Chinua Achebe was a Nigerian novelist and poet. He is globally regarded as the source figure of African modern literature. He wrote several novels, among which “Things Fall Apart” is the most prominent one.
Here Are The Important Things That Happened In The Life Of Chinua Achebe;
Early Life And Education
Albert Chinụalụmọgụ Achebe was born on 16 November 1930 into a family of 8. His father was an evangelist and a teacher and his mother was the daughter of a blacksmith in Awka. She was a church women leader and a farmer. Chinua was born in Saint Simon’s church, Nneobi, near Ogidi village at the time when it was a territory of the British colonizers.
His father, Isaiah was among the early converts to Christianity from Ogidi. Isaiah stopped practicing the religion in the community but had to respect the tradition of the land while still a Christian. Furthermore, Chinua’s parents changed to Christianity at the Protestant Church Mission Society (CMS) in Nigeria.
In 1948, he was among the first admitted students( on scholarship) who opened the first university in Nigeria, the University of Ibadan (UI), where he studied medicine.
Storytelling
Storytelling was a core part of the Igbo culture, most especially the Ogidi community. Achebe’s mother and his elder sister, Zinobia always told him stories while growing up. He loved being told stories, as he always requested for them.
Achebe decided to become critical of Western literature during his university studies about the African continent, especially Joseph Conrad‘s Heart of Darkness.
After reading Joyce Cary‘s Mister Johnson, he chose to become a writer because the book misrepresented Nigeria. Furthermore, the book portrays Nigerians as buffoons and savages, and Achebe wasn’t pleased with it.
As a result, he quit medicine and decided to pursue his studies in English, history and theology. This made him lost his scholarship and required extra fees from him. Although, the government provided some money and his brother also gave him money for Achebe to be able to go on with his studies.
His Debut
Chinua Achebe wrote his first article in 1950 for the University’s magazine, University Herald. The piece was titled “Polar Undergraduate”. In the article, he celebrated his brilliant-minded classmates, after which he followed with essays about the academia philosophy. He was the Herald editor for a school session.
Furthermore, he wrote and publicized his first short story, “In a Village Church” during his editor role. “The Old Order In Conflict” (1952), and “Dead Men’s Path” (1953) are among the short stories he wrote while in UI.
He also took an interest in writing about Christian history and African traditional religions when Professor Geoffery Parrinder arrived at the University to teach courses on comparative religion.
Chinua Achebe came out with a second-class degree from UI. He wasn’t pleased with what he came out with, as he wanted a first-class degree. This created doubt in him on what next to do.
He contemplated going back to Ogidi village but a friend visiting convinced him to go for a teaching job at the Merchants of Life school at Oba. The school was located in an a bush area. The area is believed to be tainted by unclean spirits.
Teaching And Producing
Achebe taught in the school and left in 1954. He moved to Lagos and started working for the Nigerian Broadcasting Service (NBS). NBS was a radio platform brought up by the colonial government in 1933. He worked in the Talks Department, where he made and prepared scripts for oral delivery on the radio.
With this, he mastered the thin lines between written and spoken language, as the skill helped him in his realistic dialogue later in the future.
Moreover, his coming to Lagos was pivotal to his career as he basked in the social and political activities he witnessed. This experience opened his mind as he started to work on a novel.
In 1956, Chinua Achebe was among the staff selected to attend the staff training school for the BBC in London. This was his first travel outside the country and an opportunity for advancement in his technical production skills. It was also an opportunity to get feedback on his novel.
In London, he came in contact with a renowned novelist, Gilbert Phelps and shared his manuscript with him. Phelps was receptive towards him and asked Chinua Achebe if he could share it with his editor and publishers but Achebe rejected the offer.
Things Fall Apart
He got back from London and he started editing and revising his novel. Chinua Achebe titled it “Things Fall Apart”. It was named after a line in one of the poems of W.B. Yeats, “The Second Coming“. The 2nd and 3rd parts of the book didn’t make it to the novel. He only left the story of a yam farmer, Okonkwo, who lives in colonial Nigeria and finds it difficult with his father’s legacy as a debtor.
