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An Evening with Chinua Achebe
- By Seun Akioye
- Published April 24, 2009
- Profiles & Interviews
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Seun Akioye
Seun Akioye is a freelance journalist in Nigeria. He has worked with different magazines in Nigeria and has extensive travel experience. He currently lives in Lagos with his family.
A pin drop silence descended upon the room as Chinua Achebe began to read from an opened page in Things Fall Apart (TFA). His voice was big, and a clear contradiction of his outward appearance. At first he read slowly and as the audience began to wallow in the spirituality of the content of his first novel Things Fall Apart, the only sound that could be heard was that of the rustling of paper generated from people following from their own open textbooks.
Achebe was now an old man, a resident professor of Languages and Literature at Bard College New York. Over the last weeks he had attended over 40 interviews and reviews celebrating the 50th anniversary of Things Fall Apart (1958). It was not a mean celebration, because Things Fall Apart is held in great esteem by countries all over the world and has been translated into over 45 languages, sold over 20 million copies and it is a standard reading book for high school and college students in the United States. It was therefore not surprising that his college in addition to the several activities that have been organised to celebrate the novel’s anniversary put together a panel discussion to further analyse the great work. That was the occasion at which Achebe was reading.
Leon Botstein, the President of the college was lavish in his praise of Achebe. Of course Achebe is the biggest name in the college, a name that puts it on world map that draws the attention of the world media to a hitherto unknown college in a sleepy backwoods area of New York State. “Professor Achebe has a deep concern for all human being” Botstein was saying in his introduction of Achebe. He went on to mention how his college has been proud to house the ailing professor since 1990. He admitted the western world has not always warmed up to him which made him “suffer oblivion and was not taken seriously”, but now he is a “great man.”
The panel included three Africans (counting Achebe) and three Americans. While the other members offered some useful insights into why TFA has become a phenomenon, many in the audience really wanted to hear Achebe speak. “I had no idea about any other thing to write when I wrote TFA” Achebe said when asked why he did that work. The timing was also crucial. It was a time that African countries were demanding independence from British imperialism, a time when Europeans were busy painting Africans a little lower than animals as evident in Joyce Cary’s Mr. Johnson and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness which Achebe once described as one which depersonalizes a portion of the human race," reducing a great culture to a handful of threats and grunts.
“It was a period of great fascination, excitement and hope; we knew all about colonialism, we were living it. We knew about the conversions of our people from the religions of our fathers to that of the visitors. Add all these up you get a society in ferment that was a wonderful time to be alive, it was a wonderful time to write TFA.” Achebe said.
There are certainly many lessons to be learnt from TFA and that precisely was what the panel set out to achieve that night. Simon Gikandi, a Kenyan and Professor of English at Princeton University admitted that the book spoke to African sensibility and in the years following its publication was considered a sacred text “a foundational text for African identity.” Achebe defined it this way “We had something before us, it was a sacred mission a mandate to restore your name. Up till that time Africa has received quite a bit of bashing, Africa was presented as one without a voice, but anyone who grew up in my village for example knew that the elders of this community were great orators, men who could use words to change a critical situation. Men like my father, I saw them too, who were not faithful to the African religion, so Africa was not without a voice like some people want us to believe, that was a mission we set out to achieve,” Achebe told the mainly white audience.
It was difficult not to love this old African. Here was a man so revered by the world yet had his root in Africa with its attendant stigmatization and stereotypes. The evening wore on with appreciative glances from the few Africans and African Americans present. It was one of those few occasions that their colour commands respect; it was time to bask in the euphoria of the moment.
Achebe’s entrance that night was not without some excitement. He was given a standing ovation as he was wheeled into the hall. He was dressed in what has become his trademark uniform: a dark suit, white round neck shirt and a black beret that fits on his head like that of Boys Scout, he cuts a picture of a compassionate grandfather who tire easily by un relentless grandchildren when he talks.
