Elechi Amadi | |
---|---|
Born | Emmanuel Elechi Daniel 12 May 1934 Aluu, Rivers State, Nigeria |
Died | 29 June 2016 82) Port Harcourt, Nigeria | (aged
Occupation | Novelist |
Nationality | Nigerian |
Notable works | The Concubine (1966) |
Elechi Amadi MFR // (12 May 1934 – 29 June 2016) was a Nigerian author and soldier. He was a former member of the Nigerian Armed Forces. He was an author of plays and novels that are generally about African village life, customs, beliefs, and religious practices prior to contact with the Western world. Amadi is best regarded for his 1966 debut novel, The Concubine , which has been called "an outstanding work of pure fiction". [1]
Born in 1934, in Mbodo-Aluu in what is now the Ikwerre local government area of Rivers State, Nigeria, Elechi Amadi attended Government College, Umuahia (1948–52), Survey School, Oyo (1953–54), and the University of Ibadan (1955–59), where he obtained a degree in Physics and Mathematics. [2] [3] While in university, he adopted the name Elechi Amadi, which he felt reflected his Ikwerre heritage more than his birth name, Emmanuel Elechi Daniel. [4]
He worked for a time as a land surveyor and later was a teacher at several schools, including the Nigerian Military School, Zaria (1963–66). [5]
Amadi served in the Nigerian army, remained there during the Nigerian Civil War, and retired at the rank of captain. [6] He then held various positions with the Rivers State government: Permanent Secretary (1973–83), Commissioner for Education (1987–88) and Commissioner for Lands and Housing (1989–90). [7]
He was a writer-in-residence and lecturer at Rivers State College of Education, where he has also been Dean of Arts, head of the literature department and Director of General Studies. [8]
Amadi has said that his first publication was in 1957, a poem entitled "Penitence" in a University of Ibadan campus magazine called The Horn, edited by John Pepper Clark. [9]
Amadi's first novel, The Concubine , was published in London in 1966 and was hailed as a "most accomplished first performance". [10] Alastair Niven in his critical study of the novel wrote: "Rooted firmly among the hunting and fishing villages of the Niger delta, The Concubine nevertheless possesses the timelessness and universality of a major novel." [11] The Concubine was made into a film, written by Elechi Amadi and directed by accomplished Nollywood film director Andy Amenechi, which premiered in Abuja in March 2007. [12]
The setting of Amadi's second novel, The Great Ponds , published in 1969, is pre-colonial Eastern Nigeria, and is about the battle between two village communities over possession of a pond.
In 1973 Amadi autobiographical non-fiction, Sunset in Biafra, was published. It records his personal experiences in the Nigeria-Biafra war, and according to Niven "is written in a compelling narrative form as though it were a novel". [13]
On 13 May 1989 a symposium was held at the University of Port Harcourt to celebrate Amadi's 55th birthday. [14]
In May 2004, a conference was organized by the Association of Nigerian Authors, Rivers State Branch, to mark Elechi Amadi's 70th birthday. [15]
For his last book, When God Came, Elechi turned for the first time to the genre of science fiction. [16] Reviewing it, Lindsay Barrett wrote: "When an author has attained the status of an icon in his profession, based on the publication of works that have been declared iconic masterpieces from the earliest period of his career, it is unusual to find him engaging in experimentation in the latter stages of that career. This is the surprising trajectory that this short but profoundly memorable booklet by the late Elechi Amadi represents. Although the two narrative treatises contained in this work were described by the author as an excursion into the medium of science fiction it would really be more accurate to define them as philosophical allegories. Their contents contemplate the human condition and the limits of the potential for human achievement based on the concept of the supernatural rather than simply being exercises in the conceptualisation of events of an otherworldly nature, which popular science fiction often is. ... In the final analysis these works read like fables from the future that the author must have had immense enjoyment creating. Amadi’s love for literature and his prolific output in his early years overshadowed his scientific background especially after the Civil War when he settled down to work as an educationist and public administrator in Rivers State. It was in this period that he embarked on the experiments in new forms of writing of which this work is a slight but unforgettable example." [17]
On 5 January 2009 Amadi was kidnapped at his home in Aluu town, Ikwerre, by unknown gunmen. He was released on the evening of 6 January, 23 hours later. [18] [19]
In 2014 he was a judge of Africa39, together with Tess Onwueme and Margaret Busby. [20]
On 29 June 2016, Amadi died at the Good Heart Hospital in Port Harcourt at the age of 82. [21] [22] Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka paid tribute to Amadi as "a soldier and poet, captive of conscience, human solidarity and justice." [23]
The Faculty of Humanity in University of Port Harcourt, is dedicated to him. [27] Port Harcourt Polytechnic was renamed to Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic in 2016. [27]
Chinua Achebe was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as a central figure of modern African literature. His first novel and magnum opus, Things Fall Apart (1958), occupies a pivotal place in African literature and remains the most widely studied, translated, and read African novel. Along with Things Fall Apart, his No Longer at Ease (1960) and Arrow of God (1964) complete the "African Trilogy". Later novels include A Man of the People (1966) and Anthills of the Savannah (1987). In the West, Achebe is often referred to as the "father of African literature", although he vigorously rejected the characterization.
