The remains of the departed literary icon, Professor Chinua Achebe arrived Enugu at exactly 12.35pm today.

The remains of celebrated writer, Chinua Achebe arrived Abuja, the federal capital territory, Tuesday morning and was received at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport by government officials, writers, cultural organisations and other associates.

President Goodluck Jonathan has said Professor Achebe’s truthful interventions in Nigeria’s affairs will be greatly missed.

Professor Chinua Achebe had left the University of Massachusetts about a decade before I joined the same University in 1983 as Professor and Director of the Automation and Robotics laboratory. At the time, Achebe’s reputation was still looming large at UMass. On realizing that Achebe and I came from the same country and the same state in Nigeria (old Anambra State), students and professors as well as non-academic staff ceaselessly asked me questions about Achebe—about his health, his family, his books and, of course, about the legendary village of Umuofia in his epic novel, Things Fall Apart. Poor fellows! My only contact with Achebe then was only through his books which I thoroughly enjoyed reading while in high school.

BY VINCENT UJUMADU AWKA- OGIDI, the home town of the late literary icon, Professor Chinua Achebe is set to receive the body of their illustrious son, who would be buried in the community on Thursday. Various groups and organizations have been meeting to put finishing touches on the programme as the town is expected to […]