Getting Chinua Achebe for an interview is no mean feat. Sometimes you have to stalk him. Understandably, he has been overwhelmed by the media attention especially from the West celebrating the anniversary of his book. As a Nigerian journalist, it is no crime to aspire to a preferential treatment, a close up interview perhaps or spending a whole day with the Nigerian ambassador would not be a bad idea. But that was not to be, the old man was wisely guarded from the prying eyes of the public. Even though he is a visiting lecturer at Bard College, he hardly attends regular lectures nowadays. One needs a good link to him in order to book an interview that is if the old man would agree. “You want to see Chinua Achebe?” A student asked and said in low tones almost like a conspiracy “come back on Friday, there will be a lecture and he will be there.”
Talking to Achebe at the panel review was almost an impossible task, what with the throng of friends and well wishers wanting to either congratulate him or discuss some salient points in his book, others have come for autographs. I motioned to the security detail that I have come all the way from Nigeria with a very urgent message for Achebe. The message was communicated to him and for some fleeting seconds he looked down the podium and motioned me to come up.
“You are from Lagos what do you want?” he asked frankly.
It was an impossible situation become reality. So much news have been made out of the fact that he declined the title of the Commander of the Federal Republic in protest over the state of affairs in Nigeria, which has become somewhat a moral standard for Western media and academia. Every speech about him must end somehow like this; “Achebe refused the title of the second highest honour in his country of NIGERIA, in protest against the bad state of affairs in his home country.” Now, with a new administration in place which has pledged commitment to the rule of law would he receive such honour now if it comes his way again?
He thought for a while. “I cannot say if I will take it or not, at least not right now, I am still studying events back home and I cannot give you any definite answer now.”
But would he consider it?
“Yes I will consider it,” he replied.
Achebe enjoys unparalleled goodwill among the staff and students of Bard College. A predominantly white college, yet almost everyone knew who he was. One could see the glow in the eyes of the students at the mention of his name.
“Oh you are from Achebe’s country, yes I know him but I don’t take his course.”That would be a standard response from any student be it a freshman, sophomore, or senior. Then a handshake followed by a few of those stereotyped questions about Africa and it might end with a hug.
Achebe is not altogether immune to the accolades he receives all over the world. He lives in a comfortable bungalow which was built for him by the college and which sustains his infirmity. Even though Bard College is not one of the most pleasant tourists’ sites in New York, he still receives the attention of the world media right there. On the evening of the panel discussion, he was treated to a sumptuous dinner. Watching all the attention being given to him one cannot but wonder if there is still any place in his heart for Nigeria.
“Do you know why I am abroad?” he asked in return, his face full of sadness. Momentarily he stopped picking from the plate containing some stick meat and pies, lowered his head and spoke almost in a whisper, barely distinguishable from the noise of the diners.
“My reason for staying abroad is medical, it is not because I fancy America, I am not here because of the reason other people come here (greener pastures). The fact is that I can’t be home now, but here I can work and live (with adequate facilities to aid his mobility). I will love to be home someday, I will.”
Throughout the dinner he was still discussing TFA, but his face lit up when you mention Arrow of God a novel he wrote in 1964. “So you have read Arrow of God thank you. Do you know that I wrote that book as an upgrade on Things Fall Apart, it is a very good book.”
“And the language is elevated too” He agreed nodding his head.
But the story of Okonkwo’s rise and fall in TFA will not go away as people around the world continue to find a replicate of themselves either in the protagonist or in the society he so adamantly tried to protect from the influx of foreign culture. Achebe himself told a story.
“I had just finished a lecture and was sitting in my office when a Caucasian (White) boy came in. He asked if he can talk to me and I said fine. He sat down and looked me in the eye before saying ‘That man Okonkwo is my father’ I was stunned. But he repeated it two times, ‘That man Okonkwo is my father’. That boy was not even an African but Okonkwo speaks to his situation with his own real father.”
