By femi Oyedele
The story behind home, office, industry, shopping mall, park, hospital, public library, hotel and cinema was that, in the past, all were human beings with distinct characters. Man kept all these people as friends and related well with them. Man discovered that while he can work while in the office, he could not sleep comfortably and anytime he did, people raised eyebrows. Man could sleep comfortably in hotels, work there and eat but had no control over the management and could not bring all his belongings there. No matter how long he stayed in hotels, they surely did not belong to him except he bought them.
Men could sleep in parks but could not bath there. Keeping his belongings in a park is not sensible as a park welcomes every Tom, Dick and Harry. Park is a public place. While sleeping in a park, one day, and listening to the melodious song of a robin on a tree nearby, a rabbit climbed a man and breached his peace. Man could not do anything as a park is meant for cohabitation of all animals in the ecosystem. Other park users will come and drop the remnants of their foods and the containers of their drinks for the park managers to pick, and nothing man could say or do. A man only has total control on his home!
Man found cinemas to be too noisy and libraries to be too silent! Shopping malls and markets received too many visitors and industries had too many workers. The sounds of industrial machines, plants and machineries too were killing! Hospitals were meant for sick people and visited occasionally by man. Restaurants were for eating and in most cases, as the man was eating, other people were staring and waiting for him to finish and go. In restaurants, as in libraries, you cannot cook your food. The only place that accommodates man’s family members, allows man to cook, eat, read, rest and sleep, is home. Home is where everything is possible.
Home is where the mind is because it is a satisfaction. Home is not only a worthwhile investment; it is a bundle of joy! It is an enclosure for protection of oneself against inclement weather (scorching sun and wet rain). It is a protective element of lives and properties and a guide against external attacks. Home is a comfort zone. As a basic need of man and the most expensive composite asset, everybody wants to have a home of his or her own. Home is a canvas for expression. Home is a common denominator in the life of man. It is the only property you can own by investing piecemeal. Building a house gradually is seen in Nigeria as a savings.
For people all over the world, home is more than the physical place where they reside. It is a place within their hearts. The feeling of home is central to who people are; the home itself is a statement about people’s identities and statuses. Home has enough space to provide comfort for a family no matter how small the rooms are. In Nigeria, a man is not a full man until he has his home. Home is not only the four-sided structure serving as man’s shelter; it is the source of man’s existence. Home is central to life and without it life is worthless! Home is sweet even without food for dinner. Home is an invaluable investment.
“Mild pleasures and
Palaces though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble,
There’s no place like home!
A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there
Which seek thro’ the world, is ne’er met elsewhere
Home! Home!
Sweet, sweet home!
There is no place like home!” – Sir Henry Bishop (1786 – 1855).
ESV. Femi Oyedele, a Lagos based Estate Surveyor and Valuer and Project Manager.