God bless Okey Ndibe.

Literature professor, and renowned columnist, Okey Ndibe, who also commented on Facebook, called Mr. Omatseye’s remarks a “simplistic binary notion that Soyinka’s greatness is conditional on the (attempted) miniaturizing of Achebe–or vice versa”

If this Sam guy is truly an editorial board chairman, no wonder Nigerian Newspapers have suddenly gone to the dogs.

nwando:

That is called being gracious
Wise People don't blow their own trumpets
Ode

So tell us Father of ancient African literature, father of modern Asian literature, etc Abi na only Africa get such awards?

And which body gave him the award, where was he given, which date was he given?

[/b]Story of the sons of gorilla[b]
Nothing good ever come out of Ibos or igbos (indian hemps).........they are the genesis of nigeria problem. It starts from their ancestors. their foremother who was an outcast sl.ut from central africa who moved to the present day igboland (indian hemp land)in order to avoid being lynched. In the jungle, a gorilla sighted her and ra.ped her and she got impregnated and gave birth to twins (one boy and one gal). the 2 slept with themselves and the boy slept with his mother. the rest they say is history. This their origination explain the reason why they have hairy body and why many of them act and think like gorilla. Enough said about their origination (U can see where the problem start from)

Now to modern day, when the british came to nigeria, the places they came to was Lagos, Abeokuta,Ibadan, Calabar, Port harcourt, Kano, Sokoto. They didn't make attempt to enter the forbidden land (indian hemp land)because they never see it as being relevant. But because of the f00lish british agenda they amalgamated the people of good culture and known origin with the ba.rsta.ds sons of Gorilla (henceforth refers to as SOG). Can U see how the problem continues

After independence, there are 3 regions with everyone trying to develop their origins but these SOGs won't stay in their region and develop it but to come to other peoples' region and want to dominate them from the fact that they want to be relevant. That being said we continue to tolerate them. But is only a matter of time before SOGs show who they really are (like the way they derailed this thread), some SOGs in person of Nzeogwu, Ifeajuna etc. planned the 1st coup and killed Hausa and Yoruba leaders leaving out their people. Can U see how the problem continue

Another SOG in person of Ironsi who suppose to rectify things came into power and decided to do like a typical SOG but we all know how his story ended, he was killed like a fowl. After that period they have been suffering since and they will suffer till thy kingdom come. starting with pogrom where hausas kill them like cockroaches (which they are) to the mutilation they received in the hands of Nigerian army during the civil war (Anya miri). Their suffering in the civil war is as a result of one of them (a typical SOG) known as Agbari Ojukwu (big pot head) and I don't pity them at all. After the civil war, are they not supposed to have learnt from their past mistakes but never these SOGs will never learn. Another SOG who is learned and had the privilege to study outside the forbidden land in person of Achebe (we'll do it like that) held grudges and didn't let go of the past. We all know how is story ended he died a very sad man as a result of bomb blast that happened thousands of mile away from where he was.

Now tell me, is there one single sane person among them. Kiss and Make up with SOGs God forbid! They grow hatred in their mind and they will all die sorrowfully because they will never get to where Yorubas are because Origin can never be changed. Sons of the soil is different from SOGs

When did the simplicity in literature come to mean lack of depth?

When did the overusage of the thesaurus become literary mastery?

Okay....since we are on about literary criticism, chew on this:

Nadine Gordimer, nobel prize winner, on Soyinka's writing style - "overly self-conscious"

Ben Okri on Soyinka writing style - "deprives us of a great deal of wisdom with the furies of complexities"

Femi Osofisan on Soyinka - "frenzied scenes of logorrhoea"

Guardian (UK) summary of criticism -"grandiloquence and obscurantism"

In other words, all style and little substance.

I did like his plays, but his prose works are too showy and "grammar" like - as if he is trying to impress you with big words and complex use of tenses/sentences.

slimghost:

Dont bother asking my brother. Seanet, Dayokunu and the rodent called EKO ILE are the dumbest people you would ever come across.

Bingo, Never in this world will a demented tribe like Yeebho produce a Nobel.
You people are genetically castrated.

slimghost:

Please where did it promote racism? How old is this guy for Pete's sake? Your friends Dayokunu and Eko ILE must be laughing hard at this your sill.y statement!

