ACHEBE: LIFE AND TIMES OF A LITERARY AVATAR

BIRTH AND EDUCATION
Professor Chinua Achebe was born on November 16, 1930 in Ogidi, Anambra state of Nigeria. He had his secondary education at the famous Government College, Umuahia, in current day Abia state, before proceeding to the University of Ibadan as one of its first set of students in 1948. Achebe got admission into university at 18, an age which, even by today’s standard, is an achievement.
Achebe had been a writer right from his UI days, writing many articles that took the university by storm. he began his teaching career as a secondary school teacher in his hometown of Ogidi. He later moved to Lagos to pick a job with the Nigerian Broadcasting Service in Lagos.

WRITINGS
His first book, Things Fall Apart, which he published in the 1950s, shook the literary world. It has since been rendered into tens of languages and is regarded as the greatest literary work by an African. His other books include No Longer At Ease (1960), Arrow of God (1964), A Man of the People (1966), Anthills of Savannah (1987) and other short stories and published lectures.

AS A CRITIC
Achebe was a fierce critic of colonialism and imperialism. He believed very much in African tradition and culture. His writings reflected these worldviews. He had been very vocal since his school days and was said to be a thorn in the neck of many foreign teachers.

THE BIAFRA
The Prof. never hid his fondness for his Igbo origin, hence his decision to be the intellectual cornerstone for the Biafra secessionists in the civil war that ravaged Nigeria in the late 1960s. Being a man of strong convictions, he never hid his feelings about what he felt was injustice to the Igbo race. His house was attacked in the civil war and he was said to have lost some of his books. He was even lucky as his other literary giant friend and co-backer for the Biafra cause, Christopher Okigbo, lost his life. The professor never put the war behind him till his death.

ACADEMICS AND POLITICS
Achebe lectured in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, at the end of the civil war before moving to the United States to take up professorship at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He later returned to Nsukka to continue teaching. He retired in the early 1980s and joined politics, pitching tent with Mallam Aminu Kano’s leftish People’s Redemption Party.

AUTO CRASH
In 1990, Achebe was involved in an autocrash on his way to Lagos that left him critically injured and lived the rest of his life on wheel-chairs.

HIS FINAL YEARS
He spent his final years as professor in top American universities, writing and also winning prizes. He also turned down Nigerian national honours by two presidents, Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, citing reason of bad leadership in the country.

THERE WAS A COUNTRY…
His last published book, There was a country: A personal history of Nigeria, turned Nigeria into yet another ethnic boxing ring, as his allusions to top actors in the civil war, especially Chief Obafemi Awolowo, did not go down well with Yoruba, from whom the late politician enjoyed cult followership. Many articles were published in newspapers and online portals attempting to counter the content of Achebe’s book, some bordering on name calling. Some of his Igbo kinsmen also defended the prof as the battle raged for many weeks on the pages of Nigerian newspapers.

DEATH
The literary avatar reportedly gave up the ghost from complications of acute pneumonia in a US hospital today. No doubt Nigeria has lost its finest literary genius.