Members of the African community in Ireland recently held a special memorial in Blanchardstown, west Dublin to honour African literary giant Chinua Achebe, who passed away earlier this year.
Achebe, a Nigerian novelist, academic and social critic, died in Boston in the US on 21 March at the age of 83, and was buried in his Nigerian country home in Ogidi, Anambra State on 23 May.
He had moved to the States in 1990 after a car accident left him partly disabled. Until his death, he was a serving professor at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
Achebe’s acclaimed novel Things Fall Apart was published in English in 1958. The book was a very important African literature that chronicled the effects of British colonial rule and missionary activities in Nigeria in the 20th century. It has since been translated into more than 50 languages and has sold over 10 million copies worldwide.
Things Fall Apart was followed by two other in 1960 and 1964 – No Longer at Ease and Arrow of God – to comprise his ‘African Trilogy’, but he was also the author of many other books, including A Man of the People (1966), Anthills of the Savannah (1987) and his controversial Nigerian-Biafran war memoir There Was a Country published last year.
Achebe also won a number of international awards in his lifetime, including a Man Booker International Prize, the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade and the St Louis Literary Award.
Africans from all over Ireland were brought together at the Draiocht Arts Centre for an event organised by the Igbo Union Ireland to celebrate Achebe’s life and achievements.
The evening featured a number of speakers from the Irish and African communities, including Cllr Kieran Dennison, Fine Gael councillor for Dublin West; Georges Alabi from the Nigerian Embassy; Dundalk-based George Enyoazu, president of the Igbo Council of Europe; Dr Onyeama Oji, a lecturer at the Dundalk Institute of Technology; Fr Cornelius Nwogwugwu, chaplain of African chaplaincy in the Catholic archdiocese of Dublin; and Rev Austin Francis.
Cllr Dennison told the more than 300 guests how Achebe drew inspiration from Irish authors in writing his first and most successful book, Things Fall Apart. Enyoazu added that, although Achebe was not the first African to write a novel, “his inspiration returned to Africans their words, their sight, and their self-worth. As the saying goes, ‘Progress has many friends. But failure is an orphan.’”
He continued: “The landmark success of Achebe’s writing not only gave birth to African literature, but inspired numerous other African writers to emerge. He was an inspiration and a pace setter.”
Both Alabi and Dr Oji called for the setting up of an educational foundation in memory of the literary icon.
Further highlights of the event included the reading of a special poem by teenager Jacinta Odoemene, which threw some light on the contributions and impact Achebe’s life and work have made on young people across the world, especially Nigerians.
There were some spectacular cultural and musical performances by Botswanan dance group Peolwane, Igbo Union Waterford, Kennedy Nnannah, Debsandy and Reggae Messiah.
And a drama sketch based on Things Fall Apart was presented by African actors and actress led by Kunle Animashaun, who also directed and produced the segment for Camino Prod-uctions.
Kelechi Onwumere – leader of the Igbo Union Dublin, which hosted the event – said he was pleased that people from all walks of life were in attendance.