[size=18pt]That is to tell you he didn't even read the book that was compulsory reading in lit classes all over Nigeria
Now we know the people that copied off other people's papers in lit class[/size]

Ola Johnson:
wole Soyinka has contributed more in literature and in any good thing you can think about. He wrote plays to reflect the mood of some of the countries in Africa. He wrote "The Play of Giannts" against Idi Amin's rule and some others against apartheid. He personally started what we now know as Federal Road Safety Commission on the campus of my alma mater, University of Ife (now OAU) in the early 1980s before it was taken over by then Governor Bola Ige of Oyo State and later the FG. He also set up Radio Kudirat in a forest (Tonkere) in OAU with some of his former students like Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State; Dele Momodu of Ovation; the SSG of Edo State, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, etc.

SINCE YOU HAVE OPENED THE DOOR, LET US ENTER. WHO WAS THE FATHER OF CULTISM?

nwando:

Who has heard any of those works besides people in your village ?
That is my point
[size=28pt]That a group of white men in Sweden sat and gave out an award does not mean you are the best in what you do
Einstein did not receive a Nobel either but yasser Arafat did
Go figure[/size]

you are on the verge of perishing. My people are perishing cos they lack knowledge!
Please stop substituting your cerebrum for cerebellum

dayokanu:

So tell us Father of ancient African literature, father of modern Asian literature, etc Abi na only Africa get such awards?

And which body gave him the award, where was he given, which date was he given?

Now let me break it down for you.
Nasir Jones was rated by BBC as the "greatest lyricist of all time" and we all know dude is a multi-platinum selling artiste. Shockingly, Nas hasnt won the GRAMMY before but NELLY has. Now Mr OLODO, is NELLY a better artiste or Lyricist than NAS?

nnenna.1:
When did the simplicity in literature come to mean lack of depth?

When did the overusage of the thesaurus become literary mastery?

Okay....since we are on about literary criticism, chew on this:

Nadine Gordimer, nobel prize winner, on Soyinka's writing style - "overly self-conscious"

Ben Okri on Soyinka writing style - "deprives us of a great deal of wisdom with the furies of complexities"

Femi Osofisan on Soyinka - "frenzied scenes of logorrhoea"

Guardian (UK) summary of criticism -"grandiloquence and obscurantism"

In other words, all style and little substance.

I did like his plays, but his prose works are too showy and "grammar" like - as if he is trying to impress you with big words and complex use of tenses/sentences.

Don't mind them
They have a degree in deifying men
That is a big difference between Igbos and Yorubas
They are used to being subjects and slaves for kings
Bowing and worshipping fellow men even when he didn't ask them
Not in our DNA
That is why some of them will almost die of heartattack when you call out their thieving politicians because they are Lords to them
Useless people

Obi1kenobi: Achebe is a great author. Wole Soyinka is a great author. They are fairly different in style but can be similarly appreciated. Comparing both is like comparing Beethoven and Mozart, or Michelangelo and Da Vinci; or Maradonna and Pele. You musn't denigrate one to exalt the other. Omatseye has made this comparison before, but nowhere near as abrasively and borderline childishly (comparing his grandma to Achebe). Probably ethnically motivated, (yes, he's half Yoruba, and also being part Itsekiri, shares their Yoruba heritage), I bet he wouldn't have been so caustic if Achebe was alive.

Also laughable is the pretentious posturing in reviewing an intellectual superior: as if he were a teacher grading the essays of 2 children. He's obviously an attention-seeking troll and he's succeeded in his aims.

Threads like these make me curse the day I was born a Nigerian. Disgraceful tribal bashing as usual.

Hey, they should be compared, though they write differently with different genres, one thing is certain: these genres are in literature. This forms the basis of comparison. If they are different why are fans of Achebe angry that Soyinka, and not their oga won the Nobel Prize?

seanet01: Bingo, Never in this world will a demented tribe like Yeebho produce a Nobel.
You people are genetically castrated.

AND YOU, YERIBAS ARE GENETICALLY DEMENTED.

slimghost:

Now let me break it down for you.
Nasir Jones was rated by BBC as the "greatest lyricist of all time" and we all know dude is a multi-platinum selling artiste. Shockingly, Nas hasnt won the GRAMMY before but NELLY has. Now Mr OLODO, is NELLY a better artiste or Lyricist than NAS?

AAH! DONT GO THERE O! HE DOESNT KNOW ANyTHING.

seanet01: Bingo, Never in this world will a demented tribe like Yeebho produce a Nobel.
You people are genetically castrated.

Am i surprised at this? NO! You are known on NL for having the IQ of a 4 month old baby, so nothing constructive nor intelligent comes out of your mouth!

I get tired of the comparison between ACA and WS. They are two literary giants in DIFFERENT genres, if you dumbos know what that means. Chinua wrote prose, Wole writes poetry and drama, mostly, except a few works like "you must set forth at dawn" which was prose recounting Nigerian history as it happened to him. So there is really no basis.

