Tribute to Chinua Achebe

Read Article

Comments (12)

This article is closed for comments.

Read Comments Comments (12)

Sani 11 years ago

Thanks for the quick tribute to the great man, Awuyah.

The great man is gone. But he is not really gone. His place in African and World Literature is assured forever. Nobody can take it away from him. He is the godfather ...
read full comment

Thanks for the quick tribute to the great man, Awuyah.

The great man is gone. But he is not really gone. His place in African and World Literature is assured forever. Nobody can take it away from him. He is the godfather of modern African writing. There were novels written by Africans before TFA, but it was TFA that really did it.

Was Achebe unfairly overlooked by the Nobel Committee? That is a difficult question to answer. The Prize is a judgement prize not one for a 100 meter sprint. For every person who won it, there was another writer who should have won it that year. And it's true Achebe joins a long list of good writers who should have, but never, won it. So he's in good company. But one thing can be said: Achebe is as good as, if not better than, quite a few people on the list who won it. Perhaps we will never know why he didn't win it. The records of the Nobel Committee's deliberations are kept secret for 50 years. I read on a Nigerian website that there were acussations that he plagiarized parts of TFA which did him in for the Nobel Committee. But he was gifted enough to write that book and he wrote it at a tender age. Others say the breath of his works is not wide enough to earn him the prize. Well, we'll not know what the committee thought. But he was certainly on the shortlist for several years.

It's also unfortunate that his last book, There Was a Country (2012) is causing such a stir in Nigeria. But that is not for literary reasons. The Nigerians are still very touchy and edgy about the civil war and tribal relations between the country's major ethnic groups. The stance taken by Achebe on the war in the book did not help matters at all.

But the man's place as a literary giant is assured. We who love literature will mourn him but we shall also celebrate his life. He lived to a ripe old age, given the accident that crippled him, and none of us expected him to live forever. But he will still live forever in our minds and the history books and the works he left behind. So he will never really die.

But for now, Nnam and Sleep peacefully...
Chris Kwame Awuyah 11 years ago

Achebe's place is assured in this world. We believe his place is also assured in heaven. He was a man of faith.

Achebe's place is assured in this world. We believe his place is also assured in heaven. He was a man of faith.
moyo 11 years ago

May his soul rest in perfect peace.

May his soul rest in perfect peace.
Bo deGraft-Johnson 11 years ago

This is a monumental loss for Africa and the world. Chinua Achebe was a scholar in the true sense of the word, always challenging us to give of our best. He made us all proud and will be greatly missed.

This is a monumental loss for Africa and the world. Chinua Achebe was a scholar in the true sense of the word, always challenging us to give of our best. He made us all proud and will be greatly missed.
Original - USA 11 years ago

The oldman has done his part.Tutored millions. Contributed to our knowledge and thinking.He lives forever. Achebe rest in peace.

The oldman has done his part.Tutored millions. Contributed to our knowledge and thinking.He lives forever. Achebe rest in peace.
DAVIDSON EXCELLENCE CHIDIEBERE 11 years ago

HAPPY PALM SUNDAY TO ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The significance of the triumphal/triumphant entry of our LORD Jesus Christ into Jerusalem!

Christians all over the world is celebrating the triumphal entry of Jesus christ int ...
read full comment

HAPPY PALM SUNDAY TO ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The significance of the triumphal/triumphant entry of our LORD Jesus Christ into Jerusalem!

Christians all over the world is celebrating the triumphal entry of Jesus christ into Jerusalem!

The triumphal entry is that of Jesus coming into Jerusalem on what we know as Palm Sunday, the Sunday before the crucifixion (John 12:1, 12). The story of the triumphal entry is one of the few incidents in the life of Jesus which appears in all four Gospel accounts (Matthew 21:1-17; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:29-40; John 12:12-19). Putting the four accounts together, it becomes clear that the triumphal entry was a significant event, not only to the people of Jesus’ day, but to Christians throughout history. We celebrate Palm Sunday to remember that momentous occasion.

On that day, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a borrowed donkey’s colt, one that had never been ridden before. The disciples spread their cloaks on the donkey for Jesus to sit on, and the multitudes came out to welcome Him, laying before Him their cloaks and the branches of palm trees. The people hailed and praised Him as the “King who comes in the name of the Lord” as He rode to the temple, where He both taught the people, healed them, and drove out the money-changers and merchants who had made His Father’s house a “den of robbers” (Mark 11:17).

