Magazine
Chinua Achebe: The lord of misrule
Chinua Achebe and former South African president Nelson Mandela. Photo/REUTERS
Names matter. He was born Albert Chinualumogu Achebe, a member of the Igbo nation, in Nigeria in 1930.
His father had been converted from the religion of his ancestors by Christian missionaries and had become a missionary himself.
Hence the British Christian name.
At university, 18 years later, the son dropped the Albert and adopted the abbreviation Chinua as his first name.
The long version means “may Chi fight for me.” “Chi” is one’s personal god.
Achebe now has a four-year-old grandson, also called Chinua.
Brought up in America, Chinua Jr recently asked his father what his exotic name meant.
His dad translated it as “may God fight for me.”
The boy looked puzzled. “But,” he said, “God is good, he doesn’t fight.”
Achebe smiles, broadening and deepening the thick creases that bracket his mouth.
The story, with its theme of identity and religious confusion, combined with its persistence down the generations, satisfies him.
No story ever really ends.
“So this story is not nearly ended, and I am not unhappy about that. I’m not one of those people who wants to see the end of contests over religion.” I shiver as he says this.
To be honest, he makes me shiver about every five minutes.
You don’t interview this man, you sit at his feet and listen.
