By COSMAS OMEGOH (who was in Ogidi)
"When beggars die there are no comets seen; the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes."
When legendary writer, William Shakespeare, dropped these living lines, probably he was prophesying how his younger brother in the literary community, Professor Chinua Achebe, would be buried. For it was amid pomp and ceremony that could have surprised Achebe himself if he were alive, that the venerable author of the epic novel, Things Fall Apart, was laid to rest in his native Ogidi, last Thursday.
On the fields of St. Philip's Anglican Church, Ogidi, well over 20,000 people spread out, waiting to be part of the funeral service, marking the burial of the late Achebe. They were sheltered in a huge tenth – the size of a football field – provided to stave off the fury of the mid-morning sun, which had begun to blaze intensively. Thousands were seen hanging around the buildings within the church compound. Even some were hanging on trees from where they expected to gain a full view of proceeding. Before 10am, well over 30,000 more people had massed outside the church compound, pushing to gain access into the sprawling arena. But they were not allowed into the compound already bursting at the seams with people.
Several hundreds of security personnel stood between them and their aspiration. The security men feared the crowd might overwhelm them and they were right. Every one was indescribably anxious to see the two most important people for whom they had gathered. One was the late Professor Achebe and the other was President Goodluck Jonathan.
Then, the sirens began to blare intensively. Achebe had arrived. He was coming into the church where he used to worship while alive but this time, dead and in a casket. It was a triumphant entry for the iconic scholar and novelist, whose flagship effort, reports say, is ranked as the 25th most translated book in human history.
As the metallic black hearse bearing his remains – marked Chinua Achebe – fought through the human maze, the crowd went tumultuous. But for the heavy presence of the Nigeria Police, Directorate of State Security, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, (NSCDC), the Army, Nigerian Customs, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), the crowd could have gone berserk. Things could have fallen apart as many struggled to see the man of the people – some for the first time while some for the last time.
Only hours before – that was the eve of his burial – Achebe made his first triumphant entry into Ogidi in death. As his body arrived his country home on the Ogidi-Abatete Road – now Professor Chinua Achebe Way – only a select few – his family members, friends, associates and newsmen were allowed in. As the hearse bearing his remains arrived, his family members, many in tears, began to hail him: Ugo belu no oji (the eagle that perched on the Iroko); Ugo Na Abo (two eagles in one) and Agadaga Nwa (the eminent son).
So, as very important guests were trooping into the church, some Nigerian Air Force helicopters appeared in the Ogidi skyline, hovering menacingly. In the whole of the community, probably nothing of such had ever happened. Then, out there on the fields of St. Philip's Primary School, now Akpakogwe Central School, Nkwelle Ogidi (that was where Achebe began his journey into the world of learning), one of the helicopters descended stylishly. Just some feet before it touched the ground, it ascended again. From the crowd watching the dramatic display, an old man roared: "Hieee! Our school field has turned into airport; oh what a day!"
Then, a metallic grey Nigerian Air Force helicopter marked NAF 570 appeared in the sky and descended gracefully. Out of its belly, Dr. Jonathan hopped out. With him was the President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama. Both men were quickly joined by other dignitaries. They included former vice president, Alex Ekwueme; Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, members of the Senate and House of Representatives, Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi, and Governors of Delta, Imo, Ebonyi, Cross River, Enugu and Abia States. Also in the party were former governors of Anambra State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, and Dr. Chris Ngige, Ministers of Labour and Productivity, Power, Aviation and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Professor (Mrs.) Viola Adaku Onwuliri. Also with them were Chief Emeka Anyaoku; former Commonwealth Secretary, some members of the diplomatic community and many more important guests.
As the party approached, the crowd went up in raptures. All hailed the president as he waved to the surging crowd. More and more people continued to hail Governor Obi. They fondly called him Okwute, meaning The Rock.
Now, St. Philips is such an old church. Its ancient architecture bears eloquent testimony to its age. The late Pa Isaiah, catechist and Chinua's father, is given credit for single-handedly bringing the Anglican Church to Ogidi. He is revered in the town and his grave, Daily Sun was told, lies somewhere within the church premises. The church (though a new one has been built) probably seats fewer than 200 worshipers. For the sake of Achebe, it had received a fresh coat of cream paint. It glittered just like every other building within the compound. So, since the church could not accommodate one per cent of the crowd, every other person watched on large television screens placed outside the church auditorium.