Jesus’ purpose in riding into Jerusalem was to make public His claim to be their Messiah and King of Israel in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Matthew tells us that the King coming on the foal of a donkey was an exact fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9, “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Jesus rides into His capital city as a conquering King and is hailed by the people as such, in the manner of the day. The streets of Jerusalem, the royal city, are open to Him, and like a king, He ascends to His palace, not a temporal palace, but the spiritual palace which is the temple, because His is a spiritual kingdom. He receives the worship and praise of the people because only He deserves it. No longer does He tell His disciples to be quiet about Him (Matthew 12:16, 16:20), but to shout His praises and worship Him openly. The spreading of cloaks was an act of homage for royalty (see 2 Kings 9:13). Jesus was openly declaring to the people that He was their King and the Messiah they had been waiting for.

Palm Sunday is the day we remember the "triumphal entry" of Jesus into Jerusalem, exactly one week before His resurrection (Matthew 21:1-11). Some 450-500 years earlier, the Prophet Zechariah had prophesied, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9). Matthew 21:7-9 records the fulfillment of that prophecy: "They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Hosanna in the highest!’” This event took place on the Sunday before Jesus' crucifixion.

Unfortunately, the praise the people lavished on Jesus was not because they recognized Him as their Messiah. They welcomed Him out of their desire for a deliverer, someone who would lead them in a revolt against Rome. There were many who, though they did not believe in Christ with a spiritual faith, nevertheless hoped that perhaps He might be to them a great temporal deliverer. These are the ones who hailed Him as King with their many Hosannas, recognizing Him as the Son of David who came in the name of the Lord. But when He failed in their expectations, when He refused to lead them in a massive revolt against the Roman occupiers and those who collaborated with them, the crowds quickly turned on Him. Within just a few days, their Hosannas would change to cries of “Crucify Him!” (Luke 23:20-21). Those who hailed Him as a hero would soon reject and abandon Him.

The story of the triumphal entry is one of contrasts and those contrasts are the application to believers. It is the story of the King who came as a lowly servant on a donkey, not a prancing steed, not in royal robes, but on the clothes of the poor and humble. Jesus Christ comes not to conquer by force as earthly kings, but by love, grace, mercy, and His own sacrifice for His people. His is not a kingdom of armies and splendor, but of lowliness and servanthood. He conquers not nations, but hearts and minds. His message is one of peace with God, not of temporal peace. If Jesus has made a triumphal entry into our hearts, He reigns there in peace and love. As His followers, we exhibit those same qualities, and the world sees the true King living and reigning in triumph in us.

In remembrance of this event, we celebrate Palm Sunday. It is referred to as Palm Sunday because of the palm branches that were laid on the road as Jesus rode the donkey into Jerusalem. Palm Sunday was the fulfillment of the Prophet Daniel's "seventy sevens" prophecy: " Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times" (Daniel 9:25). John 1:11 tells us, "He (Jesus) came to His own, and His own did not receive Him." The same crowds that were crying out "Hosanna" were crying out "crucify Him" five days later (Matthew 27:22-23).

THE LORD BLESS YOU REAL GOOD.......... THE UNLIMITED HARVEST, VICTORY AND HONOR YOU DID NOT DESERVED SHALL LOCATE YOU HENCEFORTH IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST,AMEN!

HAPPY PALM SUNDAY!!!

Triumphantly Yours,

Davidson Excellence Chidiebere
shadrack oteng 11 years ago

The lines of his life went soon about but the life of his lines would never be out.

The lines of his life went soon about but the life of his lines would never be out.
Sankofa 11 years ago

'Living fire begets cold impotent ash.'

Chinua Achebe is gone, but he lives forever in his works.

Achebe exposed the hypocrisy of colonialism and the false premises on which it was predicated, the superiority of the whi ...
read full comment

'Living fire begets cold impotent ash.'

Chinua Achebe is gone, but he lives forever in his works.

Achebe exposed the hypocrisy of colonialism and the false premises on which it was predicated, the superiority of the whiteman and the backwardness of the blackman. These false premises were used by the Europeans to colonise our people for over 100 years and to justify the slave trade.

