We are known for our hard work, industriousness and forthrightness. We are Oraifite people and Oraifite means Ora group and Ifite means people and putting them together means group of people living together with common custom and traditions. Oraifite is one of the towns that make up ANAEDO clan consisting of Nnewi, Oraifite and Ichi.
Anaedo clan is more than a historical clan of tradition, customs, history, succession and inheritance but the three towns are actually brothers depicting a common trait in their character. Among the three brothers, Oraifite and Ichi are presently in Ekwusigo local government while Nnewi has two local governments but the trait of Anaedo among them is still visible and strong. The common trait in Anaedo people is industriousness and will power to succeed even in the face of opposition. Oraifite is bounded on the west by Atani, north by Akwu ukwu and Oba, south by Nnewi and Ozubulu and east by Ichi.
Since the time of the Late Igwe Ude Ubaka, a man many developmental structures like electricity, post office, and the police are attributed to, Oraifite did not witness much improvement until the return of Sir Emeka Offor who is popularly referred to as Sir E. Oraifite has seen rich personalities and still has them in abundance but enormous wealth which Emeka Offor not only controls but willing to get across to the less privileged has never been witnessed in Oraifite before. He tried his best to mediate between various villages in Oraifite having myriad of problems at the time and recorded a good level of success but after some time, a new set of rebels arose within the ranks and files of our people which is normal in every human relationship.
These rebels are actually people who fish in troubled waters just as they say in Igbo, “obodo adighi mma bu uru ndi nze” meaning, a troubled community is the benefit of nze people. For the benefit of our brothers who are not Igbos, “ndi nze” are a category of title holders in Igbo land. These people (not the actual ndi Nze) were actually benefitting from the turbulent town of Oraifite before the grand return of Emeka Offor and they waited with bated breath for their opportunity to tap into the available resources acquired through hard work and will power by their fellow man but obviously they couldn’t reap where they did not sow and they went viral and self inflicting. The part of these whole issue that compels one to have pity on these unfortunate “ndi nze” is that most of them are closer to departure lounge of life than arrival yet it is not enough to have them respect themselves even if they do not ponder of life after death.
Recently, Emeka Offor in his magnanimity donated one million dollars to Rotary international in addition to his previous 250,000 dollars donation to eradicate polio and other child killer diseases in sub Saharan Africa and that was the aroma of goodwill that awoken the slumbering chameleons. These disgruntled decrepit old bones suddenly saw everything wrong in charity donations. They have nothing to give and probably have no desire to give from the little they have and even if they have more and yet they will not be alive to see who has and willing to give, help the indigents in the society. It’s becoming more like a dog in a manger scenario but of cause if the dog in a manger refused to vacate, he adds to the meal. Bonny Okonkwo who is presently taking the brunt of the renegade group is no name in the gathering of Oraifite people and has been greatly misled by those old men who suppose to guide him to a better life since he lacks the capacity to follow one. According to sketchy information he claimed to be a business man in South Africa which is still not ascertained at the moment because we all know what most Nigerians in South Africa are doing.
One Mr Mike Ofiaeli wrote about Emeka Offor recently published on Saharahrepoters.com and other online publishers enumerating what he calls Offor’s dark side including change of name, contract scam, his style of politics and so on and so forth. The question to him now is, assuming Emeka Offor changed his name, when has it become illegal to do so? If he sees it as illegal, as he alleged, has he reported him to the appropriate authority? It is unfortunate the man he is tackling is not an employee but employer of labour with thousands of people directly under his pay role so what is his drive for peddling falsehood against Offor when he knows that even if the public falls for his crusade of calumny, it will not affect the man in any way. He refused to tell people that he has been enjoying plying smooth road constructed by the man he is crucifying for more than ten years now nor did he tell people about the activities of Emeka Offor foundation including completion of church from scratch, scholarship scheme, vocational training and assistance to those who do not want to go back to school, book for Africa programme which involves donation of books to different schools in Anambra and beyond, etc.
Though I cannot be Offor and Offor cannot be me but if I were in his shoes, I would not utter any word in exchange with these elderly renegades and their youthful army set on the path of wasted life. But on the other hand, I know it is very difficult to ignore their rants especially in this era where social media has provided both rats and lizards podium for mounting senseless character assassination. These are people who should help in directing the lives of youths to the right path but instead, they run to media to criticize a donation given by a private citizen out of his benevolence. Emeka Offor is a cerebral clone of a true Anaedo blood and no calumny or misrepresentation can change that fact. He is not under any compulsion to give because he is not the government neither does he run the government. I think we should have pity on them (Oraifite renegades) and not be angry at them and treat them as such by keeping them where they belong.
Written By Obi Ebuka Onochie
mac_godson@yahoo.com
