far too many Nigerians – students of literature most perniciously – are being programmed to have no other comparative literary structure lodged in their mental scope than WS vs. CA.

Such crass limitation is being pitted against the knowledgeable who, often wearily, but obedient to sheer intellectual doggedness, feel that they owe a duty to stop the march of confident ignorance

It is high time these illiterates were openly instructed that Achebe and Soyinka inhabit different literary planets, each in its own orbit.

If you really seek to encounter – and dialogue with – Chinua Achebe in his rightful orbit, then move out of the Nigerian entrapment

oh Jesus, it is indeed very wearying listening to these illiterates.


dem full nairaland sha!!!!!

Best excerpt from the interview:

It is a Nigerian disease. Nigerians need to be purged of a certain kind of arrogance of expectations, of demand, of self-attribution, of a spurious sense and assertion of entitlement. It goes beyond art and literature. It covers all aspects of interaction with others. Wherever you witness a case of ‘It’s MINE, and no other’s’, ‘it’s OURS, not theirs’, at various levels of vicarious ownership, such aggressive voices, ninety percent of the time, are bound to be Nigerians. This is a syndrome I have had cause to confront defensively with hundreds of Africans and non-Africans. It is what plagues Nigeria at the moment – it’s MY/OUR turn to rule, and if I/WE cannot, we shall lay waste the terrain. Truth is, predictably, part of the collateral damage on that terrain.

^^^^I need to create a thread called - "Nigerian disease" - by Prof. Wole Soyinka. He couldn't have said it better than that.

I just hope I meet him before he leaves this planet - my hero!!!

babyosisi:


Fame!
Who made it famous
That is the father

Read on



The highlighted part above can be said of Chinua Achebe
In his lifetime he was and still is Africa's most famous literary icon and has sold more books than any African author dead or alive
That is what makes him the father of African literature
I don't know why you tribalists are so pained by that
The world including fellow African writers,Nobel laureates like Gordimer( an African),Europeans,Americans and Asians describe him by that title and the only people that cry about it are a handful of Nigerians from the Yoruba tribe?
You are greatly outnumbered here
All boils down to jealousy folks
I am disappointed that WS would descend this low

Going by your definition, J.K Rowling will be rated ahead of people like George Bernard Shaw and even shakespeare! Regarding yoour comment about Yoruba, maybe because Yoruba people are closer to home and therefore know the truth better than Asians, Americans and other Africans.
Your accusation of jealousy is so lame and obviously without any merit.

babyosisi:

He made African literature popular and respected
Fiction or no fiction
African literature became a staple in USA schools due to Achebe and his things fall apart
That is the point
Your attempt to belittle fiction is laughable
I hope you know most classics that have stood the test of time by authors like Shakespeare,Mark Twain and George Orwell are fiction and the most widely sold book by an African ( things fall apart) also happens to be fiction so Chinua is in excellent company.
I smell ignorance all through your post.



Secondly I am tired of educating some of you ,it is annoying to read folks parrot what they hear others say without checking out the facts for themselves
Chinua's most popular book was fiction
But he has to his credit several non fictional books
He is your countryman celebrated the world over,others shouldn't know more about him and his works more than you do
If only the cloak of tribalism will let you.

Listen don't bother yourself with those ones. This is how free education works. They indoctrinate themselves and come here to spew ignorance, passed down to them by their ignorant teachers. They won't get you. Believe me

Dibiachukwu:
Listen don't bother yourself with those ones. This is how free education works. They indoctrinate themselves and come here to spew ignorance, passed down to them by their ignorant teachers. They won't get you. Believe me

Go back and read what Wole Soyinka said. If you don't understand it, get somebody who didn't get a free education to interpret it for you.

Aigbofa:


Going by your definition, J.K Rowling will be rated ahead of people like George Bernard Shaw and even shakespeare! Regarding yoour comment about Yoruba, maybe because Yoruba people are closer to home and therefore know the truth better than Asians, Americans and other Africans.
Your accusation of jealousy is so lame and obviously without any merit.