He saw a London manuscript service advertisement in ‘The Spectator‘ and decided to send them his manuscript along with a fee of £22. Achebe didn’t get any feedback from them, so he told his boss at the NBS, Angela Beattie, about it and asked for her visit to the London company during her visits to the country. Angela did, and Achebe got a reply from the typing service immediately.
The following year, with the help of the agent Gilbert Phelps recommended to Achebe, the novel was sent to many publishing houses. It got rejected by some because they claimed African fictions has not market potential. However, the executives at Heinemann Publishing read it and decided to publish the book. They published 2000 hard copies of “Things Fall Apart” and they didn’t add or remove any word from the novel.
“Things Fall Apart” received many positive reviews after it was released. The British press received it so well. 72 hours after publication, it got praise from the international media such as; The Times Supplementary and The Observer. The Observer called it “an excellent novel”. The novel got a mixed reception in Nigeria when it was released initially but later grew to become one of the best novels a Nigerian author has ever written.
No Longer At Ease
The success of “Things Fall Apart” earned Chinua Achebe a promotion at the NBS. He was to oversee and supervise the network’s Eastern Coverage.
Moreover, Achebe published “No Longer At Ease” in 1960. This book was about a civil servant in Lagos, Obi. Obi was the grandson of “Things Fall Apart” main character, who was caught up in the corruption in Lagos. He faced the same challenges of a Nigerian youth of his time. Few months after, Chinua Achebe received a Rockefeller fellowship, granting him six months of travel. Achebe called it the first important benefit of his writing career.
On his return back to Nigeria, he got another promotion at the NBS. He was promoted to the Director of External Broadcasating at the network. His main primary duty in the seat was to create the Voice of Nigeria Network (VON), which went live on New Year’s day in 1962.
However, VON failed to sustain its commitment after the then Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa declared a state of emergency in the western region.
Arrow Of God
In 1964, Achebe published his 3rd novel, Arrow of God. The novel was inspired by the story of an herbalist being jailed by a District Officer in 1959. Achebe also drew inspiration from the evacuation of Igbo objects from the area by archaeologist Thurstan Shaw a year later. These two histories were important in the making of Arrow of God.
Unsurprisingly, the novel got a lot of positive reviews. In 1974, a revised edition of the novel was released to rectify what Chinua Achebe called “certain structural weaknesses”. In addition, the novel cuts across the traditional Igbo tradition and Christianity.
A Man Of The People
Chinua Achebe published his 4th novel “A Man of the People” in 1966. The book is about a teacher who goes by the name Odili Samalu. The teacher is against a badly behaved Minister of Culture named Nanga for his Parliament seat. Achebe’s friend, John Pepper Clark who read the advance copy of the book made an announcement that goes thus;
Chinua, I know you are a prophet. Everything in this book has happened except a military coup!
John Pepper Clark declared
Shortly after a coup occurred after which there was a military crackdown which led to the death of 3000 people from the eastern region. As a result, it brought the attention of Chinua Achebe to the Nigerian Armed Forces, who believed he might have had foreknowledge about the coup.
Immediately he heard of him being wanted by the army, he put his pregnant wife on a squalid boat to the eastern part of Port Harcourt. They got there safely, but Christie (his wife) had a miscarriage. Achebe returned back to Ogidi afterward, as these cities were safe from the military because they were in the southeast.
When his family had settled down in Enugu, he started a publishing house with his friend, Christopher Okigbo. The publishing house was called Citadel Press. It was built to advance the quality of literature and to improve the number.
A story titled “How the Dog was Domesticated”. Chinua Achebe rewrote it into a story that tells the political instability in the country. The final title was “How the Leopard Got His Claws”.
Many years later, an officer told Chinua Achebe that the book was the most important thing to come out of Biafra.
