• Urges govt to name highway, monument after him
• Igbo groups extol writer's virtues
FOR his contribution towards the emergence and growth of African literature, the Senate Wednesday moved to immortalise the late Prof. Chinua Achebe.
In a motion sponsored by Senator Chris Ngige (Anambra Central) and 108 others, the upper chamber urged the Federal Government to name a major federal highway or street in Abuja and a national monument after Achebe.
Besides, Nigerians, especially the youth, have been urged to emulate the exemplary life of Achebe.
In a day of tributes organised by Igbo think-tank, aka Ikenga at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) for the late literary icon on Tuesday in Lagos, friends, colleagues and admirers extolled Achebe's virtues as a man to emulate.
Among prominent Igbo sons who paid tributes to Achebe were Ambassador Arthur Mbanefo, Professors Anya O. Anya, George Obiozor and Uzodinma Nwuala, Anthony Merini and Nnabuife. Others were President, Government College, Umuahia Old Students Association, Mr. C.N.C. Nweke and many other old boys and dignitaries. The event was also spiced with musical rendition and poetry recitation in Igbo.
Before the Senate resumed sitting Wednesday, there was anxiety that Tuesday's declaration of emergency rule in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states by President Goodluck Jonathan would dominate discussions on the floor. But the lawmakers on resumption went straight into the business of the day as contained in Order Paper 311, which included a valedictory session in honour of Achebe.
For the exemplary life of the late literary icon, the Senate resolved to constitute a nine-man committee to be led by the Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, to commiserate with the government and people of Anambra State. It also observed a minute silence in honour of the late writer.
Other members of the committee include Senators Uche Chukwumerije, Shola Adeyeye, James Manager, Abdul Ningi, Mohammed Magoro, Philip Aduda, Remi Tinubu and Zainab Kure.
The chamber observed that Achebe was a world figure who brought fame and prestige to Nigeria and all humanity through his literary talents and other works, having written several novels and essays, some of which became instruments for his dogged and dynamic activism.
In the lead debate, Ngige said Nigerians had a lot of lessons to learn from the life and writings of Achebe. Some of the lessons, he noted, included his emphasis on the efficiency of the Nigerian system at a time.
"These anecdotes include his merit-based access to secondary and tertiary education and on graduation, to salaried jobs. He referred also to the efficiency of the postal system, which promptly delivered his unregistered mail to London and brought back a reply", he said.
Ngige regretted that Achebe's strong position against injustice and acts of inhumanity was misunderstood by many Nigerians.
"However, the hopeful ending to Achebe's quiet musings and exhortation is that his disillusionment is not so much with the collapse of Biafra as with the failure of Nigeria of his dreams.
"If this generation of Nigerian leaders can still hear and heed the calm, steady voice of Achebe, they can still save Nigeria", Ngige said.
Due to lack of time, only a few co-sponsors of the motion made contributions.
For Senator Ganiyu Olanrewaju Solomon (Lagos West), Achebe made great impact with his writings, an indication that Nigeria has what it takes to impact the world.
"Through his writings, Achebe introduced us to African culture. I learnt about the new yam festival first in Things Fall Apart. His global impact through his writing shows that Nigeria has what it takes to impact the world. We still have a lot of Achebe in Nigeria and by the grace of God, they will come out one day for us to celebrate them", he said.
Although Senator James Manager (Delta South) never met Achebe personally, he admired him for his foresight about Nigeria. He described him as a very principled and disciplined politician who shunned ethnic and religious sentiments to align with Malam Aminu Kano in forming the People's Redemption Party – a political platform that epitomised selflessness and vision for the country.
Also eulogising Achebe was Senator Zainab Kure, Niger State. Appraising two of his books, Things Fall Apart and No Longer At Ease, she feared that even though the centre eventually came together to hold, things were no longer at ease with Nigerians.
"Everyone here will agree with me that things are no longer at ease. Things that fell apart have come together but in coming together, we find that we are no longer at ease. I want to join my colleagues in mourning this giant of Africa," he said.
In his tribute, Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, who commended Achebe for his truthfulness and humility, which permeated his works, said he first encountered him at a conference organised by the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) in the 1980s.
According to him, Achebe's works promote African culture and save the continent from the assumption of lack of African literature.
He said: "One thing that distinguishes Achebe's works from others is the power of imagery and the gift of simplicity in diction. Achebe taught us to think and write clearly in a simple language. This simplicity permeated every aspect of his life. True greatness is found in simplicity. Only the truly great man remains simple and humble."
For Senator Uche Chukwumerije, Achebe was unequivocal in blaming Nigeria's socio-economic challenges on bad leadership. "He put everything on the shoulders of political leaders – ethnic bigotry and the corruption of the political class. Today, there is pure impunity and ethnicity that if not checked, will destroy the country", he said.
He added that Achebe pointed to the path of self-redemption, which included the rule of law, discipline of leadership and rule by merit.
Senator Ayogu Eze (Enugu North) said that the birth of Achebe was one of the good things that had happened to Nigeria. He described Achebe as a courageous man, who would have given up his writing career when his first manuscript got missing in London.
"But he didn't give up and that is what turned out to be the epic of literature in Nigeria. In that book, he introduced the use of abstraction in writing when he quoted William Yeats, "the centre cannot hold."
Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe fully subscribed to comments made by his colleagues.
In closing the tributes, Senate President David Mark described Achebe as a detribalised Nigerian and a nationalist to the core till his death.
Mark urged the Federal Government to give Achebe a befitting burial as a mark of honour for the positive virtues he stood for.
Achebe died on March 21 and will be buried in his home town, Ogidi, Anambra State.
Mbanefo commended Achebe for his iconic status in letters that transcended Nigeria and Africa to the wider world. He said it was a thing of pride that Achebe as an Igbo son was acclaimed world wide, and added that Nigerians should not lose sight of the values of integrity, humility and excellence that Achebe represented.
He noted: "He was the elephant not only of Nigeria and Africa but of the entire world. Anybody who had Achebe knew that he had somebody. His death is a thing of tears and sorrow but also causes a lot of reflection on our part. What he depicted was not a myth; he tried to practise what he wrote, which is very hard in this country. He played honest politics; he stood out. He ... believed in himself and was truthful. He stood straight to the end. In a country where people beg for national honours, Achebe rejected them because the hands that wanted to give him such honours were not clean. We have lost a gem".
In his tribute, Prof. Anya said Achebe, his neighbour at University of Nigeria, Nsukka, was the greatest literary artist of the 20th century that Africa produced, adding, "Achebe does not belong to the dead but the living. This is a day of reflection, for us to see what lessons we can take away from his life".
He further wondered why Igbo did not honour their own when they were still alive, starting from foremost historian, first Vice Chancellor of University College, Ibadan, Prof. Kenneth Dike and Prof. Eni Njoku. He said these legendary men of letters deserved to be laureates in their fields but that world politics played them out of such considerations.
Anya said Achebe's burial date of May 23 was just six days away from May 29, a symbolic date in Igbo's history, when the 1966 pogrom started in northern Nigeria.
The Guardian