₦airaland Forum

On Thursday, one of the greatest Africans to have ever lived goes home. On Thursday, Professor Chinualumogu Achebe will be committed to Mother Earth in his home town of Ogidi in Anambra State. I decided to open this thread as an opportunity and avenue for us all – the teeming Achebe fans all over the world, the academia, well-wishers and indeed all Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora irrespective of religious and tribal affiliations– to accord the great literary icon our last respect. Let us join the likes of South African President, Jacob Zuma, the AU President, the New York State Senate, Brown University, the Nelson Mandela Center of Memory and our own President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan among other eminent world leaders and reputable institutions in paying tribute to the father of modern African literature.




A selection of tributes by prominent figures and institutions the world over:


The New York Senate: “... paramount novelist, founder and pioneer of African literature… Professor Achebe’s global significance lies not only in his talent and recognition as a writer, but also as a critical thinker and essayist who has written extensively on questions of the role of culture in Africa along with the social and political significance of aesthetics and analysis of the postcolonial state in Africa.”

South African President, Jacob Zuma: “… Chinua Achebe was indeed Africa’s greatest literary export and a legend of African literature. It was his famous novel Things Fall Apart that many Africans saw themselves in literature and arts at a time when most of the writing was about Africans, but not by Africans. On behalf of the South African government and all her people, we wish to send our deepest condolences to the Achebe family, his birth country of Nigeria and the whole literature community. May his soul rest in peace.”

AU Chairwoman, Dlamini Zuma: “As we mourn, Chinua Achebe has bestowed upon us a priceless intellectual legacy which will always make us proud to be African, tell us our stories from our perspective and which will guide us in our endeavour to make Africa the continent of the future.” As Africa celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Organisation of African Unity, Dlamini Zuma paid tribute to the father of modern African literature and shared the grief not only with the people of Nigeria, but with the entire continent.

BBC: “…revered throughout the world for his depiction of life in Africa.”

The New York Times: “… one of Africa’s most widely read novelists and one of the continent’s towering men of letters.”

Publishing Director at Penguin Publishers: “Chinua Achebe is the greatest of African writers… and an utterly remarkable man.”

Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan: “Achebe’s frank, truthful and fearless interventions in national affairs will be greatly missed.”

Some of the notable achievements of the late scholar:

In 2007, Achebe was awarded the Man Booker International Prize, the highest award in the world of literature. The judging panel included US critic Elaine Showalter, who said he “illuminated the path for writers around the world seeking new words and forms for new realities and societies”, and Nobel Laureate and South African writer Nadine Gordimer, who said Achebe has achieved “what one of his characters brilliantly defines as the writer’s purpose: ‘a new-found utterance’ for the capture of life’s complexities.”

In 2010, Achebe bagged The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize for $300,000, one of the richest prizes for the arts. In 1992 he became the first living writer to be represented in the Everyman’s Library collection published by Alfred A. Knopf. He has been awarded the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, an Honorary Fellowship of the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1982), a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2002), the Nigerian National Order of Merit (Nigeria’s highest honour for academic work), and the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. Achebe is a recipient of over 30 honorary degrees from the best universities in England, Scotland, Canada, South Africa, Nigeria and the United States, including Dartmouth College, Harvard, Kent and Brown University. He, however, twice refused the Nigerian honour Commander of the Federal Republic, in 2004 and 2011.

His first major work Things Fall Apart is the most widely read book in African literature, selling over 12 million copies and translated into over 50 languages. It was the immense success, popularity and cultural impact of this book at a time when African literature was seen as nothing more than stories about Africa by the Europeans and Americans that crowned him the undisputed father of modern African literature. That is to say, African literature really took off with his groundbreaking work, though there had been some, albeit less successful and acclaimed, writers of African origin before him. The New York Senate termed him the “most paraphrased author in African history” as a result. The last publication in his lifetime, There Was A Country, despite the stir and controversy it generated in some sections of his home country, Nigeria, was listed as one of the most important books of the year 2012. In 2011 Forbes named him as the most powerful celebrity in Africa. Nelson Mandela once called him “the writer in whose company the prison walls came down”, and credited him as the author who “brought Africa to the rest of the world.”

Some scholars and observers have viewed the fact that Achebe was never awarded a Nobel Prize as unjust and a political witch-hunt, citing his criticism of Joseph Conrad and his work, Heart of Darkness, and traditions of racism in the West as possible reasons for this.


List of works:

Marriage Is a Private Affair (Short Story, 1952)

Dead Men’s Path (Short Story, 1953)

The Sacrificial Egg and Other Stories (Short Story, 1953)

Things Fall Apart (Novel, 1958)

No Longer At Ease (Novel, 1960)

Arrow of God (Novel, 1964)

The Novelist as Teacher (Non-fiction, 1965)

A Man of the People (Novel, 1966)

Chike and the River (Children’s Book, 1966)

Civil Peace (Short Story, 1971)

Beware, Soul-Brother, and Other Poems (Poetry, 1971) *Published in the US as
Christmas in Biafra, and Other Poems in 1973

How the Leopard Got His Claws [with John Iroaganachi] (Children’s Book, 1972)

Girls at War and Other Stories [including “Vengeful Creditor”] (Short Story, 1973)

An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” (Criticism, 1975)

Morning Yet on Creation Day (1975)

The Flute (Children’s Book, 1975)

Don’t Let Him Die: An Anthology of Memorial Poems for Christopher Okigbo [editor, with Dubem Okafor] (Poetry, 1978)

The Drum (Children’s Book, 1978)

The Trouble With Nigeria (Political Commentary, 1984)

African Short Stories [editor, with C. L Innes] (Short Storey, 1985)

Anthills of the Savannah (Novel, 1987)

Hopes and Impediments (1988)

Heinemann Book of Contemporary African Short Stories [editor, with C. L. Innes] (Short Storiy, 1992)

Another Africa (Poetry, 1998)

Home and Exile (2000)

Collected Poems, Carcanet Press (Poetry, 2005)

Education of a British protected Child (2009)

There Was A Country: A Personal History of Biafra (Non-fiction/Political Commentary, 2012)

Others include The Voter, Refugee Mother and Child, Vultures

Dignitaries expected at his funeral include three African presidents, representatives of head of states and head of governments the world over, a representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury, several bishops from across Africa, top politicians from within and outside Africa, colleagues in the world of literature as well as thousands of well wishers.