Nigeria-Biafra War
The southeastern part of Nigeria decided to form the Republic of Biafra, breaking out from Nigeria, in May 1967. 2 months after, the Nigerian military went on an attack to die down the unlawful rebellion. During this war, the Achebe family nearly escaped death. However, Achebe’s friend, Okigbo was killed fighting in the war in August 1967. The loss hit Chinua Achebe so badly that he wrote a story “Dirge for Okigbo”. The story was in Igbo language but was later translated into English.
Furthermore, the Achebe family out of fear was forced to leave Enugu for Aba, the Biafran capital, as the war intensified. Throughout the war, Achebe was writing. His most creative work during this time were poems. Although, many of these poems were highlighted in his book published in 1971, “Beware, Soul Brother”. One of his most famous poems, “Refugee Mother and Child” was written during the war. Thee poem was about the suffering and loss he witnessed.
In addition, he accepted to become an ambassador for Biafra. He went on travel to European countries and North American cities to promote Biafra’s cause.
The war ended in 1970 and Achebe went home to Ogidi with his family. He got a job at the University of Nigeria (UNN), Nsukka, and was back in academia once again. However, he could not accept invitations to go to other countries because the Nigerian government canceled his passport due to his advocacy of Biafra.
Okike
Chinua Achebe started 2 magazines in 1971; the literary journal Okike and Nsukkascope, a publication in UNN. Okiki showcased African art, poetry and fiction. Achebe and the Okike committee created another cultural magazine, Uwa Ndi Igbo. It was to tell the indigenous stories of the Igbo culture. In 1972, he published “Girls at War“. It was a put together of short stories right from when he was in UI to the bloodshed. “Girls at War” was the book No. 100 in Heinemann’s African Writers Series.
In September 1972, Achebe was offered a professorship at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and he and his family moved to the United States.
He published his 5th novel “Anthills of the Savannah“. The fiction book was about a military coup in the West African nation of Kanga.
Retirement And Politics
After his service at the University of Massachusetts and the University of Connecticut, he made a return back to Nigeria in 1976. He had 3 goals he wanted to accomplish when he returned back to UNN; Complete the novel he was working on, restore Okike native publication, and continue his study of Igbo culture.
In October 1979, he won the first-ever Nigerian National Merit Award. chinua Achebe retired in 1981 and he focused more on editing Okike. He also became active in politics. Chinua Achebe became the national vice-president of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP). After the elections, he was in an heated argument with the newly elected governor of Kano. It almost turned into a physical fight. As a result, he abandoned party politics, as he expressed disappointment at the dishonesty of people involved.
Chinua Achebe spent most of his 1980s attending conferences and delivering speeches. In 1986, he was appointed president-general of the Ogidi Town Union which he reluctantly accepted. Later that year, he resigned as the editor of Okike.
Personal Life
On 10 September 1961, Chinua Achebe got married to Christie. The wedding ceremony was held in the Chapel of Resurrection at the University of Ibadan. Their union produces 4 children, 2 sons and 2 daughters. In 1966, Chinua Achebe released his first children’s book, “Chike and the River” to address some issues.
Legacy And Death
Chinua Achebe is seen as the most influential African writer of modern era. Furthermore, he has been called many names like “father of African literature”, “founding father of African literature”, ” father of the African novel in English”. However, Achebe rejected those names as he always saw them as patronising and eurocentric.
His book, “Things Fall Apart” has been widely regarded as the most important book in African literature. The book has sold over 20 million copies globally, translated into many languages. Chinua Achebe is the most read, studied, and translated African writer of all time.
On 21 March 2013, Chinua Achebe died from a short illness in Boston, America.
Conclusion
Chinua Achebe always still wrote no matter where he found himself. His passion for writing overshadowed all the things thrown at him during his lifetime.
His rise to success shows that passion, hard work, determination, and resilience are what you need to achieve greater heights, no matter where you come from. He is truly an inspiration to Africans and the world at large.
