“While
we do our good works, let us not forget that the real solution lies in a world
in which charity will have become unnecessary” Chinua Achebe (Anthills of the
Savannah, 1987)
I
was doing my A’ levels in Harare when I first came into contact with Albert
Chinualumogu Achebe. His 1987 novel, Anthills
of the Savannah, was a set book in the African list, along with Tsitsi
Dangarembga’s She No Longer Weeps,
Paul Freeman’s Rumours of Ophir, and We killed Mangy Dog and other Mozambican
Stories. I enjoyed English literature so much, it was my favourite subject,
and of these works, Anthills of the Savannah stood out. I cannot help but move back in time at the
thought of this, and be filled with the nostalgic reminiscence of those
literature classes and seminars back at St Johns High School in Emerald Hill. I
especially remember the academic debates with my talented friends, that were
almost always about politics and literature, and the latter almost always
centred on Anthills of the Savannah and the many intellectually stimulating
themes it brought; gender, African governance, African tradition, Western
education, myths, among many others. Very few of my time would forget how
studying Anthills of the Savannah made the study of literature a pleasure. It
made the study of literature go beyond an intellectual appreciation of words
craftsmanship. This African piece spoke to the heart and soul, more so being an
African myself.
Since then, I have grown to like Chinua
Achebe. I have read his other works. I quote them many a times. Since then, I
have not regarded Professor Achebe as a mere writer. He became an icon to me,
an icon for the very themes his work brought up, and the agenda he pursued
through them. I had already listed Achebe to be amongst the top men I looked up
to from the African continent, because of their wisdom, integrity and
consistency. Then last night, I learnt of the death of this man. My heart was
broken.
In 2011 Achebe was ranked by Forbes as the most influential celebrity in Africa. Professor Achebe was a writer par excellence, an activist of good governance and an academic who did not hesitate to use his talent for the greater good of his people. His novel Things Fall Apart is to date the most widely read book in modern Africa literature. His masterpieces; Arrow of God, A Man of the People, and No Longer at Ease, amongst other works, remain at the heart of many.
Many would remember where and when his
struggle against the misrepresentation of Africa by non-Africans started, in
which period he did lectures such as ‘An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s
“Heart of Darkness”’. Achebe is the man who told the true story of Africa as an
African son, gracefully celebrating its virtues, unapologetically attacking the
structural wrongs of Africa, and viciously fighting against its
misrepresentation by those who know little of it, from across the oceans.
Achebe
had an intellectual Afro-centrism, one that took pride of who he was yet in no
denial of the challenges that surround our beloved continent. This manifestly
resonated in his works. One could see traditional African wisdom, packaged for
modern day consumption. In no other works have I seen African oral tradition,
folk stories, proverbs and oratory so succinctly infused with modern academic
intellectualism to produce fine art of the highest octane value for Africa and
beyond. I totally loved this in his novels.
He realised his role was not merely to highlight the challenges of
Africa, but suggest solutions in remedial thereof. His works are pregnant with
patently African solutions to African problems. As a writer, Achebe was not
writing from a detached position. He had seen and experienced the things he
wrote. He wrote about a people he was a part of. The credibility of his works
is therefore not questionable.
For me, Achebe was an icon as he captured the sense
of pride in his identity, the desire for growth and development, and the
principles of accountability and just governance. He was an epitome of how we
all ought to use our talents and play our part in our struggle for social
justice, peace and development. During the 1970s, Achebe did involve himself in
political parties but soon resigned out of frustration over the rampant
corruption and elitism he witnessed in those few years. To this day, as a man
of principle, Achebe refused to be corrupted by those in power as evidenced by
his legendary rejection of the National Honour by the
Nigerian government, twice; at first in 2004 because of the rampant corruption,
intolerance and poor governance in Nigeria, and for the second time in 2011 because
nothing had changed from the time he rejected the first offer to the time he
was offered for the second time. The National Honour is Nigeria’s highest
honour. True to his own word; “One of the truest tests of integrity is
its blunt refusal to be compromised”. |
| "The Mandela of Literature" - The Daily Telegraph |
I
still have Achebe’s works on my reading list, and I will read them. As I read,
I will remember that this is a legacy left to us by one of the greatest minds
to ever grace the African continent. I will remind myself of a life well lived.
I will reflect on what has changed from the time he put down his concerns to
paper, in an artistic way, to the present. For this and other sons and
daughters of Africa who spent their lives fighting for social justice and the
just governance of men through their works, we who have been left behind have a
duty. Ours is a task, just like in any other struggle waged, to ensure that the
work of the pioneers is carried forward, and that the achievement of the ideals
that these people stood for, become the greatest tribute we can ever give to
them. Achebe was a hero, I will call him a freedom fighter. He called himself a
storyteller, and he waged battle at his own level through his chosen career,
where his talent lay. He continued to do this in academic exile, in Boston, where
he finally made his death.
“Storytellers
are a threat. They threaten all champions of control, they frighten usurpers of
the right-to-freedom of the human spirit – in state, in church or mosque, in
party congress, in the university or wherever” - Chinua Achebe.
Indeed
even at the time of his death, at the time of our loss, this will strengthen us;
we are but like the anthills of the savannah that survive to tell the new grass
of the savannah about last year’s bush fires. We will not be broken in spirit,
but will survive with those bruises, for the generations to follow to see that
here a great battle was fought, and for them to take over and fight against
injustice and for the African renaissance.
Chinua
Achebe illuminated the path for Africa writers; rightly described as one of the
continent’s towering men of letters. The great Igbo man from Nigeria has left
us. African has borne the loss. Rest in eternal peace the father of African
literature. Our children will live to read your works in generations to come.
It is a legacy left to us, one that we will cherish.
Musa Kika
Durban, South Africa
23 March 2013
