From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
Former Special Adviser to the former President George Bush of United States on Science and Technology, Chief Emeka Ken Nwabueze (Ajie Okpala Ogidi), has said that late literary icon, Professor Chinua Achebe, remains Africa’s leading shining light in the universe ten years after his exit because his works and legacies are much relevant as ever.
Nwabueze, who spoke to newsmen yesterday on the ten years memorial service in honour of Achebe being organised by Ogidi community in Anambra State, noted that Achebe’s works as novelist, poet, social critic and reformer still stand him out.
Hear him: “Achebe foresaw years ago that things have fallen apart like what is happening today in Nigeria. Almost everything he has written about in his books, from Things Fall Apart, Man of the People to There was a country is basically what we are experiencing today -the rape of our democracy, disenfranchisement of the people and greed of a few politicians at the expense of common man. It is “No longer at ease” for the elites. We are hiding in Abuja, and no one can comfortably travel to the North or East. Achebe was a man ahead of his time. Nigeria has not learned a single lesson from his utterances.
Asked, if there are other people that have attained Achebe’s height, Nwabueze responded this: “His height has been matched by many. But the question is what has those that attained his height done with such glory? Who has felt the impact of their greatness? That is where Achebe set himself apart. He was still pushing for a better Nigeria till his death despite being confined to wheelchair in the last years of his life. He refused to compromise like many who accepted personal glory at the expense of poor Nigerians.”