Ode Mkpishi Chinua Achebe (1930-2013): Our Literary Hero Exits

Richard von Weizaecker (L), former German President, congratulates Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, after Achebe was awarded the prestigious Peace Prize of the German publishing industry at the Paul's Church in Frankfurt/Main, 13 October 2002. With the peace prize he was honored as 'one of the most forceful and at the same time most subtle voices of Africa in 20th century literature'. Image: Frank May/DPA

Chinelo, Nwando, Ikechukwu and Chidi. Ngozi. The entire Achebe family. Ndo nu o!

I had engaged my friend, Dr. Elemi John Agbomi in series of our usual intellectual discourses on a fabricated national state, who never stops telling me stories of his encounter and combat during the Nigeria-Biafra war; who is fond of talking about Ode Mkpishi Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" and how "they" all got into it during his high school years at Government College, Afikpo, in the 60s; and who has been a very good friend over the years before dabbling into the social media on Friday, March 22, 2013, to read the widespread news that Ode Mkpishi Achebe is gone.


Much is known and has already been written about Africa's literary giant Ode Mkpishi Achebe who died Thursday night, March 21, 2013 in Boston at the age of 82. Much has been said about the man known to have reshaped the African literary landscape. And people have overwhelmingly given the literary icon lots of tribute. All major newspapers wrote a tribute to the literary icon whose novel "Things Fall Apart" is now in over 50 languages.

I was not sure if there was any more stuff one could pick from Achebe's stables since his last book "Anthills of the Savannah" published in 1987, depicting the West African country of Kangan until my colleague at the BNW News Magazine told me the Chinua Achebe Colloquium Projects would commence publishing at the site and its sister links, as the directors of the projects would be forwarding every episode in order to reach its desired audiences and readers. Yes, all the interviews conducted by journalists and folks Ode Mkpishi Achebe had assigned for the interviews including the symposiums and related articles that came along with it, begun the awareness for me that Ode Mkpishi Achebe still got game and has been on the radar to stay on with his ideals by way of network to finding solution on a case load of problems within the African continent.

As it turned out, the colloquium was held annually to bring together scholars, leaders and folks from all walks of life to exchange ideas on "strengthening democracy and peace" all around the African continent.

I had begun penning what may have been some of the reasons why the Nobel Academy had kept Achebe waiting for its grand prize in Literature until one of those out of the blue got to take care of projects halted it. I had intended publishing it before what we are now hearing that the storyteller who was fond of recalling societal ills in Nigeria is gone.

The Nobel had become for Achebe what the Biafran War had been for some not heard of names that battled until Biafra surrendered and yet nobody mentioned their names in the books on how gallantly they committed their lives towards the realism of a Biafran national state.

Like the plot from "Anthills of the Savannah," which in my opinion was second closest to "Things Fall Apart" if Nobel had decided to honoring Achebe's work in literature. Achebe, here, describes the political situation through the experiences of three friends who had been in collaboration and the assassination of an editor critical of a regime. The trend of coup after coup and assassinations that is the trademark of military juntas.

I'm sure no one who had known Achebe would doubt that the brilliant, proud, ultra-competitive and astoundingly a great writer had wished many things had worked out in his lifetime based on his lamentations of Nigeria's social ills, coupled with the most corrupt state in practice. He also would have loved to win the prize that no Nigerian novelist has won since Wole Soyinka in 1986. He also would have loved a successful leadership on the African continent, especially in his native Igbo land where the current crop of leaders have not learned from the previous leaders, from their brilliant successes and their disastrous mistakes in transforming organizations and communities, setting examples by communal leads, by ethical imperatives and by willing to take risks.

Achebe was one of a kind. His books called the shots.

Amazing thoughts. A beautiful mind.

The Chinua Achebe Colloquium defined him. In finding how the colloquium had been measuring up and doing what it was suppose to be doing by its standards, I interviewed his son Chidi, who practices medicine out of Boston and who is also the President and CEO of the Harvard Street Health Center regarding his dad's projects and whether it's still vibrant. Chidi Achebe responds:

It is going very well. A former United States ambassador to Nigeria described the annual gathering as “the best intellectual gathering focusing on Africa in the world.” The annual colloquium brings together an international group of scholars, officials from African governments, the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and other organizations for two days of intense deliberation and exchange of ideas on the importance of strengthening democracy and peace on the African continent.

