By Yemi Adebisi, Acting Head, Literary/Arts
When the President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, arrived Ogidi, Anambra State, the home country of the late novelist, Professor Chinua Achebe, in the company of President Goodluck Jonathan, during Achebe’s burial in May 2013, the atmosphere was charged with great enthusiasm from guests for this highly respected scholar and leader of Africa, especially for his love for literature.
He said literature, especially of the indigenous African , should be encouraged as he claimed he derived his empowerment through the pages of most of them.
“After Things Fall Apart, I read Achebe’s other novels and other African writers such as Wole Soyinka, Ngugi Wa Thiong’o and my own countrymen and women: Ayi Kwei Armah, Ama Ata Aidoo and Kofi Awoonor.
“This literature empowered me and others to believe in our ability to create change.
“They urged us to see the value of our cultural inheritance and the potential of our continent and its people.
“It was this vision that challenged many of us to pave the paths upon which we now find ourselves walking,” he said.
Mahama told the media how Achebe’s books inspired him in his foray into active politics.
In a nutshell, he claimed to have derived courage to lead partly through the lines of stories in the books of the father of African literature, Achebe, the icon he had encounter with through his books since 1970s when he was in secondary school.
“In the same way that Chinua Achebe’s books helped to foster the talent of countless writers in Africa’s post-colonial era, they also inspired a number of Africa’s current political leaders.
“Achebe had such influence on the African political landscape that three years ago he started convening an annual colloquium at Brown University where he was professor, that brought together leaders, scholars and artists to discuss strengthening democracy and peace on the African continent,” he said.
He recalled specifically how Things Fall Apart, the evergreen novel of the late sage, espoused his knowledge on the culture of Africa more than any other books.
“It was however the literature of Achebe, namely his classic novel Things Fall Apart that provided me with a larger context for the various maladies that were taking place on the continent. Reading that book was like a rite of passage.
“The books that I’d been reading previously were peopled with foreigners whose lives and concerns, though fascinating, bore no resemblance to mine. I read about Okonkwo, and his story resonated because it was rooted in a culture that felt familiar. ‘Storytelling has to do with power,’ said Achebe. ‘If you do not like someone’s story, write you own.’”
However, Mahama stressed that the books of Achebe also made it easy for him to portray the philosophy of change, an idea he has been nurturing from youth.
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