Ofor is Upstanding Novel

Life in Ezzum was pleasant before their encounter with the Local authority people. The new custom has become a nightmare for old people. In their judgement, this new order was dishonest. Obiageli helped spell out this crookedness in her thought. “What is the use of giving, if the taker must pay back, and worst of all, he received in ignorance? Things were not so in our own days.” Those were the thought-words which ushered Obiageli into her world of nostalgia. She recounted how things had been with her in her youthful days. In as much as the old people resented the new custom, young people found absolute pleasure in it. The greatest fear was about their dignity. In contrast, we saw how Ngozi Njoku upheld her image. Nkoli maintained her chastity until marriage, and the community bore witness. Fear won Obiageli’s dignity. She could have as well reaped the dividends of her motherhood. Ijeoma was a hardworking girl who as her father revered the custom. On the long run, forces beyond her control overwhelmed her, and she lost the grip. Nwanyikwele appeared later. She could heal some inborne sore before it grew to the surface. But Nwosu was full of his wisdom, and refused to heed. Obiageli’s intervention amounted to nothing as the onetime rejection chased the spirit-human. Things unfolded in the heat of political tension. The local authority people came with their politics. The community people were very excited in their first encounter. The strangers collected their thumbprints, and pledged many goodies in return. It took only their second visit for the people to realize their full intent. They later learned the Chairman needed thumbprints to remain at the helm of affairs. In the meantime, everyone resolved in their heart to disregard the stranger’s cheap lures. Things took a different turn with the rumor of the captured masquerade. The Igwe and the diviner must go to the headquarters to collect their masquerade. It was while on this quest that the local authority people seized the community. We would later learn from Nwanyikwele the cause of the community’s misfortune. This misfortune however lifted the distress Ijeoma should have felt. Ijeoma bargained for the shame of reclaiming her father’s name when she ran out of her husband’s court. At the end, one of the strangers who had come to evaluate the measure of the people’s distress took Ijeoma away.