Such was the resonance with which TFA still sounds even in far distant places where Africa would be a land in the distant dreams. Achebe told of a letter he received from a college in South Korea many years ago. The students told him that the story of Okonkwo was the story of their country which shared the same history of colonization and the same resistance as displayed by Okonkwo against colonization. There are others however who viewed the book from a moralistic point of view. Such were students from Red Hook High School, New York. Teacher Christine Griffins who was a member of the panel came in from teaching the book to her students.
“My students are very emotional about this. We saw the masculine side of Okonkwo and we also saw him at a point displaying his softer side when he tried to look for his daughter who had been carried away. When he died, my students were very sad, they felt he was only trying to defend his culture from invaders which anyone could have done too.”
That culture Achebe explained was what Okonkwo did not really know. “Okonkwo was fighting to defend his culture, but he didn’t really know the culture. From all he did, there was a silent voice also telling him to remember compassion, mercy. Getting him out of this culture makes it possible for this culture to renegotiate its future.” A general murmur of agreement greeted this astonishing revelation. But he would not want to be represented for any character in the book especially as regards Okonkwo’s perceived masculinity and disdain for anything feminine.
“That is one aspect that has often troubled me. Some of my readers think I support Okonkwo’s outlook on females, some even almost accused me of beating my wife. Let me say that the book does not represent me in anyway.” General laughter.
Achebe’s children joined in the singing of his praise. His daughter, Mrs. Chinelo Ejueyitchie said the novel was the first to challenge the misrepresentation of Africans. On having such a father as Achebe, “We are blessed to have him as a father. He taught us respect for people, not taking things for granted. He made us read all manners of novels including Amos Tutuola, my father had a whole library of books from authors all over the world. We learn to listen because other people have wisdom too.”
The last statement is hardly surprising because one of Achebe’s popular phases in his books is “wisdom is like a goatskin bag, every man carries his own.” That wisdom he said lies with his root, his people who are the inspiration for his books, and to them he hopes to return some day. While Achebe was being celebrated abroad, he was not being forgotten at home. A day after the panel review in New York, the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) organised a series of lectures to mark the anniversary. There was the adaptation of the book on stage, visits to historical sites in Anambra state which inspired the novel like Ogbunike cave, Idemili River, the oracle of the hills and the cave, the old colonial office.
Speaking Ambassador Segun Olusola begged ANA to bring Achebe home. “Please pass my message to Chinua that we would like to see him in this country. Tell him things are going to get better.” Coincidentally, the night before, Achebe had told Compass in far away America, “I am glad that I have been appreciated back home and in Africa. I am very happy to hear ANA planning series of programmes to celebrate TFA. I only wish I could be there.” This last part was said in such a low tone with traces of sadness that has come to characterise his reference to home and desire to be back there.
Achebe was born the son of a clergyman, Isaiah Okafor on November 16, 1930. He received his education at Government College Umuahia and University College Ibadan, where the idea of TFA was first generated. He then received a Bachelor of Arts from London University after which he studied broadcasting. Achebe helped to nourish the emerging new literature in Nigeria in the 1950’s and he is currently considered as one of the finest and most original writers in English language.
Achebe’s broadcasting career was forced to a halt during the civil unrest of 1966 that eventually led to the civil war. He was a particular target because of the prophetic nature of his novel ‘A man of the people’. The next year he turned to academics accepting a position as a senior research fellow at the University of Nigeria Nsukka. Between 1971 and 1984, he edited series of literary magazines and was made Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Nsukka in 1985. He is a recipient of more than 30 honorary degrees; and an honorary foreign fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. But the biggest literary award was the 2007 Man Booker International Prize, given in alternate years to a living author for a body of work.
Many scholars who came to the event that night were truly amazed at meeting Achebe. “There are so many people who want to talk to me. I think I have done enough for you. Now I must try and eat my food before seeing others. I will not answer any question again.” He said this with a note of finality, turned away to greet another fan after which he was wheeled away into a corner where he could eat without distractions.
Eighteen years is a long time to be away from one’s clan. And as Achebe said ‘a man’s place is not always there waiting for him, as soon as he left, someone else rose and filled it.’ In Achebe’s absence, master storytellers have risen in his home, many young and ambitious. The troubling question is will Achebe’s place among his people be assured when he returns home? If the events celebrating the anniversary of TFA are any indicator, Achebe’s place in modern literature not only in his clan but also in the world may be a hard void to fill.
