By Chinedu Uche Okoye

Literature  is about written words, and it comes from the Greek word “Litera”, which means printed matter. So, magazines, journals, books, pamphlets, and Biblical tracts can be classified as literature. Literature has three genres, which are poetry, drama, and prose. Prose is divided into fiction and non-fiction.
That literature profits us immensely in  our lives is obvious and indisputable. It entertains us. We derive great pleasure from reading novels, poems and plays. Reading books is a form of relaxation for a great number of people. By reading books, we vicariously experience some other people’s plights and get acquainted with their cultures, too. Sizwe Bansi is Dead and Mine Boy are works of art that vividly portray and depict the subjugation of black people in South Africa during the Apartheid era.
More so, literature is a tool for engendering the growth of languages. In the school days, I studied igbo novels for my examination. If no poems or novels are written in a language, that language will fall into desuetude and go into extinction. Literature is used to preserve languages.
And it is used to preserve and document our past in poetry, drama and fiction. Biography and autobiography narrate the life stories of distinguished people, who attained great heights in their endeavors, and left lasting legacies for us. Cast your mind to Camara Laye’s The African Child. The semi-auto biographical novel intimates us with the rites of circumcision in his home country. Achebe’s magnum opus, Things Fall Apart, depicts the Igbo people’s communal living before and during the colonial period. It challenges the white people on their stereotypes and prejudices about Africans.
Achebe, who is reputed to be the father of African literature, was preoccupied with culture conflicts in his earlier works. His trilogy-Things Fall Apart, No longer At Ease and Arrow of God –has thematic concerns that deal with culture and anthropology and culture conflicts. Achebe’s literary oeuvre teems with short stories, novels, poetry and autobiography. His Things Fall Apart has been translated into many languages and more than 50 million copies of the book have been sold world-wide. His novels are studied in universities across the world. Achebe’s Things Fall Apart corrected the stereotypes and misconceptions about Africans and the African continent that exist in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.
Achebe died in his old age in USA after writing and publishing his swan song, There was a Country. His death was a great loss to literary aficionados and the generality of the people in the world. Before Achebe’s demise, Cyprian Ekwensi had died. Ekwensi was a raconteur of great repute and no mean standing.   Ekwensi wrote African Night Entertainment, The Drummer Boy, The Passport of Mallam Illia, and others. People of my generation grew up reading his works as literature texts in secondary school. His works depict and portray urban life, although they’re seen as thrillers by some literary critics. He secured a revered place in our literary pantheon, however.
In the month of June, 2016, millions of Nigerians were jolted by the death of Elechi Amadi. He attended the famous Government College, Umuahia. It is on record that the school, which was founded by the British people, produced such literary greats as Chinua Achebe, Christopher Okigbo, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Chukwuemeka Ike, and others.
Amadi studied Physics and Mathematics, but he was passionate about writing. He followed in the footsteps of people who studied medicine and science but veered into writing. He’s in the class of Dr Anezi Okoro, medical doctor cum writer, Wale Okediran, medical practitioner turned writer, and Dami Ajayi who practices medicine and writes poetry. The late Elechi Amadi’s forte as well as niche is in creative writing. Elechi Amadi’s writing prowess and achievements in creative writing underscore the importance of letting our children pursue endeavours and careers for which they’ve inclination and great aptitude. Amadi wrote the spell-binding novel called The Concubine. His other works include Isiburu, Sunset at Biafra, The Great Ponds and others. He left a legacy that we should remember him for.
Although of the Igbo stock, Elechi Amadi fought on the Nigerian side during the Biafra-Nigeria Civil War. He fought to keep Nigeria one. His siding with the federalists is a proof of his detribalized nature. And he is a man of many parts. As a bureaucrat, he rose to become a permanent secretary in the River State civil service. And he served in other higher capacities in the government of Rivers State.
His bell tolled on June 29, 2016 and he went the way of all flesh after an eventful earthly sojourn. The death of a person reminds me of the brevity of human life on earth and human beings’ mortality.
The younger generation of Nigerian writers should deploy their pens and intellectual endowments to create and envision the Nigeria of their dreams. Writers are believed to be visionaries and prophets, whose works and words are oracular. Didn’t Achebe’s Man of the People prophesy war? More so, Christopher Okigbo’s poems are prophetic.
And writers should interrogate and explore our multi-faceted national problems in their works. We can use novels, poems and drama to change the ugly status quo ante existing in our country now.  We should chronicle and document our past in fictive forms, biographies, and history books, which should serve as lodestones for the future generation of Nigerians.

Related News

*Okoye writes from Obosi, Anambra State.