ALBERT CHINUALUMOGU ACHEBE - 1930 - 2013

Albert Chinualumogu Achebe; 1930 – 2013

On Monday, March 18, 2013, I had a 10am appointment to keep in Zaria, Kaduna State in Northwest Nigeria. I arrived Zaria minutes before 10am but a bereavement in the palace of the Emir (Traditional Ruler) of the town meant that everyone of prominence in the town had to be at the Emir’s Palace to commiserate with him – including my hostess.

The meeting that was to have held by 10am did not hold until 10pm that same day. I did not know how the time flew. I was engrossed. It turns out I have always had a copy of Chinua Achebe’s ‘There Was a Country’ in my car but I had not quite gotten around to reading it due to a packed schedule save for the introductory chapter. Thus, it happened that for the 12 hours I was idle in Zaria waiting for the person I came to see, I was engrossed in reading the book and it was a captivating read.

Granted that I have read a couple of works by Chinua Achebe, as all post-teen Nigerians doubtless have, ‘Things Fall Apart’ being the natural poster-book for us all, I felt an unusual closeness to Chinua Achebe as I was reading ‘There Was A Country’ for the book was indeed an intimate account of his life and times. The smooth-flowing prose favoured by Chinua Achebe meant that any reader of his work can easily be transposed to the scene of the event to capture a 3D-like appreciation of the events being narrated by the writer.

Thus it was that within the same week I had finished reading ‘There Was a Country’ and the life of Chinua Achebe still very fresh in my consciousness, the news came that he had passed on. I must confess that the news of his death shocked and saddened me far more than I ever thought it would especially for someone I supposedly did not know. But there lies the greatness of Albert Chinualumogu Achebe. Even for those who never met him, the moment you read his work, you instantly share a bond of affinity with him that cannot be translated. He lives in your heart and his works influence you in more ways than you may care to admit.

A couple of points are worthy of note regarding the life and death of Chinua Achebe.

1. Virtually all the people he mentioned as his contemporaries in school went on to become great and renowned people in their diverse fields of endeavour. From politics to medicine, law and the arts, his generation was a treasure trove of excellent achievers who made their families and nations proud. An appreciation of this fact immediately leads to a depressing comparison of the quality of education they received compared to what is obtainable today. The schools he mentioned where their young and fecund minds were nurtured to excellence have since run to seed. They are a shadow of themselves and there is virtually nothing cheer-worthy coming out from them from the least to the highest of them. Imagine if our standard of education had continues like it was in the days of Chinua Achebe and his peers? It would have been that a great percentage of the population in Nigeria and Africa would have been great minds developed to the maximum thus translating into rational thinking and intelligent decisions which would have engendered human, material, political and socio-economic progress for us all.

2. The news of Chinua Achebe’s demise was first broken by Nigerian news organizations before their western counterparts got in on the act. If you are active on twitter, you would have noticed that the first news, albeit cautiously, came from a couple of Nigerian-run news websites before other mainstream international media caught on and confirmed the story. That is a clear departure from the past where Africans rely on the western media for breaking news on events happening to Africans.

3. And most gratifying is the unanimity and seemingly boundless scope of the grief that poured in at the confirmation of the news of his death. It was as if the world was united in mourning Chinua and it was a most fitting tribute and testament to the life and times of Chinua Achebe that world leaders were writing dirges and elegies for him. Virtually every major news organization locally and internationally had something to say about his life and death. From New York to Tokyo, London to Johannesburg, Stockholm to the Caribbeans, everyone had a story about Chinua Achebe to share. Most touchingly, the Nigerian Media celebrated one of the greatest Nigerians to have lived. The day after he died, major dailies devoted their front pages to images of Chinua Achebe with several of them writing front page Editorials and devoting multiple pages to carrying countless reactions to his death locally and internationally. No man could wish for a more honorific tribute upon his moment of passing to the great beyond.

4. Did Chinua Achebe know that he was on his way home? ‘There Was a Country’ was released a couple of months ago and it contained explosive materials, information and opinions that meant that the book was debated – and is still being debated – rather heatedly thus ensuring its popularity and widespread readership. Chinua Achebe the great storyteller ensured that he told his own story shortly before going home. As he admonished in one of his works, if you do not like the story that someone has told, tell your own story.

Albert Chinualumogu Achebe, great son of Africa, literary icon, voice of integrity and probity, the great Iroko, a lion of his tribe in every ramification, trailblazer, hope-inspirer, griot, wordsmith, erudite storyteller, nwakaibeya, ezi nwafor Ogidi, Naa n’udo.