Odogwu Media's Blog

ANAMBRA AT 25: MY THOUGHTS FROM THE PAST

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THE MAN STOOD APART

When common trees fall, it’s no news. But when an ‘iroko’ falls, the forest ‘listens’! I was in my hometown, Agulu, in Anaocha Local Government Area of Anambra State; where the Governor of the state, Mr. Peter Obi also hails from, for an event during the last Easter holidays. Walking on that soil provoked some thoughts in me. I started thinking about many greats (men and women, dead and living) that the state has produced in ALL areas of human endeavour, with many of them being firsts in many respects in their various fields. Time and space will fail me to list them here. Little wonder Governor Peter Obi safely calls it ‘the greatest state in Nigeria’. Believe it or not, he has good facts to give credence to this claim. On the floor of the senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on Wednesday, May 15, 2013, Senator James Manager, an Ijaw man from Delta State also observed this and said, ‘Anambra is a very unique state in Nigeria’. Taking a good look at just the field of Literature, you would notice that a good number of writers who have done exploits for Nigeria on the world stage are from Anambra State. Cyprian Ekwensi, Christopher Okigbo, Professor Chukwuemeka Ike, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Chika Unigwe… and the most globally recognized among them all, Professor Chinualumogu Albert Achebe.

Born on 16th November, 1930, in Ogidi, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, he rose rapidly to global stardom. So colossal was his impact that all forms of media globally, had his demise as a major news item when it happened. Exactly 26 years before he ‘appeared’ on the ‘lifestage’; another global personality with roots also from Anambra State, first ‘appeared’ on 16th November, 1904, precisely in Zungeru, in present day Niger State, Nigeria. That man was Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe. They share the same birthday! Also worthy of note, is the fact that he (Achebe) died on World Poetry Day (Thursday, 21st March, 2013). Indeed, he was a man of letters. A man of uncommon destiny! According to his name, ‘Chinualumogu’ (Let God fight for me), God fought for him several times. Especially preserving his life after having a ghastly motor accident which would have taken him away from us 23 long years ago! He became paralyzed from waist down but enjoyed the benevolence of Divinity and said ‘yes’ to life, like he wrote, ‘Onye kwe, Chi ya e kwe’ (When a man says ‘yes’, his God says ‘yes’!). Obviously, he got a ‘yes’ response from ‘Chi-Ukwu’ in his lifetime! It was Albert Einstein, one of the greatest minds of all time, and Achebe’s namesake, who said: ‘Life is like riding a bicycle. To maintain you balance, you must keep moving’. So, Achebe, though physically challenged, kept moving! It’s simply axiomatic to say that few ‘vessels’ walk this earth with a smooth and rich blend of competence, compassion and CHARACTER! Achebe was a man who STOOD APART among men. He was a precocious genius and was very compassionate. But to me, because of the import of character in life, I celebrate him more for his very rare strength of character. Both his friends and foes are cock sure of the presence of this priceless quality in him. One of the most excellent human beings of all time, the great Abraham Lincoln in a letter to his son’s teacher, said: ‘Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him they are wrong. Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when everybody else is doing it. Teach him to listen to everyone, but teach him also to filter all that he hears on a screen of truth and take only the good that comes through. …….. Teach him to have sublime faith in himself, because then he will always have sublime faith in mankind, in God’! Achebe lived out every statement in the above ageless quote! He was never afraid nor shy to be the lonely voice in the crowd singing an unpopular but right ‘tune’! A great author said: ‘Trust is a better compliment than love'. He has a good point. Love can be given to just anybody but trust is only given to tested ‘vessels’. It is earned! The agents of destruction (‘leaders’) in our society may not have loved him (based on prejudice) but they trusted him to be a man of UNCOMMON CHARACTER! According to John Fitzgerald