By Segun Adebayo
Furore has erupted on social media following the reported decision by businessman Obinna Iyiegbu, popularly known as Obi Cubana, to gift popular Abuja cleric, Pastor Jerry Eze, a mansion worth N500 million.
PerSecondNews recalls that Cubana had in 2025 promised to give Eze one of the houses in his real estate development when the project was unveiled.
He fulfilled the promise this year as the cleric turned 44, presenting him with one of the properties as a birthday gift.
The gesture has, however, generated mixed reactions, with some Nigerians celebrating Cubana’s generosity while others are questioning the scale of the gift and what it says about the country’s attitude towards extraordinary displays of wealth.
Though the property has been widely reported to be worth about N500 million, the actual value of the house could not be independently verified by Per Second News as of the time of filing this report.
The reported figure, however, has become the major point of contention online, with some Nigerians asking why a gift running into hundreds of millions of naira should be accepted without questions about the source of the wealth behind it.
One social media user calculated the reported amount at roughly £250,000 and questioned the circumstances surrounding such a huge birthday gift.
“What exactly is your source of income and your current financial status that you casually give away such money as birthday gift?” the user asked.
“What is going on that is being packaged as birthday gift?” the individual added.
Another commentator took aim at Nigerians who, according to the user, are quick to dismiss questions about extreme wealth as envy.
The commentator argued that questioning the circumstances surrounding such a huge financial transaction should not automatically be interpreted as jealousy or hatred.
The individual wrote: “Because if the figures are accurate and the news is true, then we are doomed as a country if people can casually move £250,000 in the name of a birthday and nobody, in the positions to check, has enough brains to ask any questions.”
Some social media users asked whether society has become too comfortable with individuals giving and receiving assets worth hundreds of millions of naira without demanding greater transparency.
Others, however, have defended Cubana, describing the gesture as a personal expression of generosity and friendship.
The controversy has consequently shifted attention from Pastor Eze’s 44th birthday to the larger question of how Nigerians perceive, celebrate and scrutinise extreme wealth.