Chinua Achebe: A Hero Who Never Dies

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!