Adieu Chinua Achibe

Chinua Achibe died this past weekend at the age of 82.  I know him best through his book "Things Fall Apart", which was published long ago in 1958, but continues to be a world literature classic (two of my children read it in their high school English classes).  He was a master of understatement, of telling hard truths in a way that was both unvarnished but also tolerable.  The book tells the story of the pervasive racism that was the norm during colonialism, and then it was replaced with a brutal military regime that carried different vices from their predesessors, but no less deadly to the people.  He began the dialogue of post-Colonial Africa.  He told the story not through the eyes of a cultural  European, but rather through the eyes of a cultural African.  He not only inspired the revival of African literature, he demonstrated the use of story telling as a political tool.  He also began the process of educating non-Africans to the culture of Nigerians, and the challenges that clashes between traditional culture and Western values presented in Africa.  He began as critical of colonizers, but he ended with criticism for corrupt African regimes and the people who tolerate such corruption.  As you might imagine, this did not make him popular at home, and he eventually immigrated from Africa, but he continued to write about his homeland.

So he had great influence on those who are not African--but more importantly, in terms of his legacy, is the effect he had on fellow Nigerians, and African writers across the continent.  This TED talk given by Chinamande Adiche eloquently and brilliantly describes the profound importance of Chinua  Achibe for Nigeria, Africa, and the rest of the world.  He allowed her to see that her stories, told her way, were valuable and legitimate.  She had read only European stories before reading him.  She thought that was the way to tell a story, and she did not know how to tell her story in that way.  He showed her that it could be done her way, and that others would understand and learn from her story telling.  He was a remarkable writer and while he will be missed, his impact, his ripple, goes on.