Chinua writes so the ordinary man can understand. You mostly have to have a dictionary nearby to understand Wole's works. Doesn't make one simplistic and the other deep. It certainly takes some depth to explain yourself in such a way that anyone can understand you, even though you are a very learned person yourself. Those of use in the technical fields will appreciate this better if you've ever tried to explain some technical paper to someone in the Arts.

They are both Nigerians, which should make us all proud. What then is the point of trying to pull down one, so the other appears greater?

WS got a very deserving Nobel price. Awesome! CA may or may not have gotten one, but his criticism of Conrad's work certainly dimmed his chances. Still, it doesn't take anything away from the ingenuity of the man. He has another title: the best selling African writer of all time. And he did a great job of disabusing the minds of the white man about intellectualism in Africa.

We should celebrate both of them..... and the upcoming Chimamanda as well.

ichidodo: SINCE YOU HAVE OPENED THE DOOR, LET US ENTER. WHO WAS THE FATHER OF CULTISM?

Mr Man! Stop publicizing ignorance!
So far Wole Soyinka organised a confraternity meant he started it to perpetuate the evils they are committing today?

God created man to serve him, man turned out to be another thing from what God created man to do which is evil.
Does that mean God intentionally created human being to be devil? And does that mean God is the father of devil?

This man Sam, is not a good critic his criticism is subjective. He should try to be objective in his criticism, how could this man qoute Achebe's TFA as having long pages of how igbo villages are organized. What is he trying to say, who is supposed to write this if not Achebe? We criticise constructively but this man criticises to pull down the work and it's creator. What did he need from Chinua again, it's too late to cry especially when the head is off. This man is just confused, no wonder Prof. chinua Achebe said ''if u dont like his stories, then write urs''.

ichidodo: YEAH, IT WAS DEEP BUT WAS IT OF BENEFIT TO YOU AS A BLACK MAN,AS AN AFRICAN, A BLOGGER?DID IT CHANGE THE VIEWS OF A RACIST WORLD AS REGARDS TO THE COLOUR OF YOUR SKIN? O.K WHAT DO YOU WANT A XENOPHOBIC RED-NECK TO RELATE YOU WITH? AS A BLACK MONKEY OR TFA? NO OFFENCE.

CHICHIDODO, your comment shows you've not read Things Fall Apart. There is no picture of Achebe fighting racism in it but painting a clash of culture. But if you read Soyinka's great poem, Telephone Conversation, you will a picture of a racist landlady in London and what the author went through. CHICHIDODO, start reading, it will help you, you've eaten enough poo.

Ola Johnson:
CHICHIDODO, your comment shows you've not read Things Fall Apart. There is no picture of Achebe fighting racism in it but painting a clash of culture. But if you read Soyinka's great poem, Telephone Conversation, you will a picture of a racist landlady in London and what the author went through. CHICHIDODO, start reading, it will help you, you've eaten enough poo.

Nobody told you he fought racism with TFA! It just depicts how sacred igbos hold(held) their culture and religion!

Ola Johnson:
Hey, they should be compared, though they write differently with different genres, one thing is certain: these genres are in literature. This forms the basis of comparison. If they are different why are fans of Achebe angry that Soyinka, and not their oga won the Nobel Prize?

Who is mad that Achebe didn't win a Nobel?
You are the person making mouth about a Nobel ( like your tribe is known for loud ness and showiness) and people are trying to tell you that Nobel is just a prize given by a group in Sweden based on their criteria.
Good to receive btw
And Nigerians are proud if WS including myself
It does not however confer superiority of a writer over others
It is not a standardized testing where writers are scored based on performance
Achebe has received numerous literature awards if you care to google
Don't make it more than what it is intended for

Your attempt to rubbish Achebe has never worked since your voice does not go beyond Nairaland and Osun defender
You are all nonentities
Your barking does not go beyond here

[size=28pt]BTW Wole doesn't know who you are, and cares not about eko ile or dayokanu. he would be horrified that ndi agbero touts are using his esteemed name on the Internet to boost their ego
[/size]

slimghost:

Now let me break it down for you.
Nasir Jones was rated by BBC as the "greatest lyricist of all time" and we all know dude is a multi-platinum selling artiste. Shockingly, Nas hasnt won the GRAMMY before but NELLY has. Now Mr OLODO, is NELLY a better artiste or Lyricist than NAS?

is grammy won on music all about lyrics?