Doesn't your question sound stupid to you?
Shouldn't you take up your grouse about that title with those who gave it to him?
No it has nothing to do with Yorubas being closer but everything to do with their innate jealousy of everything Igbo
Unfortunately for you,the title has stuck
Try convincing the word otherwise


As you can see there are people regarded as father of American literature
Father of English literature
And now there is also a Father of African Literature
If not Chinua the most prolific African writer ,please name the person that deserves such a title
Wole Soyinka?
Amos Tutuola ?
Ngugi Wathiongo?
Anyone but Chinua?
What a funny bunch

babyosisi:

Doesn't your question sound stupid to you?
Shouldn't you take up your grouse about that title with those who gave it to him?
No it has nothing to do with Yorubas being closer but everything to do with their innate jealousy of everything Igbo
Unfortunately for you,the title has stuck
Try convincing the word otherwise

What question? I didn't ask you any question, not to mention anything being silly. If you want to throw insults and play tribal card, I will allow you to indulge yourself in your "Mungo park discovered river Niger story"

*SMH*

All na jealosy,Many don't know it, but Soyinka wrote a book, Of Africa at about the same time Achebe wrote There was a Country. No one remembers the book today, even in death Achebe still remain the Iroko of African literature.

Ojiofor: All na jealosy,Many don't know it, but Soyinka wrote a book, Of Africa at about the same time Achebe wrote There was a Country. No one remembers the book today, even in death Achebe still remain the Iroko of African literature.

Chimamanda Adichie may have even sold more books than Wole Soyinka
SHe will soon be called the mother of African literature

babyosisi:

Chimamanda Adichie may have even sold more books than Wole Soyinka

I guess that should make her the mother of African literature. Up Nigeria, we already have the father of the internet.

Aigbofa:

I guess that should make her the mother of African literature. Up Nigeria, we already have the father of the internet.

Gbam!
I ji ya nna a

Let me name Wole the Afro father of Ifa Literature
See
Everybody is now a father

certainly she has sold more than him.how many people knows about his latest work?

I must state here, with heavy regret that Prof. Wole Soyinka disappointed some of his staunchest allies/followers (which I'm part of) when he said "Prof. Achebe shouldn't have written his last book". Does the erstwhile able Prof. Soyinka want history and the truth to be silenced/concealed? Why is he suddenly against the truth which is documented in the book called "there was a country"?

Let me state here also, following in the foot-steps of Wole Soyinka that: he (Soyinka) shouldn't have been against the truth . What a shame!

oily+Yoruba:
I must state here, with heavy regret that Prof. Wole Soyinka disappointed some of his staunchest allies/followers (which I'm part of) when he said "Prof. Achebe shouldn't have written his last book". Does the erstwhile able Prof. Soyinka want history and the truth to be silenced/concealed? Why is he suddenly against the truth which is documented in the book called "there was a country"?

Let me state here also, following in the foot-steps of Wole Soyinka that: he (Soyinka) shouldn't have been against the truth . What a shame!

He shouldn't have written that book, period!

That is a different kettle of fish, a matter between him and Awolowo – which, however, Chinua did let degenerate into tribal charges.

^^^^That excerpt from the interview tells you all you need to know.

In the wake of Achebe's memoir,WS was interviewed by the Telegraph newspaper in London
This is part of that write up

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has backed his literary colleague, Prof. Chinua Achebe, in the raging controversy over the roles of some prominent Nigerians during the Nigerian civil war.
Soyinka, in an interview published in The Telegraph of London, but obtained by THISDAY yesterday, said the Igbo were victims of genocide during the three-year civil war, which was fought to break up Nigeria.

Achebe had stirred the hornet’s nest in his civil war memoir, “There Was A Country”, when among others, he accused wartime Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon and the then Finance Minister, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, of carrying out a genocide against the Igbo.
The claim has generated considerable controversy, with many commentators accusing Achebe of re-writing history.

Soyinka, however, justified the secession bid and described Biafrans as “people who’d been abused, who’d undergone genocide, and who felt completely rejected by the rest of the community, and therefore decided to break away and form a nation of its own.”