We all read him while growing up, and continued to read him when we became who we now are, and, still reading him. He was master storyteller. He was intelligent. He was proud. He was an enigmatic literary giant.

He was untra-competitive and unquestionably self-absorbed human being and author.

Okonkwo, the typical Igbo man and pigheadedness in "Things Fall Apart."

His Excellency, Chris Oriko, Beatrice Okoh, Ikem Osodi, Elewa, Major Ossai in "Anthills of the Savannah."

He wrote numerous books and authored uncountable articles -- "Winds of Change: Modern Short Stories From Black Africa," "How The Leopard Got His Claws," "Hopes And Impediments," "Home And Exile," "The Trouble With Nigeria," "Morning Yet On Creation Day," "Beware Soul Brother," "Girls At War And Other Stories," "Arrow Of God," "A Man Of The People," "Chike And The River," "No Longer At ease," "The Sacrificial Egg And Other Stories," "Anthills Of The Savannah," "Things Fall Apart," "The Education Of A British Protected Child: Essays," and as the list goes on and on, and on -- in which most recalled the social ills of a continent, his country and in particular, his native Igbo land, Achebe never stopped writing with sustained accuracy regarding a  continent's woes and never ending tragedy.

Achebe was fun to read; storytelling that was baked in his genes, ingrained and plausible no amount of detox could remove. It got us all hooked.

He had his pen and he used it very well to the point military drunks obsessed with dictatorial tendencies came after him to find out which had more firepower -- his pen or the guns of the juntas.

He wrote fearlessly and took no prisoners, presenting to his readers the simple truth on what had erupted as national crisis when bribery and corruption had taken the place of what supposedly should have been a transparent and accountable government in a democratic fabric.

He wrote extensively to near exhaustion on problems grand and small which had overwhelmingly clouded a country full of leaders of mischief in what is called Nigeria.

He will be missed!

Africa's phenomenal intellectuals Ali Mazrui (L) and Chinua Achebe share jokes at the Chinua Achebe Colloquium at Brown University in Rhodes Island. The colloquium is held annually to bring together scholars and officials to exchange ideas on strenghtening democracy and peace on the African continent. Image: Brown University.

Chinua Achebe chats with former South African President Nelson Mandela at a Steve Biko memorial ceremony in Cape Town on the 25th anniversary of the activists death in police custody, September 12, 2002. Biko, a leader of the Black Conciousness movement, died after being beaten by members of Apartheid's security police in 1977.  Image: Mile Hutchings/Reuters

 

Chinua Achebe participates in the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature.  Location: New York. Date: April 26, 2006. Image: Beowulf Sheehan/PEN American Center/ZUMA Press

Chinua Achebe, famous for his novels describing the effects of Western customs and values on traditional African society. Achebe's satire and his keen ear for spoken language  made him one of the most highly esteemed African writers in English. Location: London, UK. Date: May 21, 1970. Image: Keystone Pictures, USA

Chinua Achebe speaks about his works and his life at his home on the campus of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York where he is a professor. Date: January 22, 2008. Image: Craig Ruttle/Associated Press



The Ambrose Ehirim-Chidi Achebe Q & A Interview

Dr. Chidi Achebe, son of the literary icon, Professor Chinua Achebe, is a United States-based physician and was recently awarded the Martin Luther King Jr. Social Justice Award by Dartmouth College. In this interview he talks about his medical practice, his service to others, healthcare intervention, education, his mentor, his dad and lots more.

Excerpts:

Tell me a bit about yourself

I completed undergraduate studies in natural sciences, history and philosophy at Bard College; received an MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health, and an MD at Dartmouth Medical School and an MBA degree at Yale University's School of Management.

I also completed residency in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the Texas Medical Center in Houston, TX. For a brief period, I served as Medical Director of the Whittier Street Health Center (13 months); and then served as Assistant Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine, Medical Director of Harvard Street Health Center before my appointment as the President and CEO of the Harvard Street Health Center.

