Real estate refers to interest vested in land and everything on the land such as crops, minerals and water including structures. In Nigeria, there are some type of interests that are very important and require serious study and consideration in handling them. A lot of real estate practitioners shy away from the handling of special interests because they do not understand the technicalities or have the expertise. Juju shrines, private roads, graves and grave yards are special interests to Nigerians that that need special consideration and study. To the juju priests and priestesses, juju shrines are only special properties of value but they form part of their existence. To assess the value of special interest, the Estate professional needs to know much about their relevance to those who see them as special and believe in them.Juju Shrines Just as Christians and Moslems depend on our God and Allah respectively for our entire existence on earth, so also those who believe in the worship of Juju shrines depend on them for their existence and survival on earth. The study of Juju shrines does not necessarily mean that we should accept the beliefs of those who believe in them because we have our own beliefs either as Christians or Moslems but our responsibility as Estate Surveyors who are valuers of property we have a duty to assess the value of Juju shrines when faced with opportunity. This is only made possible when he studies to know much about shrines just as he by training knows much about buildings and other properties. According to the Longman Dictionary, the word 'juju' is defined as a type of West African magic, involving objects with special powers. However, the word juju is not only peculiar to West Africans but to all parts of Africa and the world. From the same dictionary, a shrine can be seen as a place that is connected with a holy event or holy person and that people visit to pray or a place regarded with high respect connected to people or events e.g. Late Fela's shrine (Fela Kuti was a musician).Based on the real estate definition, a Juju shrine means a place that people visit and respect because it is connected with magical objects with special powers- either for healing, cursing, production, destruction, or for veneration and worship. Examples of shrines are:'The Ose of Ikole-Ekiti which is a giant tree and a taboo to cut it for firewood or strike it with any sharp object'The Eni Juju shrine of Uzere in delta state is a Lake revered to have powers for distinguishing between a witch/wizard and an innocent person.There are different types of Juju shrines based on their functions such as:'Healing or Curative juju shrines'Productive shrines ' for good harvest'All Purpose juju shrines ' various services and sacrifices are carried out for both good and bad fortunes.'Sacred Bushes'Speculative Juju shrines ' these are of no values to anybody. They are erected to attract compensations.Grave/Grave Yards Graves and Grave yards are special interests in Nigeria because the people revere their dead and so take much care of the dead, due to the belief that those dead take care of those who are still alive. The Yoruba people in western past of Nigeria do carry out ceremonies for their dead after some years to change the position of the body because they believe that being in such a position for a long time would have been stressful for the dead. The grave and grave yards command the respect and awe of every living being. There is much more value attached to graves/grave yards. Just as there are two no type of buildings so also are there are two no graves. A grave yard is hardly acquired as most grave yards or cemeteries are sacred places that are regarded as monuments not to be tampered with. There are some other places mainly in the rural areas where dead people are buried. These places are seen as taboo or abomination grounds from those who died some kind of deaths that the people see as abomination such as suicides, condemnation, pregnant women etc. These places are sacred to the people and known in the eastern part of Nigeria as 'evil forest' or 'forbidden bush'. Private Roads These are roads or footpaths constructed by individuals, families or communities for their private and special uses. A road or footpath may be constructed by an individual, leading to his farmland or to his fishing grounds or to even his juju shrine.Similarly, private roads can be constructed by a group of people or families or even by a rural community.The valuation and consideration of special interests in Nigeria should be a course of study for the real estate professionals as it will help in aiding their jobs.For more information on real estate sessions: www.propertylyrics.blogspot.com
Click here to read full news..