Inside the church building was seated a galaxy of Anglican priests and bishops from across the South East zone. They were led by His Grace, Dr. Ikechukwu Nwosu, and Bishop of the Aba Province. He was representing the Primate of the Anglican Communion; Nicolas Okoh, said to be away on ecclesiastical assignment. There was also the presence of an august representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury (head of the Anglican Communion worldwide). He was Rev. Cannon Andrew Wheeler. That showed the immense regard with which the Anglican family held Achebe. Also seated in the church, the crowd was told, were guests from USA, Canada, Russia, Britain, Sweden, the Caribbean and other African countries, who came in their large numbers to pay their last respect to the departed master storyteller.
After a series of Bible readings and delightful rendition of songs by the choir, Dr. Nwosu preached an evocative sermon, which he entilted: Professor Achebe: A Parable to the Nigerian Nation. He described the late Achebe as "a child of the parsonage, a giant in the literary world, a Christian to the core, philosopher, husband and father, professor of professors, a practical man and a man of social action."
He turned to President Jonathan whose honours, Achebe once turned down and said: "Forgive him; what he did was part of the parable about him. Don't count that against him. He meant well," adding that he wasn't the first to do so. He spoke about Achebe as a man, who stood firmly against what he strongly abhorred, one of them being homointercourseuality. He said Achebe once noted: "Ndia bu aru (this is abomination.).
While asserting that Achebe was a "pupil who became greater than his master," he challenged the youths to learn from a man, who defied negative forces and his disability in later years to continue prophesying and lecturing even in a wheel chair, insisting that those feats he performed had their strong roots in his foundation.
While the funeral service lasted, the Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Professor (Mrs.) Onwuliri, presented big bags, containing condolence registers, which she said were brought from Nigerian missions in 25 countries. Citizens of those countries had penned their tributes in honour of Achebe whom she described as "a global citizen," adding that more of those registers were on their way to country. Then she caused a stir when she said the items were contained in "Ghana Must Go Bags" with the Ghanaian head of state, listening. But realising her mistake, she told President Mahama "gbaghara" (please, forgive).
Speaking shortly after, Anyaoku described Achebe as "a man who gave Africa its confidence. When I say Africa, I don't mean Nigeria but the continent. He told us in the first instance that there was a respectable tradition and culture which still subsists today. To Chinua Achebe, Africa owes a lot of gratitude to rediscover her confidence. The legacy of this man for Nigeria and for Africa is a legacy I believe will serve this continent a long time to come."
When the microphone was passed to Ihedioha, he extolled the virtue of the venerable literary scholar. "We at the National Assembly have been celebrating the Iroko, icon and ambassador extraordinary, a man of many parts who has elevated Nigeria so highly. His , I dare to say, ranks next to those of Nelson Mandela. His life remains a source of national accomplishment."
Governor Obi who also doubled as an unofficial Master of Ceremony on the occasion was full of praises for the president for coming to Ogidi all for Achebe. He told the president: "You gave him an award but he rejected it. If it were before now, you probably would not have come. But you are here now. That shows the deep respect you have for Achebe and his people. The bank account you have opened for Ndigbo is swelling. I believe one day, they will draw from it and pay you back. We will be behind you and with you."
Speaking to the crowd, the Ghanaian President, Mahama, said Achebe even in Ghana shaped his years with his ground-breaking book, Things Fall Apart. He said: "It is with great sadness that I join you here today to mourn Chinua Achebe, a man I greatly admired," describing him as "an icon of African literature that shaped my epic year especially with his book Things Fall Apart."
The Ghanaian Head of State, also a writer, recalled with nostalgic feeling how through his editor, he sent Achebe the manuscript of his inaugural works, asking for a quote and he obliged him. He further recalled that Achebe on two separate occasions extended invitations to him to give a lecture at the university where he was teaching in the USA, but on both occasions, he could not make it as he was busy with electioneering campaigns. "But it was with great respect that I met him in the twilight of his days. Now, that lecture, I'm going to give at that university in his honour."
He expressed gratitude to God for the life Achebe chose to live, saying, "he would be remembered as a writer but more than that, he was a lion. He made it possible for people like me to fulfil our destiny.
"We mourn the passage of a great literary icon. Thank you for showing us that it can be done. I dare say that Chinua Achebe will never die."