caustical: [/b]Story of the sons of gorilla[b]
Nothing good ever come out of Ibos or igbos (indian hemps).........they are the genesis of nigeria problem. It starts from their ancestors. their foremother who was an outcast sl.ut from central africa who moved to the present day igboland (indian hemp land)in order to avoid being lynched. In the jungle, a gorilla sighted her and ra.ped her and she got impregnated and gave birth to twins (one boy and one gal). the 2 slept with themselves and the boy slept with his mother. the rest they say is history. This their origination explain the reason why they have hairy body and why many of them act and think like gorilla. Enough said about their origination (U can see where the problem start from)

Now to modern day, when the british came to nigeria, the places they came to was Lagos, Abeokuta,Ibadan, Calabar, Port harcourt, Kano, Sokoto. They didn't make attempt to enter the forbidden land (indian hemp land)because they never see it as being relevant. But because of the f00lish british agenda they amalgamated the people of good culture and known origin with the ba.rsta.ds sons of Gorilla (henceforth refers to as SOG). Can U see how the problem continues

After independence, there are 3 regions with everyone trying to develop their origins but these SOGs won't stay in their region and develop it but to come to other peoples' region and want to dominate them from the fact that they want to be relevant. That being said we continue to tolerate them. But is only a matter of time before SOGs show who they really are (like the way they derailed this thread), some SOGs in person of Nzeogwu, Ifeajuna etc. planned the 1st coup and killed Hausa and Yoruba leaders leaving out their people. Can U see how the problem continue

Another SOG in person of Ironsi who suppose to rectify things came into power and decided to do like a typical SOG but we all know how his story ended, he was killed like a fowl. After that period they have been suffering since and they will suffer till thy kingdom come. starting with pogrom where hausas kill them like cockroaches (which they are) to the mutilation they received in the hands of Nigerian army during the civil war (Anya miri). Their suffering in the civil war is as a result of one of them (a typical SOG) known as Agbari Ojukwu (big pot head) and I don't pity them at all. After the civil war, are they not supposed to have learnt from their past mistakes but never these SOGs will never learn. Another SOG who is learned and had the privilege to study outside the forbidden land in person of Achebe (we'll do it like that) held grudges and didn't let go of the past. We all know how is story ended he died a very sad man as a result of bomb blast that happened thousands of mile away from where he was.

Now tell me, is there one single sane person among them. Kiss and Make up with SOGs God forbid! They grow hatred in their mind and they will all die sorrowfully because they will never get to where Yorubas are because Origin can never be changed. Sons of the soil is different from SOGs

SONS OF THE SOIL MY BLACK IGBO ANUZ, SINCE YOUR STU.PID FATHERS FOUGHT TO KEEP US TOGETHER, WHY ARE YOU HATING US FOR LUMBERING INTO YOUR LAND AND COLONIZING IT ESPECIALLY LAGOS. IS IT NOT THE DIVIDENDS OF THE CIVIL WAR? WHOSE FAULT IS IT THAT THE YERIBAS ARE LAZY AND DUMB? ME, THE SON OF A GUERILLA OR ODUDUWA THE SON OF A PIG? DUH?!

nnenna.1:
When did the simplicity in literature come to mean lack of depth?

When did the overusage of the thesaurus become literary mastery?

Okay....since we are on about literary criticism, chew on this:

Nadine Gordimer, nobel prize winner, on Soyinka's writing style - "overly self-conscious"

Ben Okri on Soyinka writing style - "deprives us of a great deal of wisdom with the furies of complexities"

Femi Osofisan on Soyinka - "frenzied scenes of logorrhoea"

Guardian (UK) summary of criticism -"grandiloquence and obscurantism"

In other words, all style and little substance.

I did like his plays, but his prose works are too showy and "grammar" like - as if he is trying to impress you with big words and complex use of tenses/sentences.

I wanted to write something similar. Some are easily impressed with Soyinka's verbose, gratuitous style and think simplicity in a narrative shows a lack of depth but Soyinka's prose works actually get criticism for this. Some have been going on about how difficult it is to translate Soyinka's works as if it is a virtue. The greatest authors and philosophers of all time including your Tolstoys and Dostoyevskys and Twains and Hemmingways and Nietzsches communicated simply and effectively.

nwando:

Who is mad that Achebe that didn't win a Nobel?
You are the person making mouth about a Nobel ( like your tribe is known for loud ness and showiness) and people are trying to tell you that Nobel is just a prize given by a group in Sweden based on their criteria.
It does not confer superiority of a writer over others
It is not a standardized testing where writers are scored based on performance
Don't make it more than what it is intended for

Good you know there is a committee who reviews work and gives the Nobel and they are based in Sweden

So who gives "Father of African literature award" where are they located and which year did Ashebe win the prestigious Father of African Literature award

If you can help us tell who was Father of ancient African literature and father of Modern Asian literature with references

manny4life:

You know I once asked a coworker - a Black American, does she know "Things Fall Apart", to my greatest surprise, she said YES. Though she couldn't remember the author, but she said she knows the book, she read the book when she was in school. Keep in mind, this lady is in her mid 40's, I was shocked to even find out that most schools here in DC had it in their curriculum...

