Chinua Achebe, the demise of an icon

Wisdom and courage" were an "inspiration to all who knew Chinua Achebe ". One of Africa's best known authors, his 1958 debut novel Things Fall Apart, which dealt with the impact of colonialism in Africa, has sold more than 10 million copies.
He had been living in the US since 1990 following injuries from a car crash.
'Indelible lessons' The writer and academic wrote more than 20 works -
some fiercely critical of politicians and a failure of leadership in Nigeria. South African writer and Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer called him the "father of modern African literature" in
2007 when she was among the judges to award him the Man Booker International Prize in honour of his literary career.
Things Fall Apart has been translated into more than 50 languages and focuses on the traditions of Igbo society
and the clash between Western and traditional values. The Anambra state government in Nigeria first made the
announcement about his death.
Analysts say in Igbo society the death of an important person must be announced by someone in authority.
His home state was in mourning for the death of "the illustrious son of the state, Nigeria and Africa", Mike Udah, spokesman for Anambra state governor Peter Obi said.
A statement released on behalf of his family said Mr Achebe was "one of the great literary voices of his time". "He was also a beloved husband, father, uncle and grandfather, whose wisdom and courage are an inspiration to all who knew him. Professor Achebe's
family requests privacy at this time."
Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan said Mr Achebe's admirers had all learnt "indelible lessons ofhuman existence" from his works. "Achebe's frank, truthful and fearless interventions in
national affairs will be greatly missed at home in Nigeria because while others may have disagreed with his
views, most Nigerians never doubted his immense patriotism and sincere commitment to the building of a
greater, more united and prosperous nation that all Africans and the entire black race could be proud of," the president said in a statement.
Nigerian author Victor Ehikhamenor said the news came as a shock even though people knew the novelist had
not been feeling well. "I met him on two occasions. When you are with Achebe
outside Nigeria, even when you are with him in Nigeria, you cannot claim him as a Nigerian because he's a world citizen," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa
programme. Last year, Mr Achebe published a long-awaited memoir
about the brutal three-year Biafran war - when thesouth-eastern Igbo region tried to split from Nigeria in
1967. After leaving Nigeria, he worked in the US as a professor. His 1990 car accident left him paralysed from
the waist down and in a wheelchair.
A statement of the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory said it offered its condolences to the Achebe family.
The former South African president and anti-apartheid fighter, who spent 27 years in jail, "referred to Prof
Achebe as a writer 'in whose company the prison walls fell down'", the statement said.