He also condemned religious militancy, saying now is the time to tackle Boko Haram, the insurgent group that has visited terror on the North, killing over 1,500 since 2009.
According to him, what Boko Haram is doing is not religion, but criminality.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/soyinka-backs-achebe-on-civil-war-memoir/127


Achebe dies and the same WS now says he should have never written his memoir?
What a man

Why didn't he make those points when his friend was still alife,I would have taken him serious had he said it when Achebe was still around to defend himself,but no,he has to wait until he passed on to say rubbish..

an made a lot of solid points in the interview and addressed every question that was posed to him like an upstanding man should - using supreme mastery of the use of English. However, rather than discuss the obvious points that he made(whilst defending and covering up for late Achebe's imperfections) - you've resulted to shallow ad hominem attacks, Mr. O.J-E-Of-Fvck.

Use your damned brain cells for once in your pathetic life and stop thinking out of your ar.se, fool!

Anyway, the best don't care about sales and commercialisation of their art. That's why you can't compare Prince to Adele or Rihana![/quote]

Osisi

And where in the quote from The Telegraph did he say anything about the book, or commended it?

He only alluded to the "genocide" that happened before the civil war. And he alluded to the same thing in this interview!!

If you don't know how to read and comprehend; I'm here to educate you tonight.

shymexx: Osisi

And where in the quote from The Telegraph did he say anything about the book, or commended it?

He only alluded to the "genocide" that happened before the civil war. And he alluded to the same thing in this interview!!

If you don't know how to read and comprehend; I'm here to educate you tonight.

That was his opportunity to condemn the book if he is sincere
It is an act of cowardice to say at a Man's death what you didn't have the b.alls to say while he lived
I love Soyinka but I also hate cowards

Ojiofor:
Why didn't he make those points when his friend was still alife,I would have taken him serious had he said it when Achebe was still around to defend himself,but no,he has to wait until he passed on to say rubbish..

Why didn't Achebe write his memoir when Awolowo was alive?

And where in the interview did he rubbish Achebe's name?

He defended him and intelligently dodged most of the questions that would have made the late Achebe look bitter, to be honest.

babyosisi:

That was his opportunity to condemn the book if he is sincere
It is an act of cowardice to say at a Man's death what you didn't have the b.alls to say while he lived

Why should he condemn something they didn't ask him about?

My friend Achebe's book was not all about Awo.

shymexx:

Why didn't Achebe write his memoir when Awolowo was alive?

And where in the interview did he rubbish Achebe's name?

He defended him and intelligently dodged most of the questions that would have made the late Achebe look bitter, to be honest.

I see some intelligent folks here combatting the intellectual dishonesty and cerebral emptiness of some of Chinuas people. Well, stop wasting your time for none of them understood he depth conveyed or grammatical dexterity espoused in that interview. A half-baked poster like the wingnut posting all kinds of conjectural crap is the most unworthy to have a conversation with for she is not able to see the flaccidity of her spurious arguments. Leave the reptiles alone so they can wallow in the pity party of never winning a Nobel price! That alone is enough to keep them crying eternity long....LWKMB!!

CyberG: I see some intelligent folks here combatting the intellectual dishonesty and cerebral emptiness of some of Chinuas people. Well, stop wasting your time for none of them understood he depth conveyed or grammatical dexterity espoused in that interview. A half-baked poster like the wingnut posting all kinds of conjectural crap is the most unworthy to have a conversation with for she is not able to see the flaccidity of her spurious arguments. Leave the reptiles alone so they can wallow in the pity party of never winning a Nobel price! That alone is enough to keep them crying eternity long....LWKMB!!

automaticcarzz: This section is now a mess. It used to be vibrant with people of intelligence. But now, most of the contributors are spare part sellers posting information with their Chinese phones from their shops that also serve as their room/home.

Nuff said....