Recently, you were awarded the Martin Luther King Social Justice Award from Dartmouth College. Tell me a bit more about your work that brought about this recognition.

I think the press release from our health center makes the point better than I could ever do: “After several years of work at various Boston health centers, Dr. Achebe now sees "the struggle against inequalities in health and health care for all vulnerable, underserved Americans, as the next stage of the Civil Rights movement;" and has dedicated his life's work to helping to solve the conundrum of health care inequity in America's health care system.

Dr. Achebe makes church calls, and speaks at youth summits, conventions, conferences, schools, barber shops - focal gathering areas where he can reach underserved patients - reminding the community of the value of health, preventive care, and the quality of service readily available at Harvard Street.

While expanding his unique implementation of “medicine without borders,” Achebe works as a passionate advocate for the global community through his writings that call attention to worldwide health concerns such as the HIV/AIDs pandemic and Prostate Cancer. His efforts have earned him a featured TV appearance on Basic Black; profile in the Boston Globe and AOL Black Voices, an interview on WUMB-FM's Commonwealth Journal (interviewed by the legendary Barbara Neely); and feature length articles in several international periodicals, journals, and newspapers.

Through his years of work, Dr. Achebe has become a leader in the battle for healthcare equality and serves on several boards and committees where he continues his passion to be at the vanguard of the quest to bridge disparities that exist in the health care system.”

Of all the things that you have done, which one stands out in your mind?

Service to others. My overall thrust in life is to be what my Dad; Professor Chinua Achebe calls a “servant leader.” Another great influence has been Robert K. Greenleaf whose classic work The Servant as Leader, an essay that he first published in 1970 is monumental in its influence on me. In that essay, he said:

"The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first; perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions…The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature."

So what aspect do you generally feel your services have done much in the community?

I feel that our work is ongoing. Our overall dream is community transformation that means that health care intervention has to work in concert with other strategies. Historically, most of the effective political, social and civil rights movements have required a myriad of interventions to be successful. Health Care should be seen as the nexus for not only bridging the disparities that exist within the society, but eliminating the long standing social pathologies such as low educational attainment and violence. Community Health Centers like Harvard Street Health Center can bring about this multi-purpose revolution with talent from different backgrounds that can play a critical role to this end. They can serve as vehicles for assessing and accurately communicating community perspectives and needs on the issue of health care disparities; as a clearinghouse for data and recognized authority on the issue; as a vehicle for educating and mobilizing large numbers of individuals and organizations to give leverage to initiatives relative to health care disparities; as a catalyst for community, business, and government involvement in the resolution of social pathologies such as community violence and crime, teenage pregnancy, etc. In addition health care centers can serve as magnets for adequate funding targeted at reducing health care disparities; and the establishment of a broad-based, statewide coalition of key stakeholders to monitor the implementation and impact of any Comprehensive Health Care Education and Violence prevention plans.

You are trained as an internist. And now you hold position as President and CEO of Harvard Street Health Center. Do you find it compatible with the administrative and technical aspect of your profession?

The fact that I hold business and public health degrees in addition to my medical degree is no accident. I was fortunate enough to be appointed a Medical Director very early on in my career – I was in my early thirties. I remember it made international headlines at the time! During my tenure, I realized that my financial/business knowledge was weak, so I decided to go back to school this time to get an MBA. I am not unique, at least in Boston, which you know is the pinnacle of Medical Science and Health Care in the United States- indeed in the world.

My mentor Dr. Gary Gottlieb – one of the most admired physician/business leaders in the country, and under whom I had the utmost privilege to study for a year during Business School – also holds both Medical and Business degrees; as do some others in Massachusetts and across the country. Dr. Gottlieb is the President and CEO of Partners Health Care (a Harvard university affiliated health system in Massachusetts that includes world class hospitals Brigham and Women’s hospital and Mass General Hospital, both in Boston). It should also be mentioned that several business Schools – Yale my alma mater, Duke and now Harvard business school have started a major focus on the health care segment of the American economy that makes up 16.9% of the GDP; in other words one of every six dollars spent in the US economy is toward health care related services, goods or products.

