eat up the little ones”. That is the predatory political economy operating on Earth, which nobody can do anything about.
The ancient belief that marriages and hanging go by destiny also includes the one that wealth goes by destiny too, manifesting in a peculiar mindset. Some people, like the legendary King Midas, seem to magnetise wealth, with everything which they undertake yielding spectacular profits. Truly, being wealthy is not an aberration, but what can be wrong include how an individual amassed wealth, his attitude towards wealth, and how he invested or applied his wealth. In every case, when wealth controls the volition of an individual, the result can be unpleasant.
It can be quite deadly when the attitude of an individual is dominated by obsession, propensity and mad attachment to anything, including an obsessive hatred for those who are wealthy.
Sad experiences which rich parents can have come largely from conscience that is burdened because of unethical exploits of the past which have not been atoned for. Wealth that has the tinge of blood, for example, cannot fail to set crises in a home. Aspiring politicians have been known to lure some rich persons into sponsoring and financing their political ambitions, and eventually dragging such rich persons into a life of regrets and agony.
Any Nigerian who would want to take on the task and challenge posed here should search out the records of the backgrounds and parentage of the most dangerous students in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. The danger referred to here goes beyond cultism, possession of arms and lots of the good things of life, but more of the spread of corrupting influences in the universities. Same research project should extend to foreign universities, to dig out the lifestyles of Nigerians studying abroad and their backgrounds. Much money can spoil growing children; they often grow old with a conviction that everyone owes them obligations.
Fights and quarrels over property inheritance constitute parts of the questions about how parents made their great wealth. A house I lived in, owned by a Nigerian, long ago in Manchester, UK, continues to brew tension among siblings and grand children! Apart from making a Will before death comes, parents should not hide their secrets and past activities from their children. Honesty rewards itself. Rather than feuds among children, rich parents should set up Foundations to explore some worthwhile values. No one takes wealth into the grave.
Dr Amirize is a retired lecturer from the Rivers State University, Port Harcourt.