Achebe was more like a true African spirit on a mission to provide a counter narrative to the faulty (rac!st) Western narrative of Africa and Africans; narratives told to maintain the supremacy of the Whites. Achebe’s literary “sin”, why he can never deserve the Nobel Laureates title was simply because his works questioned Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” and other Western racist epistles that portrayed Africans as less humans, with no language, inferior to the Whites, etc.
The Westerners hated Achebe’s gut. How could a mere African question the view of the Superior Westerners. How dare Achebe? How dare Achebe use his writings to humanize Africans and African culture as opposed to the western supremacy against the “blacs”.
In Chinua Achebe’s ‘The Education of a British-Protected Child’, he said, “Conrad was a seductive writer. He could pull his reader into the fray. And if it were not for what he said about me and my people, I would probably be thinking only of that seduction,” Achebe tells Robert Siegel.
“The language of description of the people in Heart of Darkness is inappropriate,” says Achebe. “I realized how terribly wrong it was to portray my people — any people — from that attitude.”
Achebe says that once he reached a certain age, he realized that he was “not on Marlow’s ship” but was, instead, one of the unattractive beings Marlow encounters in passing. At one point, Conrad describes an African working on the ship as a “dog wearing trousers.”
Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” is western script of colonialism, it is an insult to the West to have a counter narrative. Achebe does not need western title to standout as the arrow head, whenever African Literature written by Africans is mentioned.
It will be nice, for the sake of posterity, if Wole Soyinka has issues with Peter Obi and the Obidients, if you care to support any of the political divides, do so without insulting the quiddity of our intellectual heritage. I have read some literary illiterates on the streets of SM assert that Achebe did not win Nobel Laureate because he did not merit it, based on standards. That it is given by merit. Please, say what you know.
If Achebe had romanced the ego of the Whites, what is Nobel Laureate that ‘Thinks Fall Apart’, the world most translated and read African literary work cannot get him?
Defend Soyinka, defend APC, defend your ideals, but, don’t do so against your intellectual conscience (that is, if we still have it). Don’t twixt the truth.
I think we should focus on what matters. It has never been heard that a new President was declared in the history of Nigeria, and it was greeted with a graveyard silence. Never. We are aware of how Nigerians lost their sanity to the celebration of Obasanjo’s first term. We saw Nigerians’ excitement when Musa Ya’adua/Jonathan was announced. We all know what happened when Goodluck Jonathan became president. We still remember how Nigerians trekked from different states to Abuja to show their excitement when Buhari was declared. Why is this time different? Why the silence? Why are people who you claimed they voted you not celebrating your victory? When a majority vote you, your victory becomes their victory, hence they even rejoice more than you, the Elect.
Nigerian people, lets continue in our quest to finding the value of the graveyard silence that greeted the declaration of the President-Elect.
Ochenwari Udeze