So my training is designed for my role and is consistent with what many experts think is a much needed ingredient to fix the ailing health care system and the US economy at large – medically trained individuals who also have a business background and are then prepared to bring to bear these myriad skills to the problems that plague the health system

Can you give me a rundown of day-to-day activities of those areas?

I do all the administrative work required of any Chief Executive – make sure the organization lives up to its mission and vision statements, help set company priorities and strategy, work and meet with the board, senior management, committees and serve as the face of the organization. I also help with fund raising and organizational as well as community development initiatives. In addition, my role requires that I make sure that the day to day activities of the organization run smoothly.

Which of those two aspects of your profession do you think consumes more of your time?

I am still in clinic 20 hours a week (which is equivalent to a half- time physician). On top of that I have the full time President and CEO position. So my week is usually a 60 hour week.

How is the Chinua Achebe Colloquium/Interview Series doing? Is it still vibrant doing what it is supposed to do?

It is going very well. A former United States ambassador to Nigeria described the annual gathering as “the best intellectual gathering focusing on Africa in the world.” The annual colloquium brings together an international group of scholars, officials from African governments, the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and other organizations for two days of intense deliberation and exchange of ideas on the importance of strengthening democracy and peace on the African continent. The next installment later this year will be the fourth in the series.

On Nd'Igbo and the upcoming generation, what's your opinion about an evolving concept of the Igbo nation?

The role of Nd'Igbo has been monumental from the birth of Nigeria. The greatest of Nigeria’s founding fathers, in my opinion, were mainly those from the East – the great Zik being the most significant of the lot. The war destroyed a lot of what we had. I was born three days before the war was declared - at the very beginnings of the war- and so cannot pretend to know what transpired during those horrendous two and a half years. I, like millions of other Nd'Igbo, Nigerians, Africans, admirers of Professor Achebe’s work around the world, can’t wait to lay my hands on his new book on Biafra- There was a country: A personal history of Biafra due out this Fall, 2012.

The war led to a scattering of the Igbos across the world – much like to tribes of Israel. A new generation of Igbo leaders can be found now across the world, working diligently in every known intellectual, business, and political endeavor. The challenge is to de-emphasize mammon worship and bring about an intellectual renaissance that will permanently restore Igbo land, Nigeria? and hence Africa on a path to permanent, sustainable development.

On a Nigerian national state, what are your thoughts on what had erupted over the years, especially the series of civil unrests, the Islamic militants and things like that since the Fourth Republic?

What has befallen us is the destruction of the culture of excellence and meritocracy that Zik’s generation put in place. It has been replaced by what Dad has termed the cult of mediocrity. We are playing with our “tenth eleven instead of our first eleven”- if I may be permitted to utilize a soccer allegory. Nigerians have some of the best and brightest people on the planet. The West knows this because Nigerians have been given plum jobs in Western establishments. The culture of mediocrity has been encouraged because competing ethnic groups believe they will benefit in such an arrangement. No country has EVER made it under such a chaotic system – where incompetence and corruption rule and the lust of money pervades every activity. The very destruction of Nigeria – nothing works – is a result of this “slumming down” of standards – perfected by the military – and continued by their really unprepared, inept civilian cohorts. Everyone knows that terrorists can only strive in chaotic environments – look at Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia etc. Unless Nigeria puts things right by placing into every conceivable position, the best and brightest Nigerians that can be found, it is doomed

Is the country heading toward the right direction and if not, what should be done?

Clearly not. Let me be clear about this: Nigeria must reestablish the culture of meritocracy that had an early death following independence. Nigerians must search, find and place the very best people in every conceivable public and private position as well as every level of government – local government, state, federal - or it will NEVER make it.

With a handful of business-related responsibilities, how do you account for your leisure time? What do you do?

I am grateful to GOD for my many blessing. I am blessed with a beautiful spouse and family- three wonderful boys. There is no greater blessing than the love of family… coming home after a long day’s work and hearing a greeting from your spouse and your boys running towards you yelling: “Daddy, Daddy.” That is enough to bring your blood pressure down. Thank God for our blessings.

Thank you.