It was almost as if he knew. The day everyone - those who believe, trust and love him – dreaded finally arrived. And it was a shock. The high number of tributes from eminent Nigerians to the most popular literary icon in Nigeria, Chinua Albert Achebe, is a clear testament to the fact he was well revered, not just in the literary community, but everywhere.
It felt like yesterday when what would turn out to be his last published work on earth, but by no means the last he must have written, generated public commendation and condemnation in equal measure. What makes a work great is how people agree and disagree with it. On account of that, we could boldly conclude his last work, ‘There Was A Country’ was great.
On my birthday on November 17, just a day after his birthday, someone sent me a message, “Happy birthday to the Chinua Achebe of our time”. I have not lost that message ever since. My desperation to be associated with him, my tenacity to get close to his level, my unrepentant and shameless allegiance to him and indeed my obdurate love for all his works has never left me. I remember one of the Old Boys’ homecoming at the prestigious Government College Umuahia. There, even as a student in JSS3, I had already started priding myself as Achebe’s protégé. Lots of eminent Nigerians who attended this citadel of learning were there. I waited and waited to see him arrive. My wait was to turn out in vain; the homecoming, a personal disappointment.
That Achebe touched the lives of many with his pen would be stating the obvious. He was bold. He was strong. He was courageous. He was blunt. He was fearless. He was thorough. His dream of seeing Nigeria great always took an emotional dimension.
“I’m just devastated”, another respected Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka stated. He may have been devastated at the death of Achebe, but he would be more devastated that an instrument of collective change has gone.
While mourning, we are consoled by the fact he has lived his life, has contributed his quota and has left Nigerians with much more hope than before. Now, we know the fight for the redemption of this country should be collective. Now, we know where to start from and why that fight should even be waged.
“It is for the sake of the future of Nigeria, for our children and grandchildren, that I feel it is important to tell Nigeria’s story, Biafra’s story, our story, my story,” he said, in the introductory part of his now-controversial ‘There Was A Country’. The timing of that story, as it has turned out, couldn’t have been better.
Rest In Peace Chinua Achebe! I am eternally proud to be associated with you. Now, the time has come to follow your footsteps. Where it leads, we are sure, would never be regretted.

Kelechi Udensi