Please let's pay our tributes here and I would also implore the moderators to push this thread to the front page.

wetin bring igbo to diz mata u diz nairaland ethnic bigots?

Omotola too fat to make it in the US where slim and trimmed is the norm. I think she's pushing too hard to overtake Genevieve Nnaji as Nigeria's number one actress. She should first slim down and improve on her acting skills and dressing

genevieve has all it takes as she is head and shoulders above every other actor or actress in nigeria. psquare r d hottest in d music game ryt nw nd i c dem remaining dia 4 a long time to come

smh so sad

genevieve nnaji has been the top actress in nollywood 4 a decade and half now and she's been acting since d age of 8. so i think she will still be relevant 4 a long time now. but i think the biggest celebrity in that list now is mikel obi. he is currently way more popular than 2face and genevieve nnaji

Sicozone: NOTHING IS NEW UNDER THE SUN AS LONG AS ITS JONATHAN'S ADMINISTRATION.....

abi? an anything goes government. nigeria don enter one chance

things are falling apart in nigeria because d center can no longer hold

smh for this country

confusion247: Jonathan is weak because he have sacrificed his conscience against his ambition.

smh I don't blame people that call him a ceremonial president.

Beaf!:
Is it now that he is about to grant amnesty to terror group that you consider him weak?

You guys are hypocrites!

He was not weak when granted pardon to an international thief?

- Igbos complained that they are beind masacred by Boko Harem in the north because GEJ couldnt secure them.
- Igbos are now complaining that GEJ is trying to stop their masacre by granting Boko Harem amnesty.

^
Confused set of people!

Why are you trying to bring your tribalism into this thread of national importance

Bigcake: From d way he hastily granted d amnesty, it seems d boko boys have successfully tied a bomb to his balls. because i cnt understand why he is backwards ever forward never.

I think he is the most clueless leader Nigeria has ever produced. He doesn't know his left from his right. Always being tossed around by his so-called Advisers. This is the latest is his long list of poor decisions. It's embarrasing when a leader makes so many mistakes

I just found out online and from a couple of TV stations across the country that Jonathan is about to grant amnesty to Boko Haram. What message does this decision pass across? That Jonathan is so weak, that the FG have been overwhelmed by a bunch of terrorists from the northern section of the country or that any ragtag group from anywhere in the country is free to pick up arms any day and start killing and massacring people en masse and at will? I’m so disappointed at this government that I decided to air my opinion. I couldn’t help it. Jonathan has disappointed a lot of Nigeria and has embarrassed himself in the international community. So he has finally bowed to pressures from the Sultan and other northern “elders”? Just last month he was breathing fire in Maidugri about how he will never grant amnesty to ghost? For the first time in this shambolic presidency I was impressed by the President because of guts he showed in standing up to them in their very own backyard. Now this? Which way Nigeria? Which way Jonathan? How long are we going to allow this kind of a thing to happen in this country? I’m so disappointed that words cannot convey my emotions. *Spits* Tufiakwa!

Achebe is older than Soyinka, Achebe was 82, Soyinka is 78

Achebe is a great man respected far and wide and whose greatness transcends the shores of Africa. He was/is indeed the father of modern African Literature

Two literary icons. The father of modern African Literature and the Noble Prize winner in the same pic.

I decided to write on this after I came across an article on Nairaland about Tuface's apology to Nigerians on his controversial choice of venue for his white wedding and believe you me, the argument has been raging on for long, albeit rather unnecessarily. I don't see any reason why Nigerians should bother themselves with an issue as trifling as this one when there are more pressing issues yearning for our attention. It is laughable if not totally uncalled for that a lot of Nigerians think that have the right to choose for this man where he will celebrate the happiest day of his life. Tuface owes no one any apology whatsoever over his decision not to have his white wedding here in Nigeria, besides it is his wedding, not ours. How many of those people that have called for his neck over the choice of his wedding's venue will have their in-laws or colleagues choose the venue of their wedding for them? I bet my hat that most of these people that have been crying "crucify him" would have done exactly the same thing if they could boast of half his net worth in their bank accounts.

This goes far beyond the issue of patriotism as many of us have painted it. Now the question is: Would Tuface's wedding in Nigerian have contributed to the economy and GDP of this country in any way? If we look at it critically we'll find out that the answer is a big NO. It would not have done much for the average Tuface fan in the streets of Lagos or in the markets of Onitsha had it been that he chose any city in Nigeria as the venue for his wedding. The average Tuface fan would have been denied access to the occasion for security reasons and none of the drinks that will be used for the event will be bottled in Nigeria. The fact remains that it is his wedding and he has the right to host it wherever he wants to — even on the moon.


http://amazinglyfresh..com

You don't need to apologize to us. It's your wedding for heaven's sake and nobody has the right to dictate to you where you will host it. I guess most of these fans that are bashing you right now would have done the same if they had half of the cash you have cooling in banks. By the way, that was a lame excuse though