Achebe: Kalu wants Soyinka, Fashola in burial plans

Posted by admin Headlines, Wole Soyinka Tuesday, April 16th, 2013

As South-East governors work out befitting funeral rites for Prof. Chinua Achebe, former Abia State governor, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu yesterday advised them not to tribalise the whole arrangement.

Kalu specifically asked that Profs. Wole Soyinka, John Bekederemor Clark and the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola be included in the burial committee.

He said: “Achebe, Soyinka and Clark were so close, right from their University College Ibadan days and spoke with one voice a few weeks before his passage. Fashola identified with the icon even when many Yoruba politicians pilloried him following his last work. Achebe, in death, would like to be identified with these men.”

The former governor said Achebe was not only a great Nigerian who wanted the best for the Igbo, but also wanted the country to live in peace. “Perhaps, not many know that Achebe met his wife in Ibadan, and also spent time in Lagos working with Radio Nigeria. He spoke out when others chose to tie their tongues in silence.

Posterity will recognise him as a prophet who lived ahead of his time,” Kalu said. He mooted the idea of bringing some authors of the African Writers Series (AWS) to Ogidi to honour their founding editor. “I would like to see Ngugi Wa Thiongo, so that Achebe’s children will weep no more, while Ayi Kwei Armah, Ali Mazrui, Kenneth Kaunda eulogise him as a man of the people.

At the same time, Onuorah Nzekwu, Gabriel Okara, Elechi Amadi, Kole Omotosho and Eddie Iroh will make sure things did not fall apart when even brave hearts are no longer at ease as the body is committed to mother earth,” Kalu said.
-Sun

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