Internationally-acclaimed Nigerian author, Chinua Achebe; known as the father of modern African literature, has died following an undisclosed illness and stay in a Boston hospital in the United States. He was 82 years old.
Achebe was most famous for his ground breaking 1958 novel Things Fall Apart, which dealt with the impact of colonialism on African society. Things Fall Apart is considered the most widely read book in modern African Literature, depicts the collision between British colonial rule and traditional Igbo culture in his native southeast Nigeria. The story of the Igbo warrior Okonkwo and the colonial era, it has sold over 10 million copies worldwide and has been published in 50 languages. It is believed to be the most widely read African literary material so far. Achebe depicts an Igbo village as the white men arrive at the end of the 19th century, taking its title from the WB Yeats poem, which continues: “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.”
“The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers and our clan can no longer act like one,” says Okonkwo’s friend, Obierika, in the novel.Achebe was also a strong critic of graft and misrule in Nigeria. Many of his other novels, including Arrow of God, No Longer at Ease, Anthills of the Savannah, and A man of the People, were equally influential as well.
A novelist, poet and essayist, Achebe has been living in the US since 1990 following injuries from a car crash that left him in a wheelchair and limited his travel. He had lived and worked as a professor in the United States in recent years, most recently at Brown University in Rhode Island.
In a statement, Achebe’s family requested privacy, and paid tribute to “one of the great literary voices of all time. He was also a beloved husband, father, uncle and grandfather, whose wisdom and courage are an inspiration to all who knew him.” A statement from the Mandela Foundation in South Africa quoted Nelson Mandela as saying Achebe brought Africa to the rest of the world; referring to him as a writer “in whose company the prison walls fell down.”
Achebe’s agent and his British publisher, Penguin, as well as Governor Peter Obi of Anambra have confirmed the passing away of the literary icon calling him the hero of Nigerian literature. Simon Winder, publishing director at Penguin, called him an “utterly remarkable man”. “Chinua Achebe is the greatest of African writers and we are all desolate to hear of his death,” he said.
Born, Albert Chinualumogu Achebe in the Igbo village of Ogidi, Anambra, on November 16, 1930, to Isaiah Okafor Achebe and Janet Anaenechi Iloegbunam, who were converts to the Protestant Church Mission Society (CMS) in Nigeria, the late Professor was said to have won a scholarship for undergraduate studies being a brilliant student.
He became fascinated with world religions and traditional African cultures, and began writing stories as a university student. After graduation, he worked for the Nigerian Broadcasting Service (NBS) and soon moved to the metropolis of Lagos. His later novels include ‘No Longer at Ease (1960)’, ‘Arrow of God (1964)’, ‘A Man of the People (1966)’, and ‘Anthills of the Savannah (1987)’.
When the region of Biafra broke away from Nigeria in 1967, Achebe became a supporter of Biafran independence and acted as ambassador for the people of the new nation. The war ravaged the populace, and as starvation and violence took its toll, he appealed to the people of Europe and the Americas for aid. When the Nigerian government retook the region in 1970, he involved himself in political parties but soon resigned due to frustration over the corruption and elitism he witnessed. He lived in the United States for several years in the 1970s, and returned to the US in 1990 after a car accident left him partially disabled.
Achebe attended St. Philips’ Central School in 1936. Despite his protests, he spent a week in the religious class for young children, but was quickly moved to a higher class when the school’s chaplain took note of his intelligence. One teacher described him as the student with the best handwriting in class, and the best reading skills.
At the age of twelve, Achebe moved away from his family to the village of Nekede, four kilometres from Owerri. He enrolled as a student at the Central School, where his older brother John taught. In Nekede, Achebe gained an appreciation for Mbari, a traditional art form which seeks to invoke the gods’ protection through symbolic sacrifices in the form of sculpture and collage.
When the time came to change to secondary school, in 1944, Achebe sat entrance examinations for and was accepted at both the prestigious Dennis Memorial Grammar School in Onitsha and the even more prestigious Government College in Umuahia.
In 1948, in preparation for independence, Nigeria’s first university opened. Known as University College, (now the University of Ibadan), it was an associate college of the University of London. Achebe obtained such high marks in the entrance examination that he was admitted as a Major Scholar in the university’s first intake and given a bursary to study medicine.
After a year of grueling work, he changed to English, history, and theology. Because he switched his field, however, he lost his scholarship and had to pay tuition fees. He received a government bursary, and his family also donated money–his older brother Augustine gave up money for a trip home from his job as a civil servant so Chinua could continue his studies.
From its inception, the university had a strong English faculty; it includes many famous writers amongst whom were Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, novelist Elechi Amadi, poet and playwright John Pepper Clark, and poet Christopher Okigbo.
After the final examinations at Ibadan in 1953, Achebe was awarded a second-class degree. Rattled by not receiving the highest level, he was uncertain how to proceed after graduation. He returned to his hometown of Ogidi to sort through his options. He later found his way into the teaching profession and excelled continuously till his death.
