Literary icon, Captain Elechi Amadi is dead.

He was 80.

His wife represented him yesterday at Total Exploration and Production (E&P) Nigeria Limited’s Port Harcourt District’s 2016 Book Reading, with the theme: Knowledge is an Edge, organised by the Rivers State Ministry of Education in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike expressed sadness over Amadi’s death.

The governor described his passage as a loss to the country.



In a condolence message to the family, people of the state and the country, Wike noted that Captain Amadi’s contributions to the development of the nation were legendry.

He said his literary works promoted Rivers State, the Niger Delta and the country, hence he would be celebrated by the state and lovers of literature across the country.

Wike said the late Amadi was a consummate patriot, a great literary icon, a soldier’s soldier and development enthusiast.

He prayed God to grant his family the strength to bear the irreparable loss.

Wike said Amadi’s achievements in various areas of national life would always be remembered.

Also, the Director-General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, described Amadi as a patriot and literary icon who lived a good life.

He said: “Today, we mourn the passage of a globally acknowledged literary icon and role model who lived an exemplary life.

“Captain Amadi certainly was a man of many parts, who touched lives in many ways. He will be remembered for good by many people who met him physically or through his books. He was a well known author, publisher, soldier and statesman who was concerned about a better society.

“My generation will definitely remember him more for his great books, such as The Concubine, The Great Ponds, Sunset in Biafra, Estrangement, The Slave and a collection of poems.

“It is regrettable that Amadi passed away at a time when Rivers, our dear state, is still far away from the aspirations of its founding fathers, like him and most sons and daughters of the state. There is no doubt that Elder Amadi and other founding fathers will be weeping in their graves at the state of Rivers State.

“Nigeria and the international literary community has lost a creative giant.

“The departed patriot, no doubt, had a remarkable life and he will surely be remembered for serving humanity with literature and his interventions.”

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Elechi Amadi, (born May 12, 1934, Aluu, near Port Harcourt, Nigeria) novelist and playwright best known for works that explore the role of the supernatural in Nigerian village life.

Amadi, an Ikwere (Ikwerre, Ikwerri) who wrote in English, was educated at Government College, Umuahia, and University College, Ibadan, in physics and mathematics. He served in the Nigerian army, taught, and worked for the Ministry of Information. Sunset in Biafra (1973), his only work of nonfiction, recounts his experiences as a soldier and civilian during the Biafran conflict.

Amadi is best known, however, for his historical trilogy about traditional life in rural Nigeria: The Concubine (1966), The Great Ponds (1969), and The Slave (1978). These novels concern human destiny and the extent to which it can be changed; the relationship between people and their gods is the central issue explored. Amadi is a keen observer of details of daily life and religious rituals, which he unobtrusively describes in his dramatic stories. Similar emphases are found in his verse play, Isiburu (1973), about a champion wrestler who is ultimately defeated by the supernatural power of his enemy. Among his other works is Pepper Soup and the Road to Ibadan (1977).

May His Soul Rest In Peace.

RIP the great one...