My brother " Let the kite perch and let the eagle perch too. If one says no to the other, let his wing break.'' Chinua Achebe did not need the Nobel prize award to gain recognition. Achebe was far too good for that. "Things Fall Apart" was always going to cause controversy because of its political connotations. It was earth-shattering, blowing away the false premises upon which colonialism was predicated- the superiority of the whiteman and the uncivilised African- and brutally exposing the breath- taking hypocrisy of the colonialists. Things Fall Apart was an affront to the sensibilities of the Europeans. Achebe was seen as an upstart, daring to cock a snook at European imperial power. Achebe's greatness is assured. He will continue to stand tall in world literature, and generations yet unborn will appreciate the immense stature of the man's work and the contribution he made to create a better world.

Obi1kenobi:
I wanted to write something similar. Some are easily impressed with Soyinka's verbose, gratuitous style and think simplicity in a narrative shows a lack of depth but Soyinka's prose works actually get criticism for this. Some have been going on about how difficult it is to translate Soyinka's works as if it is a virtue. The greatest authors and philosophers of all time including your Tolstoys and Dostoyevskys and Twains and Hemmingways and Nietzsches communicated simply and effectively.

Apparently the Nobel committee was impressed with Soyinkas verbosity and not so much with Ashebes lack of verbosity

Tolexander: is grammy won on music all about lyrics?

Please what is it won on? Enlighten us! Remember i asked him, is NELLY a better artiste or Lyricist? Even when he went platinum, they still refused to give him one. Now answer my question

There are men whose influence are not dictated by prestigious awards, rather, their influence are dictated by the impact of their work. Dayokanu, you are a living disgrace, is nardine gordimer also not a nobel winner? is mandela not a nobel peace prize winner? Yet they acknowledged the great impact of the african crusader- achebe. Nobel winners honour achebe for his sacrifice towards africa. Achebe's works are beyond literature, they touch the human conscience, and this cost him the much deserved nobel prize. By the way, the nobel prize has no monopoly in rewarding literature. If achebe needed 6-digit-dollar worth of prize value, the title of his first book would have gotten it for him from 50cent.

nwando:

That is called being gracious
Wise People don't blow their own trumpets
Ode
Something you showy loud mouthed goons wouldn't know

So true!

They call themselves intellectuals and critics of someone infinitely more accomplished than they could ever dream to be.
We know them only as loud-mouthed, bigoted goons.

dayokanu:

Good you know there is a committee who reviews work and gives the Nobel and they are based in Sweden

So who gives "Father of African literature award" where are they located and which year did Ashebe win the prestigious Father of African Literature award

If you can help us tell who was Father of ancient African literature and father of Modern Asian literature with references

Dayokanu pls answer my question. Is Nelly a better Lyricist or Artiste than Nas?

Ola Johnson:
CHICHIDODO, your comment shows you've not read Things Fall Apart. There is no picture of Achebe fighting racism in it but painting a clash of culture. But if you read Soyinka's great poem, Telephone Conversation, you will a picture of a racist landlady in London and what the author went through. CHICHIDODO, start reading, it will help you, you've eaten enough poo.

CHICHIDODOS DONT EAT SH*T,AFTER WASTING AWO-OLE EDUCATION, YOU OF ALL PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW IT. MAYBE IF THE RACIST LANDLADY HAD READ ABOUT THINGS FALL APART, SHE MIGHT HAVE TREATED HER TENANT DIFFERENTLY.

dayokanu:

Apparently the Nobel committee was impressed with Soyinkas verbosity and not so much with Ashebes lack of verbosity

[size=18pt]Why are you bent on using Wole to try to rubbish Achebe
Name your own father and chronicle his achievements
Have you no father?[/size]

Allow the children of Wole Soyinka to sing the praises of their father
[size=18pt]They don't need you just because they happen to be your tribe
If you came near them,they may actually have you arrested for trespassing
Agbero[/size]
I doubt if they allow any area boy to come close