Fellow Nigerians, let me join you and countless others across the universe in celebrating the life of one of our few global Ambassadors, Professor Albert Chinualumogu Achebe, who took a final bow two days ago as the curtain was closed on his spectacular performance on the world stage. It was a total blackout as the lights dimmed for a man who had sparkled under the klieg-lights for half a century of his 82 years on earth.
.
The rumour of his death had earlier crept in last week but that was soon dismissed as arrant joke.
.
But this time around, the news came back with a renewed vigour and slammed at us like a ferocious thunderstorm.
.
It was impossible for an Achebe to have gone quietly. The era of social media had foreclosed that possibility. Every family now has a stake in the new media that makes everyone an automatic reporter.
.
Those days are gone when we had to wait for media houses that had to wait for confirmation from those not ready to confirm anything. These days we capture the news as soon as the first tear drops from the eyelids of the bereaved. Such is the advancement of technology.
.
When I got the news of Achebe's death yesterday, I was in the process of writing a different letter to some political office holders. I was thus faced with a dilemma of whether to postpone Achebe's tribute to next week or do an instant justice to it. As a journalist, I understood the importance of seizing the moment, when the news is still oven-fresh and current and everyone is definitely in the mood to ask questions and get answers instantly. That helped to sway my decision to write the piece you are now reading.
.
As a Twitter devotee, I was able to test the waters and got the confirmation that Achebe's news was a hot item on the front burner and I needed to serve it nicely. My timeline was on fire as soon as I fired my first shot: "An elephant has fallen. The Iroko has collapsed. The Eagle has departed. Good night, Professor Chinua Achebe." I got countless retweets for it and it kept flowing all day.