Achebe was now an old man, a resident professor of Languages and Literature at Bard College New York. Over the last weeks he had attended over 40 interviews and reviews celebrating the 50th anniversary of Things Fall Apart (1958). It was not a mean celebration, because Things Fall Apart is held in great esteem by countries all over the world and has been translated into over 45 languages, sold over 20 million copies and it is a standard reading book for high school and college students in the United States. It was therefore not surprising that his college in addition to the several activities that have been organised to celebrate the novel’s anniversary put together a panel discussion to further analyse the great work. That was the occasion at which Achebe was reading.
Leon Botstein, the President of the college was lavish in his praise of Achebe. Of course Achebe is the biggest name in the college, a name that puts it on world map that draws the attention of the world media to a hitherto unknown college in a sleepy backwoods area of New York State. “Professor Achebe has a deep concern for all human being” Botstein was saying in his introduction of Achebe. He went on to mention how his college has been proud to house the ailing professor since 1990. He admitted the western world has not always warmed up to him which made him “suffer oblivion and was not taken seriously”, but now he is a “great man.”
The panel included three Africans (counting Achebe) and three Americans. While the other members offered some useful insights into why TFA has become a phenomenon, many in the audience really wanted to hear Achebe speak. “I had no idea about any other thing to write when I wrote TFA” Achebe said when asked why he did that work. The timing was also crucial. It was a time that African countries were demanding independence from British imperialism, a time when Europeans were busy painting Africans a little lower than animals as evident in Joyce Cary’s Mr. Johnson and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness which Achebe once described as one which depersonalizes a portion of the human race," reducing a great culture to a handful of threats and grunts.
“It was a period of great fascination, excitement and hope; we knew all about colonialism, we were living it. We knew about the conversions of our people from the religions of our fathers to that of the visitors. Add all these up you get a society in ferment that was a wonderful time to be alive, it was a wonderful time to write TFA.” Achebe said.
There are certainly many lessons to be learnt from TFA and that precisely was what the panel set out to achieve that night. Simon Gikandi, a Kenyan and Professor of English at Princeton University admitted that the book spoke to African sensibility and in the years following its publication was considered a sacred text “a foundational text for African identity.” Achebe defined it this way “We had something before us, it was a sacred mission a mandate to restore your name. Up till that time Africa has received quite a bit of bashing, Africa was presented as one without a voice, but anyone who grew up in my village for example knew that the elders of this community were great orators, men who could use words to change a critical situation. Men like my father, I saw them too, who were not faithful to the African religion, so Africa was not without a voice like some people want us to believe, that was a mission we set out to achieve,” Achebe told the mainly white audience.It was difficult not to love this old African. Here was a man so revered by the world yet had his root in Africa with its attendant stigmatization and stereotypes. The evening wore on with appreciative glances from the few Africans and African Americans present. It was one of those few occasions that their colour commands respect; it was time to bask in the euphoria of the moment.
Achebe’s entrance that night was not without some excitement. He was given a standing ovation as he was wheeled into the hall. He was dressed in what has become his trademark uniform: a dark suit, white round neck shirt and a black beret that fits on his head like that of Boys Scout, he cuts a picture of a compassionate grandfather who tire easily by un relentless grandchildren when he talks.
Getting Chinua Achebe for an interview is no mean feat. Sometimes you have to stalk him. Understandably, he has been overwhelmed by the media attention especially from the West celebrating the anniversary of his book. As a Nigerian journalist, it is no crime to aspire to a preferential treatment, a close up interview perhaps or spending a whole day with the Nigerian ambassador would not be a bad idea. But that was not to be, the old man was wisely guarded from the prying eyes of the public. Even though he is a visiting lecturer at Bard College, he hardly attends regular lectures nowadays. One needs a good link to him in order to book an interview that is if the old man would agree. “You want to see Chinua Achebe?” A student asked and said in low tones almost like a conspiracy “come back on Friday, there will be a lecture and he will be there.”