What is not generally known is that Achebe faced an uphill struggle to publish Things Fall Apart. The British publishing establishment would not touch the book as they saw it as undermining the very presence of British colonial power in Africa.
They did everything to stop the publication of the book.

In the end, Heinemann, a fledgling publisher, stepped in and set up the African Writers Series with Achebe as founding editor to publish Things Fall Apart. This pioneering publication through the African Writers Series encouraged many authors to write books, a renaissance in African literature.

Chinua Achebe was truly a man of the people, a true on of Africa who helped to raise the profile of our continent. He will forever be remembered as the doyen of African literature.
Jon 11 years ago

"What is not generally known is that Achebe faced an uphill struggle to publish Things Fall Apart. The British publishing establishment would not touch the book as they saw it as undermining the very presence of British colon ...
read full comment

"What is not generally known is that Achebe faced an uphill struggle to publish Things Fall Apart. The British publishing establishment would not touch the book as they saw it as undermining the very presence of British colonial power in Africa.
They did everything to stop the publication of the book."

Are you really sure the colonial establishment did everything to stop publication of the book? That is not what Achebe himself says. He was young then, naive and didn't know much about publishing and sent the only copy he had of the book to a publisher in London that he didn't even know much about. They treated it as they would treat any work from an unknown or first time writer - they forgot about it. They didn't even know it was a good work. Achebe told a British woman in Nigeria going on holidays in Britain about the story and the woman went to the publishers and retrieved the manuscript from them amidst threats. The book eventually found its way to new publishers and came out. Achebe didn't say that the British authorities tried to stop the book. Every first time publisher faces uphill tasks and this was even more so for Achebe at an age when there were not many brilliant African novelists.

My infomation is from Achebe's own accounts of the publication history of Thins Fall Apart. Or did I mis-read his "Education of a British Protected Child"?
Sankofa 11 years ago

Come again, Jon. Do you seriously think that the British publishing establishment would welcome such a book which challenged the very premises on which colonialism was predicated?

The publishers were no fools. Remember th ...
read full comment

Come again, Jon. Do you seriously think that the British publishing establishment would welcome such a book which challenged the very premises on which colonialism was predicated?

The publishers were no fools. Remember that Achebe had attacked Joseph Conrad as a 'bloody racist', critiquing Conrad's book 'Heart of Darkness' which was considered by this very establishment as the last word on oolonial Africa. Why would they want to publish an unknown author, an Black African colonial subject who had dared to cock a snook at imperial power?

You only need to read 'Thing's Fall apart' critically to understand how subversive the book was in colonial Africa. The fact that new authors have difficulty publishing their books is immaterial. Remember also, that Achebe was a simple, modest man, and he would not necessarily make public the difficulties he went through to publish the book. The publishers did not want to risk courting controversy and the wrath of the colonial establishment by publishing the book.

It took an act of courage by Heinemann to publish 'Things fall Apart'. And jolly good they did too!
OBOATANTO 11 years ago

MAY THE GOOD OLD DAD OF OURS REPOSE HIS SOUL AND REST IN PERFECT PEACE. HIS WRITE UPS HAVE EDUCATED MILLIONS OF AFRICANS. A TRUE SON OF AFRICA.

MAY THE GOOD OLD DAD OF OURS REPOSE HIS SOUL AND REST IN PERFECT PEACE. HIS WRITE UPS HAVE EDUCATED MILLIONS OF AFRICANS. A TRUE SON OF AFRICA.
Black Smoke 11 years ago

It's a true reality in African perspectives in general, he foresaw it, he wrote it down in our history, we've inherited it & it's still happening.........

******My Tribute to late Chinua Achebe & his "Things Fall Ap ...
read full comment

It's a true reality in African perspectives in general, he foresaw it, he wrote it down in our history, we've inherited it & it's still happening.........

******My Tribute to late Chinua Achebe & his "Things Fall Apart"******

Tribute to Chinua Achebe

Read Comments .st0{display:none;fill:#14BDD3;} .st1{display:none;} .st2{display:inline;fill:#FC0F0F;} .st3{display:inline;fill:#FFFFFF;} .st4{display:inline;fill:none;stroke:#000000;stroke-width:6;stroke-miterlimit:10;} Comments (12)

Read Comments Comments (12)