Damn son!! I had to read this interview again. Who's better than this man in the use of English? This Ijebu Nigerian invented the English language!! I bet William Shakespeare would marvel at his use of diction, multi-syllable words, verbs, adverbs, the captivating structure of his sentences - and how he succinctly and intellectually answered all the questions, he was asked.

I'm not the type to go nuts about the use of English; but this man is the supreme grammarian!!

Respect!

Jah bless!!

shymexx: Damn son!! I had to read this interview again. Who's better than this man in the use of English? This Ijebu Nigerian invented the English language!! I bet William Shakespeare would marvel at his use of diction, multi-syllable words, verbs, adverbs, the captivating structure of his sentences - and how he succinctly and intellectually answered all the questions, he was asked.

I'm not the type to go nuts about the use of English; but this man is the supreme grammarian!!

Respect!

Jah bless!!

Just read Of Africa and you begin to understand that Soyinka is for the deep. It's only deep thinkers who can understand him.

Afam4evaIsASlut:

You are one of the people hes complaining about!

Exactly.

You know the problem I see with you which is prevalent with everyone
in your tribe? EMOTIONS, You are just emotional like bitches
You wrote how many paragraph no single Data or figure. My post you
quoted was loaded with figures and verifiable facts
Thats why you would continue to be failures.
A people that act on emotions is always an accident waiting to
Happen.
A little history lessons would show us its not new, Its sewn in the DNA,
How else would someone wake up and declare war based on emotions.
Do you have any allies? NO , Do you have weapons? No 200 guns, Do
you have stockpile of food? No our opponent would feed us. Do you
have money? No we would use our opponents currency etc.
So why are you going to war? We are the bravest army in Africa and
chukwu is with us. . Series of decisions based on emotions alone.
Your brother came here to beat his Chest about how the Eastern
Nigerian budget overtakes Nigeria, We broke it down and we saw that
the SE contribution to this awesome budget is less than 25%?
Its like a Greek or Mexican coming to boast about European or North
American economy when they barely contribute anything to it.
Emotional statements Like We are 60% of the voting population of
Kano, We own 70% of Lagos, We are 60% of Jos, We own 80% of Port
Harcourt is what makes even your SS neighbours detest you.
Stand on your own dont leech on people. All these senseless SE/SS
" attache by force" just show you as desperate parasites
There is a sizable Yoruba population in North Central, You dont see
anyone shouting SW/NC bla bla,
There is a sizable population of people with Yorubalike ancestry in SS
states of Delta and Edo, You dont see anyone shouting SW-SS bla bla
bla
The more you yell the more you get exposed for what you are. Leeches.



dayokanu really figured out the mindset of this peeps here. any sensible person should stop doing a back and forth with this set of programmed humanoids.

babyosisi: Wole Soyinka should be careful not to destroy the legacy he has built by involving himself in unsavory affairs.
The first time the Prof disappointed me was when he spoke in support of Patience Jonathan's perm sec appointment,now this.


Chinua Achebe was called the father and grandfather of African literature by others
He did not label himself that
People recognized his immeasurable contribution to African literature and bestowed on him that honor in his lifetime so it is quite petty for WS whom I respect a great to utter such words.
It makes him sound jealous and he should be above such pettiness.
Michael Jackson was called the King of Pop
Elvis was the King of Rock and Roll
Donna Summer was the Queen of Disco While Aretha Franklin is and remains the Queen of soul
That label on Chinua is deserving.


Secondly why speak about Chinua's Book in his death what you couldn't say while he was alive?
I love Soyinka but his words here are beneath a man of his calibre
Maybe old age is setting in
Still respect you sir but you disappoint me here once again

'The father of African literature' which Wole Soyinka tries to dissuade people from tagging Chinua Achebe was also rejected by Achebe. Read the thread again. Saying Achebe is the father of African literature is like saying Sunny is the king of music in Nigeria. This is wrong - what my teacher in my undergratuade days, Dr Dipo Fashina would call 'fallacy of hasty conclusion.' Sunny Ade is just a king of a genre of music known as juju. You can only call him king of music if he is the best in other genres like: highlife, reggae, hip hop, pop, country, R&B, etc.