Talking to Achebe at the panel review was almost an impossible task, what with the throng of friends and well wishers wanting to either congratulate him or discuss some salient points in his book, others have come for autographs. I motioned to the security detail that I have come all the way from Nigeria with a very urgent message for Achebe. The message was communicated to him and for some fleeting seconds he looked down the podium and motioned me to come up.
“You are from Lagos what do you want?” he asked frankly.
It was an impossible situation become reality. So much news have been made out of the fact that he declined the title of the Commander of the Federal Republic in protest over the state of affairs in Nigeria, which has become somewhat a moral standard for Western media and academia. Every speech about him must end somehow like this; “Achebe refused the title of the second highest honour in his country of NIGERIA, in protest against the bad state of affairs in his home country.” Now, with a new administration in place which has pledged commitment to the rule of law would he receive such honour now if it comes his way again?
He thought for a while. “I cannot say if I will take it or not, at least not right now, I am still studying events back home and I cannot give you any definite answer now.”
But would he consider it?
“Yes I will consider it,” he replied.
Achebe enjoys unparalleled goodwill among the staff and students of Bard College. A predominantly white college, yet almost everyone knew who he was. One could see the glow in the eyes of the students at the mention of his name.
“Oh you are from Achebe’s country, yes I know him but I don’t take his course.”That would be a standard response from any student be it a freshman, sophomore, or senior. Then a handshake followed by a few of those stereotyped questions about Africa and it might end with a hug.
Achebe is not altogether immune to the accolades he receives all over the world. He lives in a comfortable bungalow which was built for him by the college and which sustains his infirmity. Even though Bard College is not one of the most pleasant tourists’ sites in New York, he still receives the attention of the world media right there. On the evening of the panel discussion, he was treated to a sumptuous dinner. Watching all the attention being given to him one cannot but wonder if there is still any place in his heart for Nigeria.
“Do you know why I am abroad?” he asked in return, his face full of sadness. Momentarily he stopped picking from the plate containing some stick meat and pies, lowered his head and spoke almost in a whisper, barely distinguishable from the noise of the diners.
“My reason for staying abroad is medical, it is not because I fancy America, I am not here because of the reason other people come here (greener pastures). The fact is that I can’t be home now, but here I can work and live (with adequate facilities to aid his mobility). I will love to be home someday, I will.”
Throughout the dinner he was still discussing TFA, but his face lit up when you mention Arrow of God a novel he wrote in 1964. “So you have read Arrow of God thank you. Do you know that I wrote that book as an upgrade on Things Fall Apart, it is a very good book.”
“And the language is elevated too” He agreed nodding his head.
But the story of Okonkwo’s rise and fall in TFA will not go away as people around the world continue to find a replicate of themselves either in the protagonist or in the society he so adamantly tried to protect from the influx of foreign culture. Achebe himself told a story.
“I had just finished a lecture and was sitting in my office when a Caucasian (White) boy came in. He asked if he can talk to me and I said fine. He sat down and looked me in the eye before saying ‘That man Okonkwo is my father’ I was stunned. But he repeated it two times, ‘That man Okonkwo is my father’. That boy was not even an African but Okonkwo speaks to his situation with his own real father.”
Such was the resonance with which TFA still sounds even in far distant places where Africa would be a land in the distant dreams. Achebe told of a letter he received from a college in South Korea many years ago. The students told him that the story of Okonkwo was the story of their country which shared the same history of colonization and the same resistance as displayed by Okonkwo against colonization. There are others however who viewed the book from a moralistic point of view. Such were students from Red Hook High School, New York. Teacher Christine Griffins who was a member of the panel came in from teaching the book to her students.
“My students are very emotional about this. We saw the masculine side of Okonkwo and we also saw him at a point displaying his softer side when he tried to look for his daughter who had been carried away. When he died, my students were very sad, they felt he was only trying to defend his culture from invaders which anyone could have done too.”
