“The global outpouring of eulogies over the passage of renowned novelist and critic, Professor Chinualumogu Achebe, clearly testifies to the profound respect he enjoyed all over the world. The death of the outstanding author in the United States, at the age of 82 is, indeed, a loss to Literature, Nigeria and the world. Chinua Achebe shot to the global literary stage with the iconic novel, Things Fall Apart, in 1958.
The novel, which was translated into more than 50 languages, sold over 12 million copies worldwide. The book put African Literature in the mainstream of world literature, telling the story of an authentic African community in the throes of colonialism. As a constructive griot, Achebe exposed Europe’s jaundiced and dismissive perspectives of the continent in the strong belief that Africans had their own perception of life contrary to Eurocentric misrepresentations.
His books captured the idyllic African perspective in a way that caught the imagination of the world and defined the awe with which he was regarded at home and abroad. Achebe’s pioneering and seminal contributions to the development of African Literature, particularly through the African Writers’ Series that threw up great writers on the continent, are immeasurable and unrivalled. He was a broadcaster, university lecturer and social critic who, in different works, courageously dissected the Nigerian condition and highlighted the problems plaguing the country.”. – Daily Sun
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