Last week, we reported on series of bombing in Kano (Northern Nigeria) that killed over 20 people and just yesterday, we also announced the death of Chinua Achebe, a prolific award wining Nigerian writer.
What most of you may not know is that, Chinua Achebe loved Northern Nigeria and has the people of the north, especially Kano at heart as his people.
In fact, he loves them more than anything and has over the years fought alongside them for the their common good.
In a statement titled “On the Passing of Chinua Achebe” released by Prof. Wole Soyinka & J.P. Clark who are like brothers to Achebe, they state that; “Indeed, we cannot help wondering if the recent insensate massacre of Chinua’s people in Kano, only a few days ago, hastened the fatal undermining of that resilient will that had sustained him so many years after his crippling accident.”
Read below for the full statement…
“For us, the loss of Chinua Achebe is, above all else, intensely personal. We have lost a brother, a colleague, a trailblazer and a doughty fighter.
“Of the ‘pioneer quartet’ of contemporary Nigerian literature, two voices have been silenced – one, of the poet Christopher Okigbo, and now, the novelist Chinua Achebe.
“It is perhaps difficult for outsiders of that intimate circle to appreciate this sense of depletion, but we take consolation in the young generation of writers to whom the baton has been passed, those who have already creatively ensured that there is no break in the continuum of the literary vocation.
“We need to stress this at a critical time of Nigerian history, where the forces of darkness appear to overshadow the illumination of existence that literature represents.
“These are forces that arrogantly pride themselves implacable and brutal enemies of what Chinua and his pen represented, not merely for the African continent, but for humanity.
“Indeed, we cannot help wondering if the recent insensate massacre of Chinua’s people in Kano, only a few days ago, hastened the fatal undermining of that resilient will that had sustained him so many years after his crippling accident.”
Once again, may his soul rest in peace!
The question is; how many people will have to die before the bombing stops in Nigeria?
This post was published on March 23, 2013 11:52 AM
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