The passing of Chinua Achebe is
a great loss not only for Nigeria
and Africa but also for the world
at large. I send my condolences
and those of my brothers and
sisters in The Gambia to our
brethren of the great nation of
Nigeria on the occasion of the
death of the doyen of African
literature, the most learned
Chinua Achebe, “Towering Man
of Letters” as the respected New
York Times would call him. The
loss of an icon and a repository
of knowledge saddens us.

The Gambia has been mourning
as well as celebrating Chinua
Achebe during the past few
weeks. We mourn his passing
and yet are relieved and
compensated by the wealth of
knowledge and inspiration he
left us. We are crying but we are
also happy and we gladly
celebrate his legacy. I guess this
paradox of tears and laughter to
mark his death was somehow
foreshadowed by the doyen
himself because a reviewer of
his works once said that Achebe
“makes you laugh and then
catches your breath in horror.” I,
the one who has been labeled
The Gambia’s Pen, could not
have been left behind in the
mourning and celebration of
Achebe. So when our national TV
anchor Ebrima Baldeh (a student
of African literature) sought me
for an interview that was meant
to be a tribute to Achebe. An 11-
hour day at the office and its
fatigue would not be enough to
stop me from paying due
respect to a deserving son of
our continent. I left my office at
7 PM and drove straight to GRTS
Headquarters in Kanifing.

The provocative journalist in Mr.
Baldeh showed from the get go
as he started his interview by
quoting a jester who said that at
the ripe age of 82, Chinua
Achebe left the pitch of a
football match eight minutes
before the end and the game is
incomplete. Surprised as I was
at such a lighthearted way to
start an interview that was
meant to be a tribute, I smiled
and answered: Well Chinua
Achebe himself has answered
this satirist of a jester. Chinua
has not passed away he merely
passes on from one state of
being to another. His legacy
lives in his books and teachings.
His legacy and his life continue
in me as one inspired by
Achebe’s works. Incidentally,
our main national newspaper
published an article of mine on
the day of this interview titled
“Wisdom from Our Mothers” that
explained the significance of
proverbs I learnt from my
mother, the wise Kaddy Jammeh
of Lamin Village. I connected
this article to Achebe’s assertion
that in his career he sought to
write down the eloquence of
Africa. I further quoted Achebe
to say that the man who is
credited with retelling the story
of a continent that was largely
written by outsiders has himself
become a story because in his
bid to write the story Achebe’s
life has become a part of the
story. And this is what Achebe
said about the story: “… [I]t is
only the story that can continue
beyond the war and the warrior.
It is the story that outlives the
sound of war-drums and the
exploits of brave fighters. It is
the story […] that saves our
progeny from blundering like
blind beggars into the spikes of
the cactus fence.
In my desire to convey the
general mood of Gambians on the demise of Chinua Achebe, I
sampled a few Gambian writers
and this is what they have said
about him:


more on http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/04/the-gambia-mourns-chinua-achebe/