That culture Achebe explained was what Okonkwo did not really know. “Okonkwo was fighting to defend his culture, but he didn’t really know the culture. From all he did, there was a silent voice also telling him to remember compassion, mercy. Getting him out of this culture makes it possible for this culture to renegotiate its future.” A general murmur of agreement greeted this astonishing revelation. But he would not want to be represented for any character in the book especially as regards Okonkwo’s perceived masculinity and disdain for anything feminine.
“That is one aspect that has often troubled me. Some of my readers think I support Okonkwo’s outlook on females, some even almost accused me of beating my wife. Let me say that the book does not represent me in anyway.” General laughter.
Achebe’s children joined in the singing of his praise. His daughter, Mrs. Chinelo Ejueyitchie said the novel was the first to challenge the misrepresentation of Africans. On having such a father as Achebe, “We are blessed to have him as a father. He taught us respect for people, not taking things for granted. He made us read all manners of novels including Amos Tutuola, my father had a whole library of books from authors all over the world. We learn to listen because other people have wisdom too.”
The last statement is hardly surprising because one of Achebe’s popular phases in his books is “wisdom is like a goatskin bag, every man carries his own.” That wisdom he said lies with his root, his people who are the inspiration for his books, and to them he hopes to return some day. While Achebe was being celebrated abroad, he was not being forgotten at home. A day after the panel review in New York, the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) organised a series of lectures to mark the anniversary. There was the adaptation of the book on stage, visits to historical sites in Anambra state which inspired the novel like Ogbunike cave, Idemili River, the oracle of the hills and the cave, the old colonial office.
Speaking Ambassador Segun Olusola begged ANA to bring Achebe home. “Please pass my message to Chinua that we would like to see him in this country. Tell him things are going to get better.” Coincidentally, the night before, Achebe had told Compass in far away America, “I am glad that I have been appreciated back home and in Africa. I am very happy to hear ANA planning series of programmes to celebrate TFA. I only wish I could be there.” This last part was said in such a low tone with traces of sadness that has come to characterise his reference to home and desire to be back there.
Achebe was born the son of a clergyman, Isaiah Okafor on November 16, 1930. He received his education at Government College Umuahia and University College Ibadan, where the idea of TFA was first generated. He then received a Bachelor of Arts from London University after which he studied broadcasting. Achebe helped to nourish the emerging new literature in Nigeria in the 1950’s and he is currently considered as one of the finest and most original writers in English language.
Achebe’s broadcasting career was forced to a halt during the civil unrest of 1966 that eventually led to the civil war. He was a particular target because of the prophetic nature of his novel ‘A man of the people’. The next year he turned to academics accepting a position as a senior research fellow at the University of Nigeria Nsukka. Between 1971 and 1984, he edited series of literary magazines and was made Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Nsukka in 1985. He is a recipient of more than 30 honorary degrees; and an honorary foreign fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. But the biggest literary award was the 2007 Man Booker International Prize, given in alternate years to a living author for a body of work.
Many scholars who came to the event that night were truly amazed at meeting Achebe. “There are so many people who want to talk to me. I think I have done enough for you. Now I must try and eat my food before seeing others. I will not answer any question again.” He said this with a note of finality, turned away to greet another fan after which he was wheeled away into a corner where he could eat without distractions.
Eighteen years is a long time to be away from one’s clan. And as Achebe said ‘a man’s place is not always there waiting for him, as soon as he left, someone else rose and filled it.’ In Achebe’s absence, master storytellers have risen in his home, many young and ambitious. The troubling question is will Achebe’s place among his people be assured when he returns home? If the events celebrating the anniversary of TFA are any indicator, Achebe’s place in modern literature not only in his clan but also in the world may be a hard void to fill.
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1 Response to "An Evening with Chinua Achebe" 
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said this on 01 Jun 2009 9:30:26 PM UTC
The words in this interview stirred something restless and desirable in my soul. Something which can be defined as being uniquely African.
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