By UDUMA KALU

THE death of Africa’s foremost novelist, Prof. Chinua Achebe, continues to resonate around the world. As Vanguard, yesterday, received a tribute from one of Africa’s versatile writers, Kenya’s Ngugi wa Thiong’o, a message from the BBC and a newsletter that South Africa remembers Chinua Achebe.

Ngugi, in his tribute, noted: “Achebe is synonymous with the Heinemann African Writers Series and African writing as a whole…. As the general editor of the Heinemann African Writers Series, he had a hand in the emergence of many other writers and their publication. As a person, he embodied wisdom that comes from a commitment to the middle way between extremes and, of course, courage in the face of personal tragedy!

“Achebe bestrides generations and geographies. Every country in Africa claims him as their own. Some sayings in his novels are quoted frequently as proverbs that contain universal wisdom. His passing marks the beginning of the end of an epoch.”

Chinua Achebe

In South Africa, the late novelist was honoured in a  ceremony, tagged memorial service in honour of Chinua Achebe. Achebe was honoured by the country’s SABC at Auckland Park, South Africa.

The BBC, yesterday, had a special programme for Achebe, the fourth since Achebe died, while South Africa’s Nadine Gordimer, Kenya’s Binyavanga Wainaina and two Nigerians, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Chibundu Onuzo were the guest speakers.

Describing Achebe as one of the 20th Century’s most important and best-loved authors, the BBC said Achebe’s death had saddened readers around the world, adding that although he apparently didn’t like the phrase, Achebe was often described as “the father of modern African literature” and certainly his first novel, Things Fall Apart, published when he was still in his twenties, launched a whole new literary generation, not least because it was a story of Africa told by an African.

“That book confronted the psychological and cultural damage caused by colonisation. But, over the years, Achebe also addressed the corruption of post-independent Nigerian politics, and the nightmare of military dictatorship.”