Port Harcourt is the capital and largest city of Rivers State in Nigeria. It is the fifth most populous city in Nigeria after Lagos, Kano, Ibadan and Benin. It lies along the Bonny River and is located in the oil rich Niger Delta region. As of 2023, Port Harcourt's urban population is approximately 3,480,000. The population of the metropolitan area of Port Harcourt is almost twice its urban area population with a 2015 United Nations estimate of 2,344,000. In 1950, the population of Port Harcourt was 59,752. Port Harcourt has grown by 150,844 since 2015, which represents a 4.99% annual change.
Christopher Ifekandu Okigbo was a Nigerian poet, teacher, and librarian, who died fighting for the independence of Biafra. He is today widely acknowledged as an outstanding postcolonial English-language African poet and one of the major modernist writers of the 20th century.
Otonti Amadi Nduka is a Nigerian educationalist and Ikwerre ethnic nationality spokesman. He is married to Pamela Nduka and together they have five children. Otonti and his wife are still currently residing in Nigeria. They celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary in 2018.
Bankole Ajibabi Omotoso, also known as Kole Omotoso, was a Nigerian writer and intellectual best known for his works of fiction and in South Africa as the "Yebo Gogo man" in adverts for the telecommunications company Vodacom. His written work is known for its dedication and commitment to fusing a socio-political reappraisal of Africa and respect for human dignity into most of his works.
Tanure Ojaide is a Nigerian poet and academic. As a writer, he is noted for his unique stylistic vision and for his intense criticism of imperialism, religion, and other issues. He is regarded as a socio-political and an ecocentric poet. He won the 2018 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa with his collection Songs of Myself: A Quartet (2017).
Adrian Igonibo Barrett is a Nigerian writer of short stories and novels. In 2014, he was named on the Africa39 list of writers aged under 40 with potential and talent to define future trends in African literature. Following his two collections of short stories – From Caves of Rotten Teeth (2005) and Love Is Power, or Something Like That (2013) – his first novel, Blackass, was published in 2015, described by the Chicago Review of Books as "Kafka with a wink".
The Ikwerre is an ethnic group in Rivers State, Nigeria. The Ikwerre People in Rivers State, spans over four Local Government Areas; Port Harcourt, Obio Akpor, Ikwerre, and Emohua.. Pockets of the Ikwerre are found in Ohaji-Egbema LGA of Imo State.
Obio-Akpor is a Local Government Area in the metropolis of Port Harcourt in Rivers State, Nigeria. It is one of the major centres of economic activities in Nigeria, and one of the major cities of the Niger Delta region, with industries and companies like Pabod Breweries, Coca-Cola Company, Indomie Company and Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company.
Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic is a Polytechnic funded by the Government of Rivers State, located in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.
The Concubine is the debut novel by Nigerian writer Elechi Amadi originally published in 1966 as part of the Heinemann African Writers Series.
Ifeanyichukwu Ndubuisi Chikezie Aniebo, commonly known as I. N. C. Aniebo, is a Nigerian novelist and short story writer, who has been called "the master craftsman of the Nigerian short story".
Obi Wali was a minority rights activist, politician, distinguished senator, literary scholar, and an orator from Nigeria. Among his achievements, he fought for the cause of the Ikwerre ethnic minorities and argued that African literature should be written in African languages.
Africa39 was a collaborative project initiated by the Hay Festival in partnership with Rainbow Book Club, celebrating Port Harcourt: UNESCO World Book Capital 2014 by identifying 39 of the most promising writers under the age of 40 with the potential and talent to define trends in the development of literature from Africa and the African diaspora. Launched in 2014, Africa39 followed the success of two previous Hay Festival initiatives linked to World Book Capital cities, Bogotá39 (2007) and Beirut39 (2009).
The Port Harcourt Book Festival is an annual literary event in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria, organised by the Rainbow Book Club and endorsed by the Rivers State Government since 2008. The Garden City Literary Festival, which is currently known as the Port Harcourt Book Festival was founded by Governor Amaechi of Rivers State, Hundreds of literary fans flock to the Garden City every year for this six-day event, which includes a book fair, writers' workshops, and a variety of other activities. In the past the Festival has been attended by recognized authors and has hosted a number of celebrities.
Felix Amaechi Obuah is a Nigerian business magnate, politician and philanthropist originally from Omoku, Rivers State, Nigeria. He has been the chairman of the Rivers State People's Democratic Party since 2013 and was reelected in May 2016 for his second term. Obuah has a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of Ibadan. With a business career spanning over 25 years, his diverse interests range from properties, real estate, hotels, resorts, oil, trading and construction.
Ukamaka Evelyn Olisakwe is a Nigerian feminist author, short-story writer, and screenwriter. In 2014 she was chosen as one of 39 of Sub-Saharan Africa's most promising writers under the age of 40, showcased in the Africa39 project and included in the anthology Africa39: New Writing from Africa South of the Sahara.
The following is a timeline of the governorship of Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, also known as the Wike administration, from his inauguration as Governor of Rivers State on 29 May 2015 to 29 May 2023.
The Aluu Four lynching was a necklace lynching that involved students of the Department of Geology in the University of Port Harcourt. Their names were Ugonna Obuzor, Lloyd Toku, Chiadika Biringa, and Tekena Elkanah. They were all lynched after being accused of theft in Aluu, a community in Ikwerre local government area, Rivers State, Nigeria, on 5 October 2012.
Chioma Opara is a Nigerian author and academic whose work primarily focuses on West African feminism. She is known for creating the theory of femalism and is one of the six most important African feminist theorists. Her work has been influential in studies of gender in Africa.