Since the creation of the universe, it has been in
existence that there will be heroes for every generation whose names shall be
forever evoked because of their
indelible impacts towards the development of the fields they find themselves
and the growth and progress of the Age and realm their spirits hail from.
Coming down to continent like Africa, it is a must we peruse back into the
pages of history to reminisce the memories of cultured scholars who have fought
for the continent against the jaguars of the jungle. And by quickly going into
the field of literature as a major concern, it is also incumbent to summon the
spirits of freedom- fighting writers like Leopold Sedar Senghor, David Diop,
Mazizi Kunene, Gabriel Okara, Kenneth Kaunda and others whose pens have mended
the ragged raiment of hope for the generations of Blacks. These people are
indeed African supermen who stood by the belief that Africa is Africa and is
second to none in any ramification.This general opinion of the first generation
of African writers levels into the modern African literature which late
professor Chinua Achebe is indisputable its pioneer and father. And before he bade his last farewell to the people
of Africa and the world, he has embedded a legacy worthy of emulation into the
bosom of younger generation of writers; he has already immortalised himself and
proved to be a writer far from the scary pool of criticism. He was indeed a
superman who put African thoughts into consideration in all his writings.
As a giant African writer and foremost African novelist
and literary critic, his demise has been calling for different tributes and
eulogies from many African writers and those that feel the pain of this fallen
Iroko of word.Hence, if gourd is
punctured at the junction leading to the stream, it is obvious that those who know the significance
of water bewail the bereavement of gourd; whenever melodies are vanished from
the tongue of song, those who can dialogue their legs in dancing contest only
become aware that the tongue of song is laden with dirges. Many have described him with different
jaw-breaking adjectives which Achebe himself never heard or called himself
while alive; the tears shed because of him, if gathered may even be enough to
quench the thirst of Achebe’s dying nation. But what radiates in my mind
whenever I crave and yearn for the long-awaited absence of this demon of word
is that death is the must-taken cross-road for every wayfarer. Whether the sky
likes it or not, the sun will lose its glory when the twilight is about shining
on the broken debris of the brink. Achebe is dead and nothing can be done to
revive him back to life but the legacies and spirits of literature left behind
by him will forever manifest in the writing spirit of generations to come till
the last minute of literature on African soil.
Looking back at the inestimable impacts of Chinua Achebe
towards the growth and development of tendon and ligament of literature in
Africa, nobody will deny the fact that he is deemed fit to be called the father
of modern African literature. Besides the fact that the literary African spirit
transpires in his work, he has tried to bring honour back to Africa through his
enriched power of typical African thoughts coupled with awe-inspiringly writings,
egghead creative skills, and magnificent use of language that run through the
vein of common man. Achebe was indeed the man that awakened the wave of
consciousness that writing is the window through which man and the society can
be challenged. He was a man of absolute integrity and self –oriented prodigy
who so much believed in peaceful change and freedom through writing – no wonder
his first novel Things Fall Apart
written in 1958 has still been one of the world most ranked and demanding novels.
By considering the historical
collection and cultural synergy of the people of Africa, the literary works of
Achebe will always voice through epoch of coming centuries. Writers like Asare Konadu whose Achebe can be said to be of the same generation and category of
African writers have also laid down legacies which Africa as a continent will
never forget. Being a typical African man, he understood better the cultural
values and political rulings of his people, and how these afore stated African
cultural-political beliefs co-worked together before the arrival of
colonialism. His first three novels (Things fall apart, No Longer At Ease, and Arrow of god) usually referred to as African trilogy have described what Africa
was before the arrival of White men. Achebe remains a lion of the jungle. Just like other African writers like Niyi
Osundare, he shows to the world through his writings that courage and braveness
are what Africans are usually known for and this can be exemplified while
presenting archetypal African heroes like Okonkwo in Things fall apart (1958),
and Ezeulu in the Arrow of God (1964) who never bow for any foreign draconian
thoughts and political imposition but ready to die instead.
Writers like Achebe never die.
Any writer whose pen is for the masses tends to live on even when he is gone in
flesh. Achebe, while alive tried to save
the hoi polloi from the jawbone of jaguars who are marauding themselves as
Moses of the toiling Israelites but for the flesh and blood of innocent to be
gulped in the name of love and unity. If Death can be questioned for any action
done and justice is vested into the hand of human,Death would have been dragged
before the panel at the courtyard of justice for taking the soul of Achebe when
it is not yet uhuru for the dearth-stricken people of Odinnma whose miseries
tend to aggravate from the first day of Nigerian Civil war of 1967-1970. And
whether we know it or not, Achebe’s rejection of federal honours and accolades
portrays him as a human activist who sees nothing to be celebrated of when
people are dying and some fighting for survival like the candles in the wind.
A hero will never die without
leaving at least a crippling dent of heroism. Achebe, as if he has known that
his sun will die before the arrival of dusk, has quickly released his last
controversial book There Was A Country. This rebirth and resurgence of Civil
war’s memories through writing is a sense of re-awakening which calls for sense
of mutual understanding and need to keep space for unity within Nigeria and
Africa as whole. Achebe is a hero, if not - he would not have left a message
for us to ponder upon and gone like ashes in the hand of West wind. Achebe is
not dead, for heroes don’t die when they are dead. A writer doesn’t die!
