• Bliss is in the detail as CBN governor’s guests make ceaseless pilgrimage to the billionaire’s manor
Once one has got the money habit, it is extremely difficult to kick it. Some are overwhelmed by the habit and some simply manage to tame it. The latter breed is constituted by such moneyed men like billionaire banker, Jim Ovia. Very few people know that Jim has a weakness for good life. In fact, one would have to get very close to him to know that he never dithers from acquiring the finest luxury money can buy.
As you read, he has scenic houses scattered around the world. Curiously, however, Jim Ovia’s manor in Agbor, Delta State is a dream of bliss; a real life pictogram of the fabled Neverland. Amid its captivating plot, you could be forgiven for getting lost, metaphorically, if you are a first time visitor. Recurrent callers at the mansion have been known to keel over, in enthrallment with the lavish treat.
Jim’s mansion is a testament of class. Outside, it is garlanded with carven imageries of archs and flowers, and bunches of knot-grass. Inside, it is ornamented with panes of quaint decor, embroidered fabric and devices. It’s ambience of splendid dyes and luxury titivate like the damasked wings of the tiger-moth.
Such taste for luxury as displayed by Jim, it is often said, has ruined more poets and caused them to lose their wit, than ever did a taste for the gutters. Yet no poet or grand proponent of the high art could visit Ovia’s mansion and totally lose it. Rather he or she would simply descend into the hallowed chambers of eternal muse. Ovia’s manor no doubt, inspires the best of lyricism in the established poet and apathetic to art.
Too many people in the modern world-view luxury to be vainglorious, but to Jim, it is the essence of charmed life. It is the quality of his choices however, that distinguishes him from both the dreamy minion and hackneyed aristocrat.
Interestingly, last Saturday, his protégé, the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele buried his mother, Madam Alice Emefiele in Agbor, Delta State. It was no doubt a star-studded event. It practically turned out a gathering of who-is-who in Nigeria as a presidential delegation, members of the National Assembly, numerous state governors and several moguls of the business community attended the event. But Jim’s mansion held practically all the guests spellbound. They talked about it all through the event.
A visit to the mansion is quite an experience.
In Agbor, Jim’s palatial mansion sticks out like a gold crest, amid the houses in the area. The exterior utters elegance without obscenity. Inside, expensive incandescent bulbs brightly illuminate the architectural delight. Everywhere is spick-and-span and has the halo of an improvised Eden on earth. Pristine and exquisitely burnished with class, Ovia’s mansion emphasizes without much effort, the sheer tastefulness of the owner.
The attention to detail that characterize the house is excellent; both the interior and exterior decor were carefully chosen and planned with flawless finesse.
Little wonder the dwelling remains one of the finest and most beautiful houses in Delta State right now. As a result, Emefiele’s guests turned Ovia’s home into a Mecca of sort, literally though. They have been going there to take pictures and source ideas for their own abodes.
