The Anambra state governor, Peter Obi on Wednesday led other dignitaries from Nigeria and abroad to pay last respect to the late literary icon, Professor Chinua Achebe, at the Alex Ekwueme Square, Awka.

The remains of the famous writer of Things Fall Apart, who died in Boston, United States of America, was flown into Enugu from Abuja and was finally brought to Awka, the Anambra State capital at exactly 1.07pm Wednesday.

The funeral ceremony began with a boundary reception at Amansea where Mr Obi and the Senator representing Anambra Central senatorial zone, Chris Ngige, received the body of the late sage before proceeding to the Alex Ekwueme square, Awka, where dignitaries poured encomiums on late professor Achebe. All emphasized his life of honesty, integrity, dignity and concern for the downtrodden.

The body lay in state at the middle of the square and was surrounded by Achebe’s kinsmen wearing traditional attire with red caps to match.
It was a day of speeches as friends and acquaintances who came from all over the world spoke on the ideals of the late literary giant.

Representative of the Senate President, David Mark, presented the tribute from the National Assembly in which Achebe’s death was described as a monumental loss to mankind.

On ground to witness the solemn moment of tribute anchored by Nollywood actor Bob Manuel Udokwu were Chris Odom, Professor Joneta Cole, Director of Smithsonian Institute, Washington, Prof. Scott of Penguin Books, Professor Whelan of the University of Cambridge, who represented the Arch bishop of Canterbury.

There were also members of the Achebe family comprising his widow, Prof. Mrs Christie Achebe, and his children, Ike Achebe, Prof Chinelo Achebe, Chidi Achebe and Prof Nwando Achebe.

In his glowing tribute to Achebe, the Director of Penguin, Prof Scott described the late writer as a very great man of letters, whose works have had a succession of influence across generations of writers.

He noted particularly the influence of Achebe’s first three books; Things Fall Apart, Arrow of God and No Longer At Ease, which he described as a “ trilogy of African literature, stressing that “ I have not seen others books or writer that have been so studied and reprinted like Achebe and his works.

Achebe, 82, died on March 21 at a Boston hospital in the U.S.

Born in Ogidi, Anambra, the author won a scholarship to the University of Ibadan and later worked as a scriptwriter for the Nigeria Broadcasting Service.

He chose to write Things Fall Apart in English for which he received criticism from authors including Ngugi wa Thiong’o.

But Achebe insisted that he felt “that the English language will be able to carry the weight of my African experience; it will have to be a new English, still in full communion with its ancestral home but altered to suit its new African surroundings’’.

Before his death, he had twice rejected Nigerian honour of Commander of Federal Republic, complaining about corruption in the country.