Elechi Amadi belonged to the same pedestal as Chinua Achebe, says don
What you need to know:
- Amadi captivated modern audiences through his depiction of outstanding characters such as Ihuoma in The Concubine.
- Besides his novels and children’s stories, Amadi also wrote plays and other works on non-fiction.
- His other books were The Road to Ibadan, Peppersoup and Isuburu.
Renowned Nigerian writer Elechi Amadi — whose novel, The Concubine, was studied in Kenyan secondary schools — died on Thursday at the age of 82.
Amadi was among pioneer African writers whose books were published by Heinemann Educational Publishers under the popular African Writers Series whose founding editor was the legendary Chinua Achebe.
Dr Tom Odhiambo, who teaches literature at the University of Nairobi, on Thursday described Amadi as a great story teller of his generation.
He said Amadi belonged to the same pedestal as Achebe but lamented that he was not celebrated as his compatriot despite deserving the honour.
“We will miss a great story,” said Dr Odhiambo, who has been teaching some of Amadi’s book.
According to the BBC, Amadi died at a hospital in the oil city of Port Harcourt in his home country.
Besides The Concubine, Amadi also authored The Great Ponds, a novella, and Sunset in Biafra.
The later was one of the many works by Nigerian writers who witnessed the Biafran war of independence which was crashed by the unitary government. Amadi served as an officer in the Nigerian military during the 1967-1970 civil war.
AMADI WORKS
Besides his novels and children’s stories, Amadi also wrote plays and other works on non-fiction.
Although he largely examined the cultural life of rural and traditional Nigerian society, Amadi captivated modern audiences through his depiction of outstanding characters such as Ihuoma in The Concubine.
Ihuoma was an exceptionally beautiful widow who was beloved of both men and gods. It was fated that all men who became her lovers died — the victims of a jealous water god. In the novel, Ekueme is the tragic hero who dies after he is blinded by a venomous snake.
According to Dr Odhiambo, the love story in The Concubine is a universal one as it depicts a woman who, by virtue of being a widow, is romantically “available to men” but her condition is complicated because she is also loved by a god.
The depiction of rural and traditional society and the idyllic life endeared his writing to many across Africa, he said.
Despite the rare quality of Amadi’s writing and his elegant style, Amadi remained one of the most under-appreciated African writers of his and subsequent generations.
His books are not readily available in Kenya today except in government-run libraries.
According to Punch, one of the leading newspapers in Nigeria, Amadi was born on May 12, 1934 in Aluu in the Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
He attended the University of Ibadan where he obtained a degree in physics and mathematics. He worked as a land surveyor and later as a teacher.
His other books were The Road to Ibadan, Peppersoup and Isuburu.
(Editing by Joel Muinde)
