Tribute to father of African literature, Chinua Achebe

I attended an interview for a reporter's job in a newspaper in Qatar few years back. Having read and prepared myself adequately I was sure nothing will stop me passing the test and eventually securing a reporter's job in the second biggest newspaper in the country.

The editor of the newspaper was an Indian fellow who had a perfect knowledge of Nigerian political history. When I entered into his office, he admired my Nigerian attire and read through my CV. He asked which political affiliation do I belong to and I told him am a democrat, he laughed and told me his interest in Nigeria and why he loved the country. He has schooled with a few Nigerians during his college and university days in the United States.

It was quite an experience to see an Indian with vast knowledge of the political landscape of Nigeria from the 1960s up until Obasanjo's administration. After talking for over an hour on the political terrain, I was still waiting for a job related question or something related. To my chagrin, he asked which African authors are my favourite, I mentioned Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka and Ngugi Wa Thiong'O. Probing further, he asked which are my favourite books from the stable of the renowned authors; I mentioned, Things Falls Apart, A Grain of Wheat and The Lion and The Jewel etc.

The Indian singled out Things Fall Apart and asked I review it before he gives me the job. I recall properly, I first read the novel in my Junior Secondary School class in the mid 1990s at Falomo High School in Lagos. I told him the groundbreaking 1958 novel Things Fall Apart; a novel still considered to be required reading the world over, has sold over twelve million copies and has been translated into more than fifty languages.

With my interest in politics and literature, I was able to dissect the book in pre-colonial Nigeria, 1890s Things Fall Apart highlights the clash between colonialism and traditional culture. The protagonist Okonkwo is strong, hard-working, and strives to show no weakness. The first of these stories traces Okonkwo's fall from grace with the tribal world in which he lives, and in its classical purity of line and economical beauty it provides us with a powerful fable about the immemorial conflict between the individual and society.

The second story concerns the clash of cultures and destruction of Okonkwo's World through the arrival of aggressive European missionaries. As the proliferation of the missions increased, the presence of the white people grows and a new government is introduced. The village was forced to accept the white man's system nascent administration.

We both agreed the book is Africa's finest literary work and Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe is known the world over for having played a seminal role in the founding and development of African literature. He continues to be considered among the most significant world writers.  That was our I secured that job some years back thanks to Chinua Achebe’s magnum opus, Thing Fall Apart.

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 and the social and political significance of aesthetics and analysis of the postcolonial state in Africa.

Chinua Achebe is born  Albert Chinụalụmọgụ Achebe, on 16 November 1930 and passed on 21 March 2013.

May his gentle soul rest in peace.

SELECTED HONORS AND AWARDS:

·         The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, 2010

·         Man Booker International Award, 2007

·         1st Living Author presented in the Everyman's Library collection by Alfred A. Knopf, 1992

·         Rockefeller Fellowship, 1960

·         UNESCO Fellowship for Creative Artists, 1960

·         Margaret Wrong Prize

·         The New Statesman Jock Campbell Prize

·         The Commonwealth Poetry Prize

SELECTED NOVELS:

·         Anthills of the Savanna (Anchor Press, 1987)

·         A Man of the People (Anchor Press, 1966)

·         Arrow of God (Anchor Press, 1964)

·         No Longer At Ease (Anchor Press, 1960)

·         Things Fall Apart (Anchor Press, 1958)

SELECTED ESSAYS:

·         "2009 Blessed Pope John XXIII Lecture Series" in Theology and Culture (University of Notre Dame, Forthcoming)

·         "The Igbo and their Perception of God, Human Beings and Creation" (2009)

·         "Education of a British Protected Child" (Alfred A Knopf, 2009)

·         "Home and Exile" (Oxford University Press, 2000)

·         Beyond hunger in Africa: Conventional Wisdom and an African Vision (Heinemann; J. Currey, 1990)

·         "Nigerian Topics" (1989)

·         "The University and the Leadership Factor in Nigerian Politics" (Abic Books & Equipment, 1988)

·         "Hopes and Impediments" (Doubleday, 1988)

·         "The World of Ogbanje" (Fourth Dimension Publishers, 1986)

·         "The Trouble With Nigeria" (Heinemann, 1983)

·         "Morning Yet on Creation Day" (Anchor Press, 1975)

SELECTED SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS:

·         The Voter (Viva Books, 1994)

·         Heinemann Book of Contemporary African Short Stories (Heinemann, 1992)

·         African Short Stories (Heinemann, 1985)

·         Girls at War and Other Stories (Doubleday, 1973)

·         The Sacrificial Egg and Other Stories (Etudo, 1962)

SELECTED POETRY:

·         Collected Poems (Carcanet Press, 2005)

·         Another Africa (Anchor Press, 1998)

·         Don't Let Him Die: An Anthology of Memorial Poems for Christopher Okigbo (Fourth Dimension Publishers, 1978)

·         Christmas in Biafra and Other Poems (Doubleday, 1973)

·         Beware, Soul Brother (Heinemann Educational, 1972)

SELECTED CHILDREN'S BOOKS:

·         The Flute (Fourth Dimension, 1977)

·         The Drum (Fourth Dimension, 1977)

·         How The Leopard Got His Claws (Third Press, 1973)

·         Chike and the River (Cambridge University Press, 1966)