Anything can happen on the spur of the moment to shake up the earth in this age of social media and its so-called influencers.
I was just minding my business the other day, wondering at the devastating Nigerian economy, when I got a curious WhatsApp message from my dear friend C. Don Adinuba, the former Anambra State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment.
CDon, as the information technocrat is fondly called, signed off his message by tagging me as “Brother of Mighty-Mighty na Umuchu”.
It took a while for me to understand that CDon had earlier sent me the video of a mighty house built in Achalla village of my hometown of Umuchu in Aguata LGA of Anambra State by a man of means popularly hailed as “Mighty-Mighty na Umuchu” or “Afuonu”.
In the attached video, the praise-singer Odejimjim is in full voice in Igbo beckoning on everybody to come to Umuchu to behold where “Mighty-Mighty has built a house that equates heaven on earth.”
The full name of the owner of the gargantuan house is Chief Abraham Ikechukwu Otti, alias Mighty-Mighty or Afuonu, a Port Harcourt-based businessman.
My first encounter with the mogul two Christmases or so ago in my hometown did not make me a fan of his because I was enjoying a special cultural fiesta of masquerades sponsored by a mutual friend of ours, Chief Okwudili Otti, CEO of Caltec Ltd, Onitsha, when the other Otti – the two Ottis are not related – drove up and as people started screaming “Afuonu! Mighty-Mighty!” he threw wads of Naira notes up in the air which the gathered throng and even the ancestral spirits began to scramble for, thus ending the show quite abruptly!
Incidentally, CDon also sent the video of the Odejimjim praise-song on Mighty-Mighty’s house to our boon companion in the United States, Prof Okey Ndibe, author of the novels Arrows of Rain and Foreign Gods Inc., who promptly dispatched this message to me: “Maximus the bard, what do you say about this exercise in rank opulence and materialistic primitivism?”
The fire-eating Okey Ndibe sent me further words on the matter thusly: “Mighty-Mighty, indeed! Wish Shakespeare were still around to give us a savage dramatic sendup! But we have the deity of poetry himself – and he hails from the crime scene! We expect him (in collaboration with his equally imaginative younger nwanne nwoke) to produce a response that surpasses Shakespeare na Kafka combined.”
When I divulged to Okey how Mighty-Mighty as a show-stopper of sorts stopped our Christmas party by throwing wads of Naira notes in the air which men and spirits mightily struggled to grab, Prof Okey Ndibe replied: “In other words, comedy wrapped inside tragedy! How do the Mighty-Mightys of our world make their cash? I want to shock and awe the people of Amawbia by recreating MM’s architectural marvel! And I want to do it ‘soonest’!”
Shortly after my exchanges with CDon and Okey Ndibe, I received “Breaking News” from my hometown’s WhatsApp group that “Chief Abraham Ikechukwu Otti (Afuonu, Mighty-Mighty na Umuchu) built 10 houses to indigents to mark his chieftaincy title as ‘Ikenga Umuchu’.”
Mighty-Mighty had handed over the keys of the houses to the 10 indigent beneficiaries on Saturday, December 3 through his resourceful representative Hon Chinedu Ezekwike (Akwaeke) alongside some properties and the cash gift of N250,000 for each of the families.
Mighty-Mighty moved further ahead to mobilize more support for the indigent families by getting his boss in business, Chief Chinedu Benson Mmadubuko Ezeani Chinechendo na Adazi-Ani, CEO Chico Group Ltd, to donate N200,000.
Mighty-Mighty’s friend, Chief Okwudili Otti (Nwarupuoaku Umuchu), supported with N500,000 while Dr. Engr. Festus Onu (Omenanwata 1 of Enugu-Ezike) MD Ferotex Group Ltd donated N1,000,000.
Another bosom friend of his, Barr. Chukwudi Obi from Ikeduru in Imo State, supported the purchase of home-living properties for the families with the sum of N1,000,000.
In the spirit of communal self-help writ large, Chief Ebere Akamnonu (Akudinanwa Umuchu) boosted the procurement of the properties with the sum of N500,000 while Ebuka Chukwuonye and Dr. Amb. Okpalajiaku Obiora (Chinyereugo na Nkpologwu) also donated N500,000 each.
To cap it all up, each of the 10 beneficiaries was given N600,000 to enjoy a new lease of life in the new houses.
After getting the news of the astonishing philanthropy of Chief Abraham Otti, alias Mighty-Mighty or Afuonu, I promptly forwarded the message to the duo of CDon Adinuba and Prof Okey Ndibe.
CDon was quick in sending back this message: “Kudos! Please let’s have pictures of the houses and names of beneficiaries. Other wealthy men and women may be persuaded to assist the needy in their different communities and elsewhere.”
I did not waste time at all before forwarding the pictures of the houses and the names of the grateful beneficiaries.
CDon then replied: “Impressive. All the grave sins committed by Mighty-Mighty are hereby forgiven.”
It’s indeed a modern-day miracle seeing hard up indigents who lived in dingy mud huts being transformed into bubbly humans living in well-appointed bungalows.
Chief Abraham Ikechukwu Otti, the irrepressible Ikenga Umuchu, said he did “the will of God Almighty despite the fact that I don’t know any of the beneficiaries or their locations.”
Mighty-Mighty gives thanks to his rep Hon Akwaeke and his team for their tireless efforts towards identifying the beneficiaries, and he then made the promise “to do more for Ndi-Umuchu as God continues to bless me.”
I have since been made to understand that Mighty-Mighty had built the community’s church and he is tarring the roads complete with paved gutters.
Mighty kudos to Mighty-Mighty for his humanitarian services to the downtrodden and the community at large!