Kennedy, one of the greatest leaders of all time, ‘Conformity is the jailer of freedom and enemy of growth’. Achebe was never a conformist. Our ‘leaders’ know this better than any one else! Everyone (ESPECIALLY TODAY’S YOUTH) alive on the face of the earth has many positive things to learn from the way he invested and lived his time of life’! He came to the earth as a rare ‘vessel’ with both Art and Science well planted in him; just like Leonardo Da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Christopher Okigbo, T.M. Aluko, Cyprian Ekwensi, Elechi Amandi, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Uzodimma Iweala, this author.... Armed with this rare combination of aptitude in Art and Science, he initially chose to study Medicine, but was uncommonly decisive in switching to English when he ‘saw’ his destiny. And the rest is history! Also, he took African Literature to a higher level and debunked the laughable notion that Africa had no literature. This, he did, when he published (not when he wrote it) the masterpiece and classic, and one of the greatest books and ‘intellectual offspring’ of all time (Things Fall Apart) in 1958. At the very young age of 28! Indeed, he was a dab hand at writing! He voluntarily left medicine but became a master of masters in the science of words! He was a master storyteller who masterfully brought reality one can ‘touch’ out from fiction. Little wonder he said: ‘Art is man’s constant effort to create for himself a different order of reality from that which is given to him’! He was infectiously proud of his identity as an Igbo man, a Nigerian, an African, and as a black man; and humbly displayed this to the entire peoples of the world! Oh! What a joy it is for me, to be from the same state (Anambra) as this great icon, colossus and legend. Na true say dem say success get many relatives. See as I dey celebrate am. Haba! If na you nko! His family, Ogidi, Anambra state, Nigeria, Africa and humanity has lost a very significant ‘member’. Achebe was a freedom fighter and advocate who knowing full well that ‘the pen is mightier than the sword’, used words as his tool for liberation. This positive fighting spirit, he had in common with another unique man in his ‘class’. One of the most respected and most influential human beings that ever walked on the surface of the earth, Nelson Mandela, who aptly said: ‘For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others’! Even the Almighty God knows that Mandela is eminently qualified to make this statement! Achebe also epitomized the hard truth in those precious words! As Chinualumogu Albert ACHEBE (November 16, 1930 – March 21, 2013), the ‘iroko’ who STOOD APART in the ‘forest’ finally exits the ‘stage’, I shall ALWAYS remember that his life made a vivid statement: ALL balloons CAN fly high, NOT because of their COLOUR (CONTAINER), BUT because of their CONTENT! That indeed, NO RACE IS INFERIOR (Acts 10:34-36)! He was a prodigy who grew to make a prodigious ‘statement’; a sage because his old age was NOT WITHOUT ‘salt’. ‘Chi-Ukwu Okike’ (The Almighty God of Creation), blessed him with good life duration and he (Achebe) said ‘yes’ with a massive ‘donation’ to humanity! ‘Okosisi’, ‘Agu’, ‘Dike’, Nna anyi ukwu’, ‘jee nke oma’! I will tell my unborn children when they do ‘arrive’, that there was a man of the people who ‘departed’ sometime ago. That unlike most men, he was not at ease when things almost fell apart in our beloved country. He knew the trouble with Nigeria and proffered practical solutions. He obviously deserved the Nobel Prize for Literature but was not awarded it for no objective reason. Nevertheless, that did not dwarf his greatness in any way because he was a king among kings in the field of Literature. He was a selfless political activist and an exemplary advocate of good leadership! After an enviable and eventful life, the man died BUT while alive, even with his share of imperfection like us all, mortals, HE STOOD APART among most men in many positive ways. Fellow young blacks, we SHALL continue to make awesome impact and our children are coming to show to the rest of the world that the beautiful ones are not yet born! ‘Nna anyi ukwu Achebe’, IMEKA OFUMA, DAALU! KA CHI FO!

This article was written and first published in 2013.

Chika Benjamin Okpalugbo
Location: Agulu, Anambra State, Nigeria
Phone No: 07031355890
Email: [email protected]