Remembering Achebe: My Fondest Memory

 

In 1988, just fresh from youth service, I had attended the Association of Nigerian Authors Conference held at the University of Calabar. Achebe was also there. The conference participants travelled to the Obudu Cattle Ranch (that's what it was called back then) and spent one pristine, unspoilt night sitting at Achebe's feet, listening to him tell us african tales by the wood fires.

The night was so cold, you could use a hug, the night was clear, the air was pure oxygen and l could reach out and touch the stars... It was a night made for loving life.

Brings to mind those classic Nduka lines:

''The night is so communal,
I can hold it close and offer it a bowl of rice''

I think Achebe was all about possibilities. What a writer could achieve  with mind and art and God's favour. Things Fall Apart is a book meant to be written , to shape the destiny of what is called African Literature. Achebe was a man of courage- a quality not to be bought with money,  who was not afraid to be different or to tell the truth without fear or favour. I am glad he had the time to give us 'There was A Country'. For those of us born at the end of Biafra, the book is a very important historical document.

 

As Mandela said, with Achebe, the prison walls of the mind fell down. Because of Achebe, our words will flow like fresh palm oil over hot roasted yams, making the world hungry for African Writing...

 

 Sleep well, Chinua Achebe, thank you for that night and for showing us how we can thrust our African experience into this 'Oyinbo' langauage.