By Osita Chidoka
November 16 is an important day in Nigeria and for the black race. On this day, two of the black race’s influential thought leaders, philosophers, and pioneers of the African Renaissance and renewal were born: Nnamdi Azikiwe and Chinua Achebe. They were born 26 years apart. They had different career paths. To many casual observers, all they shared was a common Igbo ancestry.
But ancestry was not all they shared. By providence or a common desire, they both, in their different spheres of life, pioneered efforts to rewrite, recreate, and reimagine the history and aptitude of the black race in the face of the prevailing heart of darkness colonial narrative.
The New York Times described Nnamdi Azikiwe “as a lawyer, political scientist, journalist, political activist, President and for many years Nigeria’s elder statesman, Dr Azikiwe, towered over the affairs of Africa’s most populous nation, attaining the rare status of a truly national hero who came to be admired across the regional and ethnic lines dividing his country.” The rare status attained by Dr Azikiwe was made possible by his foresight, education, and conviction that the black race’s response to colonialism is a Pan-Africanism that harnesses our shared heritage and experience.
Dr Azikiwe dreamt of a renascent Africa driven by an enlightened political leadership on the continent committed to preserving and extending our shared heritage. Many considered Azikiwe a dreamer. More hailed his insular political opponents as realists. At a time, his dreams looked utopian, and the mockery of his opponents appeared ascendant. Or so it seemed.
Today, we witness the resurgence and affirmation of the ideas and dreams of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) became a reality, creating the largest free trade area measured by the number of participating countries.
As African countries remove the visa barriers and open the continent for unrestricted intra-African movement, trade, and services, the Pan-Africanist philosophy Azikiwe proclaimed with his renowned erudition and oratory has found expression on the continent.
This affirmation of Zik’s worldview would continue to blossom as more academically equipped, ideologically exposed, and AFRI-centric leaders assume office in the continent. Sadly, Nigeria is not leading the way even when Dr Azikiwe had shown the light.
As we celebrate the affirmation of Dr Azikiwe, we also note with delight the commencement of the apotheosis of Prof Chinua Achebe. In a radical moment of historical consciousness and cultural revival, the Anambra State government named the Anambra Airport after Professor Chinua Achebe, the guardian spirit of African cultural renewal. This step, arguably more than any, by Professor Chukwuma Soludo-led government will be the defining essence of the administration. The singular act of naming a major transport node into the state after the literary icon signalled the beginning of the deification of Chinualumogu Achebe.
At a personal and symbolic level, Chinua Achebe, who was bound to a wheelchair after a tragic transport crash, has now been given wings by the naming of an airport after him. The symbolism of a life beyond the wheelchair could not have found a better expression than immortalising Prof Achebe on a transport nodal point—the ultimate triumph of ability over disability.
Beyond the symbolism, Anambra state, Nigeria, and the Black race have signified the importance of our cultural heritage and its chroniclers in our value system. By this seemingly simple act, a thousand messages have been sent to young people in our country about what is important and what we reward.
The message of Prof Chinua Achebe Airport is so loud. It would resonate across time and space that we are a people who, despite our failures and embarrassing indiscretions, still possess the ability to choose our gods wisely. The naming ceremony, which should have been held on November 16, is an enduring testament to our aspirations as a state.
The Prof Chinua Achebe Airport is a fitting monument to our collective desire to establish Anambra State and Nigeria as the cultural, spiritual, and academic centre of Afro consciousness and history.
It is a strong message that the famed business acumen of Anambra indigenes was built on the foundation of our embrace of education and respect for the virtues of Uche ~ wisdom. It is also a concrete reminder of the heritage our forebears had bequeathed to us and a warning about the path we must not take as a people.
As we wonder whether Things have Fallen Apart and fear that The Arrow of God may hit us any moment from now, we are all certain that we are no Longer at Ease. The apotheosis of Chinua Achebe gives us hope that a Man of the people will emerge, able to cure the Trouble with Nigeria so that we can, in one accord, proclaim that There is a Country. I am hopeful.
