Jonathan: He was a nationalist and artist of the very first rank
President Zuma: Achebe, a colossus of African writing
Soyinka, Clark: We've lost a brother, colleague and trailblazer
There has been an outpouring of eulogies for renowned novelist and author of the popular novel, Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe, who died on Thursday in a hospital in Boston, United States after a prolonged illness. He was 82.
President Goodluck Jonathan has offered his condolences to the Achebe family, describing the late writer as “a nationalist and artist of the very first rank”.
Achebe was widely seen as the grandfather of modern African literature. He was also a poet, broadcaster, and university teacher
His first novel, Things Fall Apart, published over 50 years ago helped shape an understanding of Africa from an African perspective more than any other author.
Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka and Prof. J.P. Clark, both close associates of Achebe, have also paid glowing tributes to Achebe, describing his death as "intensely personal".
South African President Jacob Zuma expressed sadness at his death and described him as a "colossus of African writing."
Former South African President Nelson Mandela, who read Achebe's work in jail called him “a writer in whose company the prison walls fell down."
"President Jonathan joins Prof. Achebe’s family, his friends, colleagues, past and present students, admirers and all who have learnt indelible lessons of human existence from his award winning works of literature in mourning the legendary author," a statement from the Presidency said yesterday.
The statement added that as the president mourns, he is consoled by the knowledge that Achebe would live forever in the hearts and minds of present and future generations through his great works which brought him enduring international fame and countless honours.
"The President believes that Prof. Achebe’s frank, truthful and fearless interventions in national affairs will be greatly missed at home in Nigeria because while others may have disagreed with his views, most Nigerians never doubted his immense patriotism and sincere commitment to the building of a greater, more united and prosperous nation that all Africans and the entire black race could be proud of.”
Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola expressed grief at the passage of the literary icon, describing his death as a great loss not only to the literary world but humanity.
Fashola, in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Hakeem Bello, recalled his meeting with Achebe last December at Brown University, Rhodes Island United States, where he had gone to deliver a keynote paper at the 2012 Achebe Colloquium on Africa, saying he was particularly saddened by the fact that there was nothing that indicated that the meeting would be the last.
“I am particularly saddened by the fact that when I met him at Brown University last December, I never realized it will be my last with him. It is, indeed a great loss and given the great contribution he has made in shaping the course of African Literature, he will be sorely missed, especially by the literary world.
The governor, who noted that he read the famous Things Fall Apart, as a literature student in secondary school, added, “I must say, without any reservation, that Professor Achebe’s ingenuity as writer and the power behind his words influenced my generation to no small extent and opened our eyes to the rich culture, tradition and belief of our people.
“And here, perhaps, lies his greatest contribution to the Black Race; for through such world classics as Things Fall Apart, Professor Achebe was able to keep our culture, tradition and belief alive in spite of the onslaught of other cultures.”
Governor of Achebe's home state, Anambra, Mr. Peter Obi, said in a statement that the "world has lost one of her finest minds".
He said: "I woke up early this morning and saw two missed calls from Prof. China Achebe's son, Dr. Ike Achebe, with whom I have been in regular touch to ascertain his father's well being. I immediately returned the call, and to my greatest shock and disbelief, he informed me that his father has just passed on.
"The world has lost one of her finest minds. Africa and Nigeria have lost one of their greatest global ambassadors. I am in touch with the Achebe family. I will shortly be in the USA for further discussion with them."
In a joint statement, Soyinka and Clark said: "For us, the loss of Chinua Achebe is, above all else, intensely personal. We have lost a brother, a colleague, a trailblazer and a doughty fighter. Of the 'pioneer quartet' of contemporary Nigerian literature, two voices have been silenced – one, of the poet Christopher Okigbo, and now, the novelist Chinua Achebe. It is perhaps difficult for outsiders of that intimate circle to appreciate this sense of depletion, but we take consolation in the young generation of writers to whom the baton has been passed, those who have already creatively ensured that there is no break in the continuum of the literary vocation.
"We need to stress this at a critical time of Nigerian history, where the forces of darkness appear to overshadow the illumination of existence that literature represents. These are forces that arrogantly pride themselves implacable and brutal enemies of what Chinua and his pen represented, not merely for the African continent, but for humanity. Indeed, we cannot help wondering if the recent insensate massacre of Chinua’s people in Kano, only a few days ago, hastened the fatal undermining of that resilient will that had sustained him so many years after his crippling accident.
"No matter the reality, after the initial shock, and a sense of abandonment, we confidently assert that Chinua lives. His works provide their enduring testimony to the domination of the human spirit over the forces of repression, bigotry, and retrogression."
Born at Ogidi, Anambra State on November 16, 1930, Achebe was the son of a Christian evangelist. He went to mission schools and to University College, Ibadan, and taught briefly before joining the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, where he was director of external broadcasting from 1961 to 1966.
After the Nigerian civil war, Achebe returned to Enugu to teach at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
In 1972 he moved to Massachusetts and spent much of his time in the United States, with occasional spells in Nigeria. His last post was at Brown University in Rhode Island.
Although Achebe never won the Nobel Prize for Literature, his works won praise for their vivid portrayal of African realities and their accessibility for all readers.
His contribution was recognized when he won The Man Booker International Prize in 2007.
In 2004, he turned down the title "Commander of the Federal Republic" offered to him by then President Olusegun Obasanjo, noting that he was appalled by the cliques who had turned Nigeria into "a bankrupt and lawless fiefdom".
Undaunted, President Goodluck Jonathan also tried to confer a national honour on him in 2011. He snubbed that one too.
A car accident in 1990 left Achebe paralysed from the waist down and depending on a wheelchair for mobility.
His last book, There Was a Country was a deeply personal account of the horrors of the Nigerian civil war, lifting decades of silence on the loss of friends, family and countrymen that forever shaped his life. But it also stirred a lot controversy and bitter debate that had yet to abate.
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