The atmosphere in the church turned nostalgic when members of Government College Umuahia Old Boys Association filed out to pay their last respect to their fallen colleague and one of their leading lights. When the old men marched first, they first circled Achebe's casket, before marshalling out in his honour. Each spotting a red jacket upon black trousers and stripe tie, they proved a delight to watch. They were led by an unidentified professor in white skirt made of hand-woven cloth and a flowing gown to match. And later, the representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Canon Wheeler, made a presentation to the family of the Achebes. The item was not disclosed.
Then came President Jonathan with the speech everyone was waiting to hear. Beginning on a note of thanksgiving to God for the life of Achebe, he later went on a humorous note, wondering whether the scholar loved his books more that his wife, Christy Achebe. "I come here today to use this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation to God. But let me also pay my tribute to Mama Christy Achebe and other members of the Achebe family.
"I was not privileged to have direct interactions with Chinua Achebe when he was alive, but I have interacted with people like him who are so involved with their academics. And sometimes, they even forget their entire family. So when I see Mama Christy, I'm left wondering whether he loved you more than his books or his books more than you. He was a great man; we thank God and believed that God will help the family.
"Achebe was a philosopher, and all philosophers used a particular subject to express their thinking. So Achebe used literature, the subject he loved very well to express his ideas about life. I read his book Things Fall Apart in 1972 while I was in the secondary school. In it, he made references to our colonial history and the clash of cultures. The emphasis is that the white man put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart. And what are those things, our own value system. What he was saying is that we the African and Nigerian people have lost our value system and have fallen apart.
"Then in 1983, he wrote The Trouble with Nigeria. Achebe told us that there is nothing wrong with the air we breathe in Nigeria; there is nothing wrong with our soil ... and the water we drink. The problem is the political leadership.
"In 1958, Achebe had already known that something was fundamentally wrong with Nigeria. In the last book he wrote last year, There Was a Country, he said on page 61 '...within six years ...of tragic colonial manipulation, Nigeria was already a cesspool of corruption and misrule....' Now the question we have got to ask those of us holding political offices today is, 'have we changed from that?'
"So if we are burying Achebe who wrote the book There was a country, it is for us and our future leaders to work very hard to ensure that by the time Achebe's grandson will begin to write, he will say there is a country. Therefore, all of us must work very hard to change this country.
"All of us who have read Achebe's latest book will acknowledge that one thing he was critical about were elections. But one thing he appreciated was that in 2011 elections, there were significant improvements. Therefore all of us must work together for our children to know that there is a country."
Then having been told that St Philip's Primary School which Achebe attended, had precipitously depreciated, Dr Jonathan and the Ghanaian president elected to give the institution a lifeline to the delight of the people who responded with a thunderous applause.
Then, on behalf of the Achebes, Dr Ikechukwu, Achebe's eldest son thanked all and sundry for gracing the event. He went on to give the money realised at the occasion to assist the family to the church and urged her to continue her good works.
Then from the church, Achebe's remains moved to the scholar's family compound where he would be laid to rest in the mausoleum which was still being prepared for the ceremony. It would be recalled that early that morning, Idichie Ogidi (Ogidi elders had sounded their long, white traditional horn to flag off the funeral. It took place at the community's town Hall.
Only a handful of people were allowed into the family compound as a way of managing the crowd. Even when there was so much to entertain the guests at the church field, over 10,000 people preferred to see off their hero on his way to eternity. Right in front of the compound, every inch of space was taken up by a surging crowd with the motorway effectively blocked. Various teams of the Abiriba Wars dancers from Abia State held every one spellbound with their magical performances. Other traditional dance parties also thrilled, even as security agents struggled to keep the crowd at bay.
Then at 2.45pm, the man of the people breezed into the compound, escorted by FRSC outriders blaring their way through, accompanied by hundreds of security agents. Governor Obi, Anyaoku and others were in the party too. Shortly before 3.35 pm, like a jet plane ready to take off, Achebe was set for burial, thus rubbishing earlier speculations that he would be buried at night.
Amid cheers and delightful renditions from a life band, the undertakers carried him shoulder high into the mausoleum where he now rests. And soon after the ceremony, everyone went away, heads bowed.
But Bishop Nwosu insists Achebe lives. "You can not bury this one," he thundered. "If you bury him, where will you leave his Things Fall Apart, his Arrow of God? And where will you bury There Was a Country? Then he added: "No way; this one is immortal."
Via: Sun News Online