CHINUA ACHEBE AND THE COUNTRY CALLED NIGERIA — The Doyen of Literature and His Unambiguous Rejection of a Disfunctional Union
Our people say: Ikwu amaghi, ibe ezi ya — if one does not know, his kismen would show him. Since Nigeria keeps puzzling and perplexing us, let’s turn to the elders that we can trust with our eyes closed and ask them for direction. Among the few, let’s turn to the immortal laureate and illustrious genus of literature, Chinua Achebe and see his take on Nigeria for our instruction and guidance. Many times, Professor. Achebe rejected national honours and honorary conferment from Nigeria and Nigerians because he couldn’t bring himself to identify with Nigeria as it presented itself. He couldn’t comprehend that in a country endowed with men and women of talent and standing, even beyond his own famed stature, not only was the past better than the present, but already the present has blurred the future with gloom. Therefore, Prof. Achebe could not ‘soil’ his reputed name with the woefully wretched legacy of Nigeria, even at the expense of savoury and sumptuous remunerations.
His works: Anthills of the Savannah, A man of the People and No Longer at Ease, were literary confrontations of then emerging culture of corruption in Nigeria. The incisive insights on the state of the Nigerian State expressed in his book ‘The Trouble With Nigeria’ were another bold attempt at awaking Nigerian leaders and peoples to the core issues afflicting the nation and to aid the nation in remedying the problems, but obviously, the literary prophet was not heeded. When this literary luminary wrote his final testament, titled There Was A Country, he sent a message to Nigeria and about Nigeria. It was an expression of the frustration of an old man about his disappointment with his own country; it was a nostalgia for a homeland worthy of the name, one beyond the Nigeria he knew; one that would be worthy of his ancestors, the ancients and the fathers; one that would be worthy of ennobled humanity; one that would be worthy to receive the beautiful ones of the future. hIn the eve of his golden life, everyone who read him and even the government of the day knew that the Ogidi-born doyen of literature was not a ‘Nigerian’. He died dreaming about the country he could call his homeland. Prof. Achebe signally and decidedly rejected the insanity called Nigeria.
Michael Richmond Duru
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