| Albert Chinualumogu Achebe |
When you're destined for greatness, you can hardly stick to one place in your lifetime. You may be born in Nigeria but your books will be read by thousands in Kenya as set books and you'll lecture in the US. This man Chinua Achebe. Quite a lot can be said about him.
Last night, I couldn't help but succumb to the overwhelming pressure to pen something in appreciation to this great figure in the world of literature. You know when you just can't stop thinking about something because ideas keep streaming and the solution is to write a few hundreds of words. And so in the process I got to notice something about man Chinua hence this entry.
He curved a niche for himself no doubt
Every outstanding person on this planet performs excellently in all if not almost everything that they do. But there's that niche that one curves for themselves as time goes by. For Achebe, it's writing. He most likely had a good command of the English language but we've all lived to define him as an iconic contributor to African literature through the art of writing. Not the legendary orator of all time.
It's amazing as I was watching the news of his passing on TV, I was in high anticipation of a video clip showing this great man speak. But no, all I saw was images. Images here black and white photos there. Just when I was on the verge of losing my patience, something close to an audio-visual clip was on the screen- a Chinua Achebe quote! Haha! Actually, a piece of advice that the late had WRITTEN.
Bottom line
When it's all said and done, keep on exploring everything and anything that you think is ability in you. Someone once said that the graveyard is the wealthiest place on earth because people live wasted lives by not exploiting their abilities. I don't think this applies for Chinua because he's lived a life of authentic expression of his inner rich self unlike millions upon millions on this same earth. You might be looking for wealth only to find out too late that you were holding it inside of you. So while you're busy trying to be a jack of all trades, keep in mind that there could actually be one trade that can make you stand out. It will define you. It will tell us who you are and, some bit of exaggeration just to drive a point home, it will be your second name. Just like Chinua, even if you kick the bucket, this trade will make you trend.
To finish, I leave you with one of Chinua's quotes;
"If you don't